Is Child Support Always Paid to the Parent with Primary Custody?
Each state has child support guidelines. The guidelines are in place to ensure that the minor children continue to live at the standard of living that they are accustomed to. Child support is not always necessarily paid to the parent with primary custody. If the primary residential care parent makes a significant amount more than the secondary residential parent, the parties can request a deviation from the guidelines. If the parties are sharing 50-50 custody, the parties could also ask the court to waive child support. Even though the parties agree to alternate child support options, the court must still approve of the deviation from the guidelines. It uses its discretion to determine if deviation is in the best interest of the minor children.
