If you are putting her two children with her current husband (not stepchildren I assume) into the calculations, are you also including her husband’s income? What this is doing is reducing the amount that she is responsible for because she has other children that she is finacially responsible for. It makes sense if you think about it in that aspect but doesn’t seem quite fair from the other parents perspective. By including her husband’s salary it may even things out a bit for you. The government doesn’t care who pays what. They set an amount and both parents are responsible for meeting that figure. If one can’t due to other child support obligations then it is expected that the other will.
Basically, it goes like this. You have two children, input your salary, input the other parents salary including their spouse if you are including biological children from their marriage on their side of the calculations. If you are including biological children you have with your current wife, you will need to include her salary with yours. Input amount for insurance or daycare that you pay for your children. Example: It takes $100 to raise a child per month. You are obligated to pay 60% and your ex is obligated to pay the other 40%, (or reversed based on salary). You are paying a percentage of the set amount, whatever the figure is. If either of you are paying extras; insurance, child care or other finacial obligations it decreases the percentage that you are responsible for that particular child.
Sometimes it’s easier not to include all the extras and to get an agreed amount in writing…
In addition to including the two children she has with her new Husband, you should also include her spouse’s income. If the number still goes up, it is because her ability to contribute has gone down and not because your “liability” has gone up.
Helena M. Nevicosi
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm
4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 500
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607
919.787.6668 main phone
919.787.6361 main fax
Charlotte Office
301 McCullough Drive
Suite 510
Charlotte, NC 28262
Main Phone: (704)307.4600
Main Fax: (704) 9343.0044
Durham & Chapel Hill Office
1829 East Franklin Street
Building 600
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 321.0780
The response posted above is based upon the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliable manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with an attorney, fully explain your situation, and allow the attorney sufficient opportunity to research the applicable law and facts required to render an accurate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service only, a full discussion with an attorney should be undertaken before taking any action. The information posted on this forum is available for public viewing and is not intended to create an attorney client relationship with any individual. These answers are provided for informational purposes only, a person should consult with their own individual legal counsel before taking any action that could affect their legal rights or obligations.
If we’re including her spouses income, that makes it seem as though now he’s being held accountable by the court to help support my children? That doesnt seem fair from his point of view.
Who/what determine whether you include those kids and the other spouses income? Can you just leave them out of the equation altogether?
You are not obligated to include his income but then you should not include the children they have together. What that figure is for is figuring the household income is “x” and they have these other children to be responsible for…I believe that the only time they can be included is if they have children together and/or have signed something agreeing to take finacial responsibility for the children in question. You would only include biological children for the ex and new spouse because if the new spouse has children that your ex would be stepparent for, then they, more than likely, have child support arranged with their biological parent… (this is confusing[;)] )
As I said, sometimes it’s easier not to include all the extras and just agree on a fair amount and get it in writing.
My husband came up with an amount that is about $50 more than what he would pay “worst case scenario” on the calculations so he knows that he will never be paying more regardless of other factors. It’s possible that if we change to primary custody of one or both boys, he would have that figure reduced, but it will never go up. They agreed on this amount and though technically he is paying more than he should on top of everything else he ends up paying for, it’s set by their agreement and she would lose out by taking it back for modification.
The child support calculator assumes that each party has a certain amount to contribute to the support of their child. The more children they have the less money there is to go around. However, if they have more children and that parent is around to assist in supporting those children, then the guidelines take the income everyone into account. The two of you can reach any agreement on child support that you wish.
Helena M. Nevicosi
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm
4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 500
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607
919.787.6668 main phone
919.787.6361 main fax
Charlotte Office
301 McCullough Drive
Suite 510
Charlotte, NC 28262
Main Phone: (704)307.4600
Main Fax: (704) 9343.0044
Durham & Chapel Hill Office
1829 East Franklin Street
Building 600
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 321.0780
The response posted above is based upon the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliable manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with an attorney, fully explain your situation, and allow the attorney sufficient opportunity to research the applicable law and facts required to render an accurate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service only, a full discussion with an attorney should be undertaken before taking any action. The information posted on this forum is available for public viewing and is not intended to create an attorney client relationship with any individual. These answers are provided for informational purposes only, a person should consult with their own individual legal counsel before taking any action that could affect their legal rights or obligations.
Okay, so I seem to have the same problem as others. But I still dont understand.
There is a field on the child support calculator which asks if each person has a child outside of the relationship in question. My ex has 2 kids with her current husband. It seems that when I put in “2”, my part of the child support goes up.
Is it just me or is it odd that because my ex has kids outside of our relationship, that my responsiblity to our kids has increased? I think I am missing something here.
Thanks for your time to everyone. I just started posting recently and this has been some help for me.
