Firstly, in your divorce proceedings, the New Jersey family court may have declared you to be the non-custodial parent over your children. It is only then that the judge may begin calculating your child support order. Essentially, they may come up with a monthly payment plan that they deem necessary for your former spouse (i.e., the custodial parent over your children) to care for your children on a day-to-day basis. Read on to discover how the New Jersey family court might calculate your payments and how a seasoned Morristown child support lawyer at Graves Andrews, LLC can work to ensure this amount is fair for all parties involved.
How might the New Jersey family court calculate my child support order?
Simply put, the family court may reference the New Jersey Child Support Guideline when settling on your child support order. This guideline holds that child support payments should effectively cover the following monthly expenses:
- The cost of your children’s education expenses each month (i.e., tuition, textbooks, tutoring, transportation, etc).
- The cost of your children’s health insurance and medical bills each month (i.e., checkups, medications, etc).
- The cost of your children’s basic necessities each month (i.e., food, clothing, housing, etc).
- The cost of your children’s childcare expenses each month (i.e., daycare, babysitting, etc).
- The cost of your children’s extracurricular activities each month (i.e., sports, clubs, etc).
With that being said, this guideline states that both parents should equally contribute to their children’s upbringing and thereby proportionally split their children’s expenses. This specifically applies if both parents make a combined yearly net income of anywhere between $8,840 to $187,200. And to determine such proportionality, the family court may look at the following factors:
- Your and your former spouse’s yearly salaries.
- Your and your former spouse’s personal medical expenses.
- Your and your former spouse’s reception of any government benefits (i.e., Social Security benefits).
- Your and your former spouse’s obligations to pay other child support orders outside of your marriage.
- Your and your former spouse’s standard of living you established for your children during your marriage.
How might my child support order affect my stepchildren?
It is safe to say that the number of children you and your former spouse share may contribute to the amount of child support you are asked to pay each month. However, the family court may not include your stepchildren in this number. This is unless your stepchildren’s other parent has terminated their parental rights and you went through the formal process of adopting them. Therefore, your adopted children may be undoubtedly added to this number.
When undergoing your child support proceedings, there is no one other than a competent Morristown family law attorney to have in your corner. So please get in touch with us at Graves Andrews, LLC today.
