Yes, child support is required by non-custodial parents even when their former spouse earns more money. Child support differs from spousal maintenance (alimony) in that New York considers parents to have a durable obligation to provide for their children, whether the parent is wealthy or of more modest means. You are expected to provide material […]
Category Archives: Child Support
No, you can’t stop paying child support in Rochester without a court order, even if your ex is preventing you from your court ordered visitation with your child. You do have options though, up to and including petitioning the court to reverse its custody finding based on a pattern of interference by your ex. If […]
It may seem impersonal, but rather than paying your child support directly to your former spouse, the judge will typically order you to remit payment to Rochester’s Support Collections Unit (SCU), which is responsible for disbursing funds to your ex for the care of your children. The system is set up this way to better […]
It’s very common for the court to order a parent to purchase a life insurance policy designating the child, children, or ex-spouse as the beneficiary in the event of the parent’s death. For the vast majority of policyholders, it never comes into play during the child support obligation, but acts as a backstop to protect […]
Almost. When you file for divorce, you will be providing the court with what is known as a complaint, which will include the relief you seek. That may include spousal maintenance, division of assets, and child support, among other things. The court will make an order for child support, and while payments won’t begin same-day, […]
While most child support payments are deducted from the obligated person’s paycheck, when a person is self-employed and doesn’t receive a regular paycheck, they will instead receive payment coupons which tell them how much is owed and where to mail it. Each county has its own mailing address, so if you’re making the switch from […]
You may be able to stop paying child support in some instances where a teenage child refuses to have a relationship with you. There are several caveats though – first, your child must be of employment age, and therefore, in the eyes of the court, able to support him or herself. Second, you’ll have to […]
There’s a lot of confusion around this point, but the answer is a resounding no. You do not have to provide financial records to your ex, or account for how you spend child support money. Courts would be endlessly clogged if they allowed former spouses to “audit” the spending of support or maintenance payments for […]
While the state has clear child support standards that apply to most families, sometimes parents earn so much money that applying a strict percentage of a parent’s income would result in unusually large child support payments that may be far beyond the actual needs of the child. In situations where one or both spouses earn […]
In most instances, the non-custodial spouse is required to pay child support until the child reaches the age of 21. That’s the requirement though, and doesn’t speak to common situations that families with young adult children deal with. For instance, if your child turns 21 in college, it’s a safe bet that continuing some form […]