Is day care part of child support?

ldoo

Please help. I can't seem to get a straight answer, and my lawyer is in court. My STBXH (first time I've written that - I like it!) thinks it is. I think it's not.

Who's right? When calculating how much he'll give me, the custodial parent with a 60/40 split (at the moment), does his child support payment to me have the day care costs calculated into it?

Thanks for help!

CFjo2010

It varies by each State how the CS is determined.  If your LO is currently in childcarewhen the CS is established, sometimes the NCP's 1/2 of the childcare is calculated into their monthly support amount.  Sometimes it's calculated separately, meaning CS is $X plus 1/2 the cost of childcare. 

The only person who can give you a definite answer is your attorney or the local Child Support Agency (if you're using them).  Good luck!

ldoo

OK. Thanks!

Raspberry807

Varies by state.  In my county, they combine both parents income to determine an annual amount it should cost to raise the child(ren) listed out on a chart.  The annual daycare cost is added to it to come to a total. Then it's split by our income percentages - he makes 40% of our total income so he's expected to contribute 40% of the total to care for them.  Then he gets a credit off that amount for carrying them on his health insurance.  The total is divided by his 52 paychecks, and I get a direct deposit each week when he gets paid.

In this county, if the kids aren't in daycare when the original CS is ordered, you are told to request a modification with the new information, and they may adjust the CS amount.

dmndsr4eva

In my state the calculation is this:

Gross income minus child support minus medical insurance for each parent.  Then the income is totaled and divided.  Whoever is paying the child care basically gets "credit" for it. 

In my case we both pay child care but since he makes more money than me and I am the custodial parent he owes me child support but since he pays some day care it reduces the amount he owes me.

If you google child support worksheet and your state name you should be able to get the form to calculate the expected child support in your state given each of your current gross income and childcare expenses. 

FyreFlyeRush

In my state, it's a flat 20% (for one child) of income after Medicare and Single/1 filing + Insurance. Child support is a reimbursement of care, not specifically for any one item. Meaning, you can spend it however you want because it "all comes out in the wash"