In New York, child support is financial support paid by the non-custodial parent to the custodial parent. The purpose of child support is to maintain the child’s standard of living that was customary during the marriage. To determine the amount of child support the non-custodial parent will owe, the court uses a standard based on the noncustodial parent's adjusted gross income and on the number of children involved. First, the court will determine the non-custodial parent's gross income, and then makes certain deductions (including Medicare, Social Security, and New York City or Yonkers tax) to establish the noncustodial parent's adjusted gross income. Then the court multiplies the adjusted gross income by the standard guideline percentage for the number of children. These percentages are as follows:
17% for one child
25% for two children
29% for three children
31% for four children
at least 35% for five or more children.
Then the noncustodial parent's share of child care, medical, and educational expenses is added to the income percentage amount. The combined amount, percentage of income plus share of expenses, is the basic child support amount. In the event that the non-custodial parent’s income is over $180,000 the court may decide to impute income above the cap to that parent.
Comentários