Child Support Calculations When Parents Share Equal Time

Any parent going through a divorce or break-up with a co-parent is familiar with the basics of child support: in general, the parent who cares for the children for the majority of the time (the primary custodial parent) receives child support from the other (non-custodial) parent. The amount of child support to be paid is a specific percentage, based upon the number of children, of the parents’ adjusted gross incomes (mainly the noncustodial parent’s income, but the custodial parent’s income is relevant to the parents’ proportionate, or pro rata, obligations to extra expenses such as childcare, health insurance premiums, unreimbursed medical expenses, extracurricular expenses, and college costs, and whether or not the combined parent income reaches the statutory income cap). The calculation of the child support obligation of a noncustodial parent working a W-2 wage is relatively simple. Of course, not every co-parenting arrangement is simple.

One of the most common areas of confusion that can arise when determining a child support obligation is: what happens if the parents share joint physical custody – meaning the children spend time equally with both parents?

It is important to note that “joint” or “equal” physical custody does not necessarily mean that the children spend 182.5 overnights per year with one parent, and 182.5 overnights with the other. The court should look at the full picture of the children’s lives and the parents’ split of responsibilities to determine whether the parents truly share the burdens (and privileges) of parenting equally or whether there is only one primary caretaking, custodial parent.

A custody arrangement in which the children spend equal amounts of time with both parents may appear ideal: the children keep both parents in their lives as much as possible, and both parents share the burden of parenting equally (at least in theory). A common misconception is, because both parents are equally sharing that burden, then neither parent pays child support. However, in New York State, that is explicitly not the case.

In New York State, the courts recognize the reality that maintaining two equal households for your children is actually more expensive than maintaining one primary household and one secondary/non-custodial household. With that reality in mind, in a joint physical custody situation, New York State treats the parent who earns more money as the non-custodial parent for the purposes of determining child support. This means that, theoretically, if one parent of two children earns $100,000 annually and the other parent earns $90,000, the parent making $100,000 will be obligated to pay child support to the other parent in the amount of approximately $2,000 per month.

However, the consideration does not end there. The court has the right to deviate from this calculated amount if it feels that would be unjust. The court should consider how close (or how far apart) both parents’ incomes are, how much time the parents spend with the children, how the parents have split up parenting responsibilities/expenses, etc. As with many areas of law, what a court would order a joint co-parent to pay in child support really depends on your specific circumstances.

Of course, regardless of what a court would decide should be paid in child support, you and your co-parent are free to reach your own agreement of what should be paid. After all, you (and, hopefully, your co-parent) know your children’s needs best.

This is not intended to be legal advice. You should contact an attorney for advice regarding your specific situation.