How Does Child Support Work in New York? Part One
Child support is mandatory in the State of New York. In fact, state laws set a statutory minimum of $25 per month, per child. This means that regardless of the arrangement between the parties/parents, waiving child support is not possible. Your lawmakers have worked long and hard to develop guidelines for child support calculations under the Child Support Standards Act based upon earnings and cost of living within the state.
Who is Entitled to Receive Child Support?
The parent considered to be the custodial parent is the one entitled to an award of child support. But, what makes someone the custodial parent?
While child custody and child support are two very separate issues that cannot and should not be negotiated as one, the parties’ custody agreement (or the court’s custody order) is necessary in order to determine which parent should receive child support.
In many instances, custody agreements or custody orders provide one parent with primary custody of the child or children. One parent will be considered the “custodial parent,” while the other parent will be referred to as the “noncustodial parent.” For the most part, the parent with whom the child or children reside more than fifty percent of the time is considered the custodial parent, while the parent with less than fifty percent of the time is considered the noncustodial parent.
More and more, we see parenting plans, custody agreements or child custody orders reflecting shared physical custody arrangements. True shared physical custody means that the parents have an exact 50/50 schedule, down to the minute. In those instances, a primary custodial parent is determined by the income of the parties. The parent who is the lesser earner is generally determined to be the custodial parent for the purpose of calculating child support, making the parent with the higher earnings the noncustodial parent for the purpose of calculating child support.
How is Child Support Calculated?
Step One: Finding the Parent’s Combined Adjusted Gross Income
Child support is based upon the combined “adjusted gross income” of the custodial parent and the non-custodial parent. The adjusted gross income is not the same as post-tax income reflected on your W-2. New York State uses a parent’s pre-tax income, deducting only FICA, Medicare and New York City taxes (or Yonkers taxes depending on the parties residence). For New York City residents, it is an approximate reduction of 9.1%, as opposed to your actual tax rate, which usually falls between 32% and 36%.
First, we find the parent’s Adjusted Gross Income for the purpose of calculating child support, then we combine those incomes to begin our child support calculations.
Example 1: Parent A (custodial parent) earns $50,000 and Parent B (noncustodial parent) earns $70,000. The numbers are adjusted to reduce FICA, Medicare and NYC taxes (at approximately 9.1%) making Parent A’s adjusted gross income approximately $45,500 and Parent B’s adjusted gross income approximately $63,700. with a combined income of $113,700.00.
New York implements a child support cap on combined incomes over the amount of $154,000, which means that if the parent’s combined income is over $154,000, the court may instead use the $154,000 figure as the combined income amount.
Example 2: Parent A (custodial parent) earns $90,000 and Parent B (noncustodial parent) earns $95,000. The numbers are adjusted to reduce FICA, Medicare and NYC taxes (at approximately 9.1%) making Parent A’s adjusted gross income approximately $81,900 and Parent B’s adjusted gross income approximately $86,450, with a combined income of $168,350.00. Because the combined income exceeds the statutory cap, instead of using the total amount, the court will use the $154,000 as the combined income of the parents.
Step Two: Applying the Appropriate Child Support Percentage
Once the parent’s combined income is established, we then apply the appropriate percentage based on the number of children that the parties have. For one (1) child the child support obligation is 17%, for two (2) children the child support obligation is 25%, for three (3) children the child support obligation is 29%, for four (4) children the child support obligation is 31%. If there are more than four (4) children, the court begins to have some discretion over the 31%.
In Example 1, child support on the combined income of $113,700.00 for one (1) child would be a combined obligation (both parties’ obligation) of $19,329.00 ($113,700*.17) a year or $1,610.75 ($19,329/12) a month.
In Example 2, child support on the combined income of $154,000 (applying the statutory cap) for two (2) children would be a combined obligation of $38,500 ($154,000*.25) a year or $3,208.33 ($38,500/12) per month.
Step Three: Determining the Parties’ Pro Rata Share of the Combined Child Support Obligation
In order to determine how the parents divide the combined obligation, we need to find each parent’s pro rata share or the ratio of the parent’s income.
In Example 1, we find Parent A’s pro rata share by solving for X:
$45,500/$113,700 (times) X/100 = 40%
Parent B’s pro rata share is determined by subtracting 40% from 100%, or 60%
In Example 2, we find Parent A’s pro rata share by solving for X:
$81,900/$168,350 (times) X/100 = 48.6 percent (rounded up to 47%)
Parent B’s “pro rata share” is determined by subtracting 47% from 100%, or 53%
Step Four: Applying the Parent’s Pro Rata Shares to the Combined Child Support Obligation
In Example 1, we divide the annual combined child support obligation of $19,329.00 using the parent’s pro rata shares of 40% (Parent A/Custodial Parent) to 60% (Parent B/Noncustodial Parent), making Parent A’s child support obligation $7,731.60 ($19,329 *.40) and Parent B’s child support obligation $11,597.40 ($19,329 * .60). Because Parent B is the noncustodial parent, he or she would be responsible for paying Parent A, the custodial parent, child support in the amount of $11,597.40 per year or $966.45 ($11,597.40/12) per month.
In Example 2, we divide the annual combined child support obligation of $38,500.00 using the parent’s pro rata shares of 47% (Parent A/Custodial Parent) to 53% (Parent B/Noncustodial Parent), making Parent A’s child support obligation $18,095.00 ($38,500 *.47) and Parent B’s child support obligation $20,405.00 ($38,500 *.53). Because Parent B is the noncustodial parent, he or she would be responsible for paying Parent A, the custodial parent, child support in the amount of $20,405 per year or $1,700.42 ($20,405/12) per month.
Basic child support is only the first step in finalizing a child support award. Child support also includes add-on expenses. Please stay tuned for Part Two of my “How Does Child Support Work” blog post for more information and answers to questions you may have.
The child support cap is not always applied. Part Two of this Article will discuss how and when the child support cap is applied.