In New York, the amount of time a non-custodial parent spends with their child has little to no impact upon his or her child support obligation. A non-custodial parent could have 50% custody, custody every other weekend, or have little to no involvement with his or her child at all, yet each individual party may pay the same child support amount.
Caring for children is expensive. When food, shelter, clothing, housing, and other living expenses are considered, the question becomes: Why is the financial burden associated with 50% custody not taken into consideration when child support awards are made?
Let’s look at New Jersey in contrast. In New Jersey, as soon as you go over 104 nights of parenting time per year, the Shared Parenting Child Support Guideline is applied to calculate child support. The use of that guideline results in a support amount, which is less than the Sole Parenting Child Support Guideline used when the non-custodial parent has less than 104 overnights of parenting time per year with the children. This evens the playing field so to speak, and ensures that the financial cost of caring for the children is allocated fairly.
If you need help with your divorce-related child support matter, give our offices a call!