New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 8 - SOCIAL SERVICES
Chapter 50 - CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM
Part 108 - ESTABLISHMENT AND MODIFICATION OF SUPPORT ORDER
Section 8.50.108.10 - BASIC CHILD SUPPORT SCHEDULE AND THE SELF-SUPPORT RESERVE

A. In any action to establish or modify child support, the child support guidelines schedule as set forth in this section shall be applied to determine the child support due and shall be a rebuttable presumption for the amount of such child support. The basic child support schedule is reviewed quadrennially by the child support guideline commission pursuant to Section 40-4-11.3 NMSA.

B. Effective January 1, 2024, the basic child support schedule incorporates a self-support reserve (SSR). The SSR is demonstrated in the shaded area of the basic child support schedule and provides that if the payer parent's income and number of children fall into the shaded area, only the payer-parent's income is considered in the child support calculation. As a result, the payer-parent is one hundred percent responsible for SSR adjusted child support obligation from the schedule. This ensures that the SSR is effective at considering basic subsistence needs of the payer-parent who has a limited ability to pay, even if the other parent has significantly more income and their combined income is above the SSR adjusted area of the schedule. Support calculation using the SSR method is reliant on using a worksheet A only and should not take into consideration childcare cost, medical expenses to include insurance premiums, and other appropriate expenses that are otherwise considered by the child support guidelines pursuant to Subparagraph (b) of Paragraph (2) of Subsection M of Section 40-4-11.1 NMSA, 1978.

C. For shared responsibility arrangements, the basic child support obligation shall be calculated using the basic child support schedule, worksheet B and instructions contained in Subsection M of Section 40-4-11 NMSA 1978. Support calculations using worksheet B are not subject to the SSR method.