Child Support Calculation

North Carolina Divorce Law Divorce and Separation Answers
1

  1. The fact that she could make more income than she does might come into play when calculating child support. The court will need to look at the reason she is earning less money and determine if she is suppressing her income in bad faith. If she quit her job to stay home with your child and is just now getting back into the workforce, the court may not impute income to her especially if she is having trouble finding a job.

  2. The best thing to do is use the average of the weeks she has worked and find out what that works out to be on a monthly basis.

  3. Does your company charge less if you add just a spouse? If that is the case you need to subtract the amount it would be for you and your spouse from the amount you pay for family coverage. The difference is the amount attributable to your son.

P.S. Please feel free to bring up this or any other topic on our live call-in show every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. EST. Visit radio.rosen.com for details

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

Sutton Station
5826 Fayetteville Rd. Suite 205
Durham, NC 27713
Phone: (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.

2

I just read about Child Support and then did the calculator on the site and have a few questions:

  1. My spouse just started working again, but part-time (usually one day a week and then a couple of nights a week). Our 3 year old son is in daycare from 9:30am through 6pm. I would consider my wife underemployed because she could work more and she also could get a better paying job (as she made about twice as much per year when she worked full time before we had the baby). Do any of these factors come into play when determining the amount of child support?

  2. Also, my wife just recently started working in the past few weeks and her hours can vary greatly per month, so for her salary I just put in what she would need to make to get by every month. Is there a better way to do it?

  3. I pay for “family” medical expenses through my employer. It’s not divided up between me, my wife, and son. Should I just take the monthly amount and divide by 3 to come up with how much I am paying for my son?