23 Mar Child Support Guidelines In New Jersey
If you are a parent and divorce is looming, you will need to calculate your New Jersey child support payments sooner than later. The New Jersey Department of Human Services is the state agency responsible for helping parents obtain and enforce child support orders, including locating absent parents and establishing paternity, if required. Estimating the amount of support a New Jersey judge might order is done by determining the total income available for support from both parents and then completing either the Sole Parenting Worksheet (Appendix IX-C) or the Shared Parenting Worksheet (Appendix IX D). Courts require these worksheets in all cases where a parent seeks to establish or change the amount of child support ordered.
Child Support With Sole Parenting
When there is a sole child custody situation, the parent with whom the children live the majority of the time receives a higher percentage of the total income available for support. Courts presume that this parent pays more direct costs of child rearing and has higher fixed expenses.
You should use the Sole Parenting Worksheet if one parent has physical custody of the children and the other parent is exercising “PAR” (parent of alternate residence) time that is less than two regular overnight visitation periods—or two visitation periods of more than 12 hours each.
Child Support With Shared Parenting
If your children are with each parent for the equivalent of more than two overnight periods per week, you should choose the Shared Parenting Worksheet. In shared parenting arrangements, courts designate one parent as the “PPR” (parent of primary residence) and the other parent as the PAR. The PPR is the parent with whom the child spends more overnight time, or if time is equal, the parent with whom the child resides while attending school.
Additional Child Support Expenses
Additional expenses include the cost (after any applicable tax credits) of necessary work-related child care, a parent’s marginal cost of adding a child to a health insurance policy, and any predictable and recurring unreimbursed medical expenses over $250 per child per year. Depending on the circumstances of a particular case, a court may also add other predictable and recurring expenses, such as private school tuition.
There are many situations beyond those mentioned in this article in which a court may order support that varies from the guidelines. A court deviating from the guidelines must state the reasons for the deviation in writing.
Contact Child Support Attorney Jeffrey M. Bloom
As one can see from this article, child custody in New Jersey, or any other place for that matter is involved and can be confusing. Contacting an experienced family attorney to help you work through the minutia will ultimately save you time and money. Contact the Law Offices of Jeffrey Bloom at (805) 208-3650. With the help and expertise of an experienced family law attorney, you will be confident that everything in your child custody arrangement will be done correctly and fairly.
