NEW YORK CHILD SUPPORT GUIDELINES

In 1989, New York passed the Child Support Standards Act (CSSA).   The main purpose of this legislation was to establish minimum and meaningful standards of obligations on the premise that both parents share the responsibilities for child support.   The CSSA brings a sense of uniformity and predictability with child support. Child support can generally be defined as the amount of money to be paid for the care, maintenance and education of an un-emancipated child.  New York defines basic child support as the sum derived by the application of the child support guidelines formula, as increased by obligations for health, childcare and education expenses.  So what does all that mean?  Basic child support is the regular periodic payment of support made by the noncustodial parent to the custodial parent, which payment is inclusive of the noncustodial parent’s obligations for the child’s needs except for health care, childcare, and educational expenses.  The obligations for health care, childcare, and educational expenses are commonly referred to as “add-ons.”

The question clients often ask is how much can I expect to pay or receive in child support?  The procedure required by the guidelines which the Court will abide is as follows:  First the Court will combine both parents income. The statutory cap for 2026 is $193,000.00.

In other words, the incomes will be combined but the Court will use $193,000.00 as the statutory cap in its calculations. (I will discuss what happens if the combined salary exceeds $193,000.00 later).  Once the salaries are combined, that number is multiplied by the statutory percentage which is a function of how many children there are in the marriage.  (The percentages are:  17% for one child; 25% for two; 29% for three; 31% for four; 35% for five or more however, the Court has discretion when setting the percentage for five or more children.)  Once this number is determined, the amount of child support is then apportioned between the parents on a pro rata basis.  Under the guideline, the only payment that is made is made by the noncustodial parent.

In the event that the combined salaries are greater than $193,000.00, the Court will use the same calculation, but it will then decide of there should be an additional award based on the increased income available and the lifestyle of the parties.  If the paying spouse is also required to pay maintenance, then maintenance is subtracted from the gross salary.

Under the CSSA, the Court is to base its calculations on the parties’ tax returns and not on its estimate or approximation as to what the parties’ incomes are.  The most recent tax return is the starting point of the child support calculations.  However, if one party owns their own business or the tax returns are suspect, the Court is authorized to look to the amount that a party should have reported and impute income. Distributions from pension and profit sharing plans are reportable as income on tax returns and thus will be treated as income for CSSA purposes. 

While the guidelines are a helpful tool in figuring out child support, this is only the beginning. Add-ons, such as health care, college, childcare and the like must also be factored in.