| Both parents have a lawful obligation to support their children according to their ability to do so. Most jurisdictions have child maintenance standards in effect, which provide a formula for calculating child support grounded upon a proportion of gross income earned by each parent.
Such issues are rarely a concern for the court during a marriage or committed relationship. But when parents end their marriage or live separately from their children, the courts are normally required to set the sum of child support a non-custodial parent must pay. Like the issue of custody, this can be settled out of court or by arguing over it in the courtroom. Like alimony, the child support issue, may be included into the divorce judgment or may be determined in a marital separation agreement. This contested issue can be avoided, providing both the mother and the father agree to the appropriate amount of child support and make this agreement part of an MSA.
If a non-custodial parent has other legal responsibilities, they will also be taken into account in deciding on child support. For instance, if the non-custodial parent is paying child support from a previous relationship, it will be taken into consideration. Living expenses, including food and rent will also be taken into account by the court. Yet, the court will not decrease child support payments to make it easier for the parent to make discretionary payments. For instance, a parent cannot provide for a charity or buy a high-priced vehicle at the expense of providing for his or her own children.
To assist the court in deciding on the proper sum of child maintenance, both parents are to fill out a financial declaration that is signed under penalty of perjury. Each parent will be required to provide full information on their income, the nature and extent of their property holdings, including checking accounts, investments and real property and their financial obligations. These documents will be heavily relied on by the court in making the order and, hence, it is in the children's interests that the declarations be filled out completely and honestly.
Those who avoid paying child maintenance will be punished. If the custodial parent submits a complaint to the district attorney's office, the nonpaying parent can be taken to court In the United States if the defendant is found guilty, he or she may be jailed. Or, the guilty parent may be put on probation and allowed to remain free if he or she pays all off child maintenance and makes all future payments in time. |
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