Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 3, March 22, 2024
A. Shared
Parenting Arrangements When both parents are deemed fit, and other relevant
logistical circumstances apply, active participation in the life of the
child(ren) by the parent without custody should be encouraged in order to
ensure the maximum involvement by both parents in the life of the child(ren). .
The amount of visitation, however, is left to the discretion of the judge in
consideration of the various factors of the Children's Code, and the use of the
calculation on Worksheet C in shared physical custody cases is advisory and not
compulsory. The court should consider each case individually before applying
the adjustment to ensure that it does not produce a substantial negative effect
on the child(ren)'s standard of living.
For the purpose of this section, shared physical custody means
that each parent has court-ordered visitation with the children overnight for
more than 109 overnights each year (30%) and that both parents contribute to
the expenses of the child(ren) in addition to the payment of child
support.
If a parent with shared physical custody does not exercise it
as ordered by the court, the parent to whom support is owed may petition the
court for a reversion to the level of support calculated under the guidelines
without the shared parenting adjustment. The shared physical custody adjustment
is an annual adjustment only and should not be used when the proportion of
overnights exceeds 30% for a shorter period, e.g., a month. For example, child
support is not abated during a month-long summer visitation. This adjustment
should be applied without regard to legal custody of the child(ren). Legal
custody refers to decision-making authority with respect to the child(ren). If
the 109 overnights threshold is reached for shared physical custody, this
adjustment may be applied even if one parent has sole legal custody.
1. Child support for cases with shared
physical custody shall be calculated using Worksheet C. This worksheet should
be used only for shared physical custody as defined above.
2. The basic child support obligation shall
be multiplied by 1.5 to arrive at a shared custody basic child support
obligation. The shared custody basic child support obligation is apportioned to
each parent according to his or her income. In turn, a child support obligation
is computed for each parent by multiplying that parent's portion of the shared
custody child support obligation by the percentage of time the child(ren)
spend(s) with that parent. The respective basic child support obligations are
then offset, with the parent owing more basic child support paying the
difference between the two amounts, subject to the provisions below. The
transfer for the basic obligation for the parent owing less basic child support
shall be set at zero dollars.
3. If
a parent has more than 109 overnights but less than 128 overnights, a graduated
support obligation should be determined. The graduated support obligation
reflects a transition between the full shared-physical custody obligation and
the sole custody obligation, thus requiring the completion of both Worksheet A
and Worksheet C. The sole custody amount is calculated from Worksheet A and the
full shared-physical custody order is calculated from Worksheet C. The
graduated support obligation is determined by subtracting an amount from the
Worksheet A obligation. This amount is the difference between the worksheet A
and worksheet C values, multiplied by the number of overnights more than 109
divided by the difference between 128 and 110 overnights. If positive, the
graduated support obligation would then be treated as the basic child support
obligation for that parent. Otherwise, it would be treated as the basic child
support obligation for the other parent.
4. Adjustments for each parent's additional
direct expenses on the child(ren) are made by adding child(ren)'s share of any
reimbursed child health care expenses, work-related child care expenses and any
other extraordinary expenses agreed to by the parents or ordered by the
tribunal, less any extraordinary credits agreed to by the parent or ordered by
the tribunal according to their income share. In turn, each parent's net share
of additional direct expenses is determined by subtracting the parent's actual
direct expenses on the child(ren)'s share of any unreimbursed child health care
expenses, work-related child care expenses and any other extraordinary expenses
agreed to by the parents or ordered by the tribunal from their share. The
parent with a positive net share of additional direct expenses owes the other
parent the amount of his or her net share of additional direct expenses. The
parent with the zero or a negative net share of additional expenses owes zero
dollars for additional direct expenses.
5. The final amount of the child support
order is determined by summing what each parent owes for the basic support
obligation and additional direct expenses as defined in subsections (2), (3)
and (4) of this section. The respective sums are then offset, with the parent
owing more paying the other parent the difference between the two
amounts.
B. Split
Custody Split custody refers to custody arrangements where there are two or
more children and each parent has physical custody of at least one child. Using
these guidelines, the court should determine a theoretical support payment for
the child or children in the custody of the other. In split custody
arrangements the guidelines arrive at separate computations for the child or
children residing with each parent. The obligations are then offset, with the
parent owing the larger amount paying the difference to the other
parent.