Alimony/Childsupport

North Carolina Divorce Law Divorce and Separation Answers
1

Married for 10 years. Two children under 5.

1.Is Childsupport and Alimony calculated on base income or income with overtime (overtime not being guaranteed)?

2.Is Childsupport based on last years W2? or can it be based on this years income if it has decreased?

3.I have been told Alimony could be more than 5 years (half of the marriage) “because the kids are so young”. Is that true that the “half length of marriage” rule doesn’t apply with kids are young?

I made $150,000 last year. This year on track for $120,000. Dependent seperated spouse does not work, but has RN degree.
I was told no judge will make dependent spouse return to work till kids in school.

4.Lastly-Am I beening taken advantage of if I pay $2000 in child support and $5000 in Alimony? That seems extremely high. I was told because the alimony will be taxed I must pay more to make up for it. Dependent spouse budget is $5000 month.

2

I will answer your questions, but you need a lawyer. You situation is not one you should handle yourself.

  1. If your income went down then you should use your most recent pay stubs. If the other side can show you regularly receive overtime then they may argue for its inclusion.

  2. In your situation you should argue to base it off your most recent pay stubs.

  3. 1/2 the length of the marriage is a commonly used metric, but the facts of the situation will determine a reasonable length of time for alimony.

  4. I can’t answer that question because I don’t have all the facts, but that sounds very close to all your take-home pay.

Please call our office, or another lawyer, to discuss representation.