Child Support

Once being a wholly discretionary item for the trier of fact, the amount of child support to be paid in New York is now governed by a standard known as the CSSA or Child Support Standards Act. This act adopted by the legislature has mandated amounts based on a combined parental income of $80,000. The act assigns percentages based on the amount of children involved. Deducting 7% for FICA the act assigns 17% of wages for 1 child; 25% of wages for two children; 29% of wages for 3 children; 31% of wages for 4 or more. Dealing with salaries in excess of $80,000 is left to the courts discretion. Most often judges opt to apply the state mandated percentage to the entire salary possibly giving the non -custodial spouse a tax deduction.

The non custodial parent or parent who is charged with a child support obligation does not have the right to say how the support money is used. The residential parent has the right to utilize the money any way they see fit. The child is entitled to be supported in the manner in which he was accustomed prior to the dissolution of the marriage. A rather vague and overly broad statement to say the least, when we all know going from a duel household to a single parent household cannot maintain the same lifestyle without some belt tightening or sacrifices. Childcare and out of pocket medical expenses are additional items not to be included in the child support calculation. Ideally, extra curricular activities, camp and other items the child regularly enjoyed may be split between the parties if mutually agreed to in their agreement.