Yes, when custody is split 50/50 in a Rochester divorce, the parent who earns more will be considered the non-custodial parent for the purposes of child support payments. Many parents balk at this legal device, but the State of New York believes that every child is entitled to financial support until they can support themselves, […]
Category Archives: Child Support
No, child support is not tax deductible to the payer, nor taxable income to the recipient. Spousal maintenance (alimony) is tax deductible to the paying spouse and taxable income to the recipient spouse, but when it comes to the costs of raising a child, the IRS treats your child support payments the way it would […]
If you are subject to a child support order and your child has moved in with you, you will not have to continue paying child support, but you do have to go to a judge to have the child support order removed before you can stop paying. That’s an extremely important caveat, and if you […]
Yes, and it often is. Erie County’s Office of Child Support Enforcement will manage the collections process and any delinquent payments. If your spouse is not employed, or not traditionally employed, the task can be more complex. Enforcement against a spouse who doesn’t have paychecks administered by an employer often involves alternative approaches that a […]
Unless your agreement included specific provisions, your former spouse should expect to be responsible for costs like car insurance and any payments for your child’s car. In some cases, the car is used to facilitate transportation to school and educational activities like athletic or band events. In that case, you might reasonably expect that your […]
No, judges in Rochester won’t typically force you take on tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in college costs for your child who has been accepted into a private university. If your custody and child support agreement were negotiated many years ago, they may not have included college considerations, and situations like this can […]
Educational expenses are typically taken into account as part of the child support order. A non-custodial parent will be asked to assume a percentage of the costs related to school trips, athletic equipment and uniform fees, and other elements of your child’s education. Keep in mind that while these costs may be frustrating in the […]
Probably not. Judges aren’t likely to take seriously a petition arguing that minor income from a child’s summer or weekend job reflects a change in circumstance that warrants a new calculation of child support, and as an added factor, it’s positive to support a child’s development of work skills and experience. That said, there may […]
Child support calculations are fairly complex, but as a general proposition, the court will look at the couple’s combined income and the number of children they share, then determine a percentage of the combined income to provide for the needs of the children. The non-custodial parent will then be ordered to pay an amount proportional […]
Judges understand that however solid an initial agreement is between two spouses at the time of a divorce, situations change, and sometimes these agreements require review and modification to be realistic in a new context. When your support payments become unmanageable, it may be time to ask for help. In Rochester, courts are open to […]