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In most cases, the amount of child support payable by a non-custodial parent to a custodial parent is determined according to the Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines. Probably the most frequently occurring situation when the Guidelines do not apply is when the income of the payor spouse exceeds $100,000 or the parties' combined income exceeds $135,000. However, when income(s) brings child support outside the Guidelines, a judge will use the Guidelines as a starting point to determine what an appropriate amount of child support would be. The other common situation when the Child Support Guidelines do not apply is when both parents share physical custody of the children, either by the children spending equal amounts of time with each parent, or if one child lives primarily with one parent and the other child lives primarily with the other parent. In such a situation, often neither party pays child support to the other, or child support substantially deviates from the Guidelines, and both parties are responsible for providing for the children in their care.
The following document contains the Child Support Guidelines used in Massachusetts.
These CHILD SUPPORT GUIDELINES are effective February 15, 2002. _______________________________________________ COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE TRIAL COURT CHILD SUPPORT GUIDELINES N.B. THESE GUIDELINES APPLY TO CURRENT CHILD SUPPORT ONLY. THEY DO NOT APPLY TO ALIMONY, THE DIVISION OF MARITAL PROPERTY, THE PAYMENT OF ARREARS, RESTITUTION, OR REIMBURSEMENT, NOR DO THEY APPLY WHERE THE PARTIES HAVE MADE AN AGREEMENT WHICH IS APPROVED BY THE COURT AND IS FOUND BY THE COURT TO BE FAIR AND REASONABLE, AND MAKES ADEQUATE PROVISION FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE CHILD. THERE SHALL BE A PRESUMPTION THAT THESE GUIDELINES APPLY, ABSENT AGREEMENT OF THE PARTIES, IN ALL CASES SEEKING THE ESTABLISHMENT OR MODIFICATION OF A CHILD SUPPORT ORDER. A SPECIFIC, WRITTEN FINDING THAT THE GUIDELINES WOULD BE UNJUST OR INAPPROPRIATE AND THAT THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED IN A PARTICULAR CASE SHALL BE SUFFICIENT TO REBUT THE PRESUMPTION IN THAT CASE. THESE REVISED GUIDELINES, IN AND OF THEMSELVES, DO NOT CONSTITUTE A SUFFICIENT CHANGE OF CIRCUMSTANCES TO WARRANT A MODIFICATION OF THE CHILD SUPPORT ORDER. The child support guidelines are formulated to be used by the justices of the Trial Court, whether the parents of the children are married or unmarried, in setting temporary, permanent or final orders for current child support, in deciding whether to approve agreements for child support, and in deciding cases that are before the court to modify existing orders. A modification may be allowed upon showing a discrepancy of 20% or more between an established order and a proposed new order calculated under these guidelines. The presumption establishing a proposed new order may be rebutted in cases where the amount of support required under the guidelines is due to the fact that the amount of the current support order resulted from a rebuttal of the guideline amount or by an allowance of an agreement of the parties and there has not been a change in the circumstances which resulted in a rebuttal of the guideline amount. The guidelines are intended to be of assistance to members of the bar and to litigants in determining what level of payment would be expected of them given the relative income levels of the parties. In all orders where an order for child support is requested, a guideline worksheet must be filled out, regardless of the income of the parties. In establishing these guidelines, due consideration has been given to the following principles:
I. INCOME DEFINITION A. For purposes of these guidelines income is defined as gross income from whatever source. Those sources include, but are not limited to, the following:
B. In individual cases, the court may choose to disregard overtime income or income derived from a second job. However, consideration of such income may be appropriate in certain instances such as those where such income constituted a regular source of income when the family was intact.
II. FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED IN SETTING THE CHILD SUPPORT ORDER
These guidelines are based upon traditional custody and visitation arrangements. Where the parties agree to shared physical custody or the court determines that shared physical custody is in the best interests of the children, these guidelines are not applicable. The guidelines are also not meant to apply for cases in which there is split physical custody, i.e., each parent has physical custody of one or more children. 2. Visitation These guidelines recognize that children must be allowed to enjoy the society and companionship of both parents to the greatest extent possible. The court may adjust the amount of child support beyond the 2 percent range (see Basic Order, Section III. A.) after taking into consideration the parties’ actual time sharing with the children and the relative resources, expenses, and living standards of the two households.
In some instances the non-custodial parent may incur extraordinary travel-related expenses in order to exercise court ordered visitation rights. To foster parental involvement with the children, the court may wish to consider such extraordinary expenses in determining the support order.
1) Health Insurance
When the court makes an order for child support, the court shall determine whether the obligor under the order has health insurance on a group plan available to him/her through an employer or organization or has health insurance or other health coverage available to him/her at reasonable cost that may be extended to cover the child for whom support is ordered. When the court makes a determination that the obligor has such coverage, the court shall include in the support order a requirement that the obligor exercise the option of additional coverage in favor of such child, unless the obligee has already provided such coverage for the child at a lesser cost (except for health insurance funded under public assistance programs), or has and prefers to continue such coverage irrespective of cost.
If family health coverage is to be provided by the obligor, the support order should be reduced by one half the cost of family coverage. It is the responsibility of the obligor under the support order who is seeking such a reduction in the order to produce proof satisfactory to the court of the existence of such family coverage under the plan, or no such reduction shall be allowed. However, there shall be no reduction if the obligor has a preexisting family health insurance policy which could be amended to name the additional dependents to the policy at no cost to the obligor. Should health insurance not be provided for any period for which it is ordered, the credit for the premium payment shall be revoked and the order shall be increased by the amount of the credit during the period of noncompliance.
If family health coverage is provided by the obligee, the support order should be increased by one half the cost of the coverage. It is the responsibility of the obligee who is seeking an increase in the order to produce proof satisfactory to the court of the existence of such family coverage under the plan, or no such increase shall be allowed. However, there shall be no increase if the obligee has a preexisting family health insurance policy which could be amended to name the additional dependents at no cost to the obligee. Should health insurance not be provided for any period for which it is ordered, the increase allowed for the premium payment shall be revoked and the order shall be decreased during the period when health insurance is not provided.
2) Routine Uninsured Medical and Dental Expenses
The custodial parent shall be responsible for the payment of the first $100 per child per year for routine medical and dental expenses. For amounts above that limit, the court shall allocate costs on a case by case basis. No reduction in the child support order should be allowed.
3) Uninsured Extraordinary Medical and Dental Expenses
The payment of uninsured extraordinary medical and dental expenses incurred by the minor children, absent agreement of the parties, shall be treated on a case by case basis. (Example: orthodontia, psychological/psychiatric counseling, etc.) In such cases, where the court makes a determination that such medical and dental services are necessary and are in the best interests of the child, consideration toward a reduction in the child support order should be given.
If the court makes a determination that either or both parties is earning substantially less than he or she could through reasonable effort, the court may consider potential earning capacity rather than actual earnings. In making this determination, the court shall take into consideration the education, training, and past employment history of the party. These standards are intended to be applied where a finding has been made that the party is capable of working and is unemployed, working part-time or is working a job, trade, or profession other than that for which he/she has been trained. This determination is not intended to apply to a custodial parent with children who are under the age of six living in the home.
To the extent that prior orders for spousal and child support are actually being paid, the court should deduct those payments from the gross income before applying the formula to determine the child support order. This section applies only to orders for child support for children other than those who are the subject of the pending action.
In instances where the non-custodial parent has remarried and has children by a subsequent marriage, the court should examine such circumstances closely to determine in the allocation of available resources whether consideration beyond Part II Section I (Prior Orders of Support) should be given when the custodial parent of children borne of the first marriage, or subsequent marriages appears before the court seeking a modification of the existing child support order. Expenses of a subsequent family may be used as a defense to a request to modify an order seeking an increase in the existing order, but such expenses should not be considered a reason to decrease existing prior orders. In actions pursuant to G.L. c.209C, this paragraph shall be construed to apply equally to children born out of wedlock.
III. CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGATION SCHEDULE
BASIC ORDER The basic child support obligation, based upon the income of the non-custodial parent is as follows:
For children in excess of 3 covered by the order, the support shall be no less than that for 3 children; should a judge order support at the 3 child level, written findings shall describe the circumstances of the particular case which warrant the minimum order. Within the discretion of the court, and in consideration of the totality of the circumstances of the parties, the Basic Order may be either increased or decreased by 2%. An adjustment of 2% shall not be considered a deviation. AGE DIFFERENTIAL The above orders are to be increased to reflect the cost of raising older children. The following is intended to be applied to the age of the oldest child in the household for whom support is sought under the pending action.
CUSTODIAL PARENT INCOME ADJUSTMENT Where the custodial parent works and earns income in excess of $20,000 after consideration of child care expenses, the support order is to be reduced by the percentage that the excess represents in relation to the combined incomes of both parents minus the custodial parent’s disregard.
CHILD SUPPORT GUIDELINES WORKSHEET Court Docket #:__________________________ Date Worksheet
Completed: ________________
All provisions of the Guidelines should be reviewed prior to the
completion of the worksheet. These Guidelines will apply (absent a prior
agreement acceptable to both parties) in cases where combined gross income of
both parties does not exceed $135,000 and where the gross income of the
non-custodial parent does not exceed $100,000. Worksheets shall be completed
for all cases. 1. BASIC ORDER 2. ADJUSTMENT FOR AGE OF CHILDREN 3. CUSTODIAL PARENT INCOME ADJUSTMENT 4. CALCULATION OF FINAL ORDER 5. WEEKLY SUPPORT ORDER (B) - (C) + 4 (c) = $________________
SAMPLE WORKSHEET Court Docket #: 02D0109 Date Worksheet Completed: May 3, 2002 2 Children covered by order, ages 6 and 8 Non custodial weekly cost family group health insur. $24 1. BASIC ORDER a. Non custodial gross weekly income (less prior support orders actually paid for child/family b. Basic Child Support Order from chart 2. ADJUSTMENT FOR AGE OF CHILDREN a. If age of oldest child is 13 - 18, b. Adjusted order (A) + (2 a) (B) 193 3. CUSTODIAL PARENT INCOME ADJUSTMENT c. Less annual child care cost - 4,160 d. Custodial adjusted gross 3,840 e. Non custodial gross (annual) 40,000 f. Total available gross (d ) +(e) 43,840 g. Line 3(d) 3840 Line 3 (f) 43840 h. 3 (d) divided by 3 (f) 09 % i. Adjustment for custodial income 4. CALCULATION OF FINAL ORDER c. Less 50% weekly cost to obligor of family Or Plus 50% weekly cost of obligee’s family
BASIC CHILD SUPPORT ORDER
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