What To Do When Determining Child Support

If you have questions about child support, learn what to do when determining child support in this article. Then, call our Saratoga attorneys.

1) Filing Child Support Order Objections

After a hearing in front of the Support Magistrate in Family Court, if you received a child support order, the appeal process is not difficult. Your appeal, although your filing is instead called objections—then goes to one of the Family Court judges. Your attorney drafts the objections and submits them to court. The time frames are short, but the process is not complicated. You do not have to appear in court for the objections; instead, they are simply submitted to the judge, and the judge then enters a ruling. The judge may request a transcript of the hearing, and that can delay the process, but such a delay does not make the process any more complicated.

2) How Long Child Support is Paid

• Child Support runs until the age of 21, unless a child emancipates themselves sooner
• Ways that a child can emancipate themselves includes leaving a parent’s home, obtaining their own housing, starting their own family, or joining the military
• The court cannot order Child Support past the age of 21 without the parent’s agreement

3) Changing a Support Order Due To Job Loss

• The most important thing to do if a lost job makes it necessary to modify or reduce a child support order is file a petition to modify support in the family court as soon as possible.
• Time is of the essence here, because any reduction in support will be retroactive only to the petition’s filing date.
• Support is not automatically reduced. It is up to the payer to file a petition to make the court aware of the circumstances so that a proposed modification can be addressed.

4) Modifying a Child Support Provision

• If you have a Child Support order in New York State that was issued by Supreme or Family Court, it is possible that you can modify that order
• If you have a Family Court order, you may seek modification in Family Court
• There is a provision in the New York State Child Support Standards Act that allows for the modification of Child Support every three years, or if one of the parents experiences a change in income of 15% or more

5) Tax Deductible

• Child Support is calculated on full income, social security taxes, and income taxes
• Income taxes are not deducted before Child Support is calculated, and is a tax-free stream of income for the custodial parent

6) How Child Support is Calculated

• Child Support in New York is based upon a percentage of income
• The non-custodial parent pays a percentage of their income, as Child Support, to the custodial parent
• One child is 17 percent, two children is 25 percent, and three children is 29 percent
• Child Support is based on gross income, minus Social Security and Medicare taxes

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