How Child Support Is Calculated in New York

New York child support follows a formula, which makes most cases predictable, but every input to the formula can be contested. Here is how the calculation works and where the fights happen.

Step one: determine each parent's income

Income under the Child Support Standards Act starts with gross income as reported on the most recent tax return and adds back items such as workers' compensation, disability, unemployment, pension, and social security benefits. The court can also impute income to a parent who is voluntarily underemployed, works off the books, or has income that the records do not show. Certain deductions apply, including FICA taxes and maintenance paid to the other spouse.

Step two: combine the incomes and apply the percentage

The parents' incomes are added together and multiplied by the statutory percentage: 17 percent for one child, 25 percent for two, 29 percent for three, 31 percent for four, and no less than 35 percent for five or more children.

Step three: allocate between the parents

The resulting amount is split between the parents in proportion to their incomes. If the noncustodial parent earns 60 percent of the combined income, that parent pays 60 percent of the basic child support obligation to the custodial parent.

The income cap

The formula applies automatically to combined income up to a statutory cap that is adjusted every two years. For combined income above the cap, the court decides whether to apply the percentage, apply a different amount, or stop at the cap, based on the children's actual needs and the statutory factors. This is a major issue in higher income cases.

Add on expenses

In addition to basic support, the court orders the parents to share, in proportion to their incomes, child care needed for work or school, the child's health insurance premiums, unreimbursed medical expenses, and in appropriate cases educational expenses. These add ons can be as large as the basic support.

Deviating from the formula

The court can order an amount different from the formula if the formula result would be unjust or inappropriate, considering factors such as the financial resources of the parents and the child, the child's special needs, the standard of living the child would have had, the tax consequences, and the needs of other children the parent supports. The parties may also agree to deviate, but the agreement must state what the formula would have produced and why they are departing from it.

Duration and modification

Support continues until the child is 21 unless emancipated earlier. An order can be modified on a substantial change in circumstances, after three years, or on a 15 percent change in either parent's income, unless the parties have opted out of the latter two grounds.