{Time to Read: 3 1/2 minutes} The CSSA in New York creates the presumptively correct amount of child support that the “non-custodial” parent pays to the “custodial” parent. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, the statute does not bother to define what the term “custody” means.
Back in 1989 when the law was first passed, this may not have been much of a problem, since custody generally was assumed to be with mom. Today, however, most parents want to create a “shared parenting” arrangement so that the children reside with each of them about half of the time.
When first presented with this question, the courts ruled that the “custodial” parent is the one that has the children 51% or more of the time, which, it said, could easily be determined. Then a case came before it where the parents exchanged the children at exactly the same time and day each week. When presented with this set of facts, the court ruled that the “custodial” parent was the one that made less income than the other parent.
While these rulings may produce a fair result when the non-custodial parent makes significantly more than the other parent, it is clearly unfair when he or she makes only slightly more.
For example, let’s say that mom’s CSSA income was $60,000 per year and dad’s was $55,000 per year. If they had a 50/50 parenting plan, mom would pay dad 25% of her income, or $15,000 per year in child support.
Since child support is paid in “after tax” dollars, this means that mom is paying child support with the income she has left after paying taxes and other mandatory deductions. If she were earning $60,000 per year her “after tax” income would be about $45,000 per year.
On the other hand, dad’s “after tax” income is about $41,250 per year. If mom’s child support is added to his net income he has approximately $56,250 per year to use to support the children half the time while mom has approximately $30,000 per year. Few would think that this is a fair result.
If mom had the children 51% of the time and dad would then pay her $13,750 per year from his $41,250, he would have $27,500 per year to use to provide for the children while she would have approximately $58,750 per year!
Assuming that the parents want their children to enjoy a comparable lifestyle regardless of which parent they are residing with, applying the CSSA would not allow for that to happen.
In my next article I am going to address how a couple, through mediation, was able to create an agreement that put the needs of the children first by balancing their income and the amount of child support instead of blindly following a law that would not have met the needs of the children.
Daniel R. Burns
Attorney & Mediator
1187 Troy Schenectady Road
Latham, NY 12110
Phone: (518) 785-9522
Fax: (518) 785-9286
E-Mail:
[email protected]
Web:
www.Burns-Mediator.com