3 Factors That Impact Your Child Support Payment Costs

If you are paying child support, it is important to understand all of the different ways that your child support payment costs can be impacted by different circumstances.

Parenting Time Impacts Child Support Payment Costs

In most states, the amount of time that you spend with your child directly impacts the amount of child support that you have to pay. The amount of time that you spend with your child can directly impact what you pay in child support. If you start having your child sleep over more, that could decrease your child support payments because you are providing your child with food, housing, and clothing more often. If you decrease the time you spend with your child, and the other parent is taking up more of a responsibility, that could directly increase your child support payments.

Only Certain Income Is Taken into Consideration

The courts look at your gross income to determine how much you pay in child support. Your gross income is made up of salary, hourly wages, and tips that you get from your job. Your gross income also includes wages as well. If you own any rental properties, any income from that would be included in your gross income as well.

However, some income is exempt from the child support calculations. Income from the government, such as Social Security income, is not included in your gross income.

How Many Children You Have Impacts Your Support Costs

The number of children that you have total impacts your support costs. For example, if you and your ex-wife have two children and then later you have another child with your new wife, you now have three children. The addition of another child in your life that you have to support, regardless of the fact of who the mother is, may reduce your child support payments for your other child as you now have to allocate the money from your paycheck that was dedicated towards child support towards another child. This is not the case in all jurisdictions, but in many jurisdictions, having another child will reduce your child support payments.

If you are paying child support, it is important to understand that different factors can either decrease or increase the amount of your child support payments. Having another child and the amount of time that you have your child are both elements that could increase or decrease your payments. If you are not sure about all the factors that could impact your child support payments, talk to your child support attorney.

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