Among the many financial issues to be decided in a divorce or separation, child and spousal support are perhaps the most critical. Your divorce should not leave you incapable of caring for yourself or your children, nor should it require you to pay excessively. There are many unique and creative ways to deal with child and spousal support.
Whether there is a home, retirement benefits, vehicles, unusual debts, or undisclosed business income, our attorneys can discuss the ramifications of your finances and how to best deal with support issues. We will provide you with our experience and our advice as to child support. We fully understand the laws governing child support and the options available to you, including opting out, which means that a party may be forced to pay more than the usual amount of child support in certain cases and/or the parties may agree to accept far less than the usual child support in some cases. In some instances no child support is paid.
Spousal support, formerly called alimony and sometimes known as spousal maintenance, is equally important. Many options exist for dealing with spousal support. We will discuss the tax ramifications of spousal support, as well as offsetting spousal support with other properties such as pensions and/or equity in a home. We will provide you with the law of spousal support and the possibility of modifying spousal support. We will advise you as to the ramifications of agreeing to a spousal support Order or waiving spousal support.
CHILD SUPPORT
Child support is statutory. It is handled by the CSSA Guidelines. Quite simply, the CSSA Guidelines provide a percentage of the non-custodial parent’s income. In order to arrive at child support, the income between the parties is combined. Thereafter, FICA and state tax (.0765%) are taken out. The remainder is the adjusted combined gross for child support purposes. From that portion, a percentage is taken, 17% for one child, 25% for two children, 29% for three children, and so on. That number will be the combined annual child support figure. This will then be divided based on the pro rata share of the parents’ income. It will then be split over twelve months or fifty-two weeks. It is simpler if we consider only the non-custodial parent’s income (although the Courts consider the combined…it comes out almost the same to the dollar). For example, if a non-custodial parent earns $80,000.00 and has one child it will be calculated as follows: $80,000.00 x .0765% equals $6,120.00 (permissible deduction). $80,000.00 minus $6,120.00 equals $73,880.00. This is the adjusted gross of the non-custodial parent’s income for child support purposes. The adjusted gross is then calculated as $73,880.00 x .17% for the sum of $12,559.60 (the annual child support obligation of the non-custodial parent). This sum, $12,559.60 divided by 52 equals $241.53 a week. You are to take the weekly sum of $241.53 times 4.3 for a sum of $1,038.50 per month. All family law and divorce attorneys know that there are 4.3 weeks in each month. Litigants come to learn this very quickly.
WHAT DOES CHILD SUPPORT COVER?
It covers the needs of a child and, for the most part, food, clothing, shelter and support. The non-custodial parent should not have to hear about these items. However, the non-custodial parent cannot and should never seek an accounting of the child support, because he or she is not entitled to it. In our scenario, the non-custodial parent is paying $1,038.50 a month for one child. He or she can never ask the custodial parent where the money is going. It’s going wherever the custodial parent feels it should go. End of story.
Child support does not include (and therefore this is additional) daycare. Daycare will be handled as an additional expense. This is quite unfortunate for many non-custodial parents. For example, in our scenario our non-custodial parent was paying $241.53 a week in child support. If the custodial parent is earning a meager salary and the daycare bill is $400.00 a month, our custodial parent could be spending more than half of the daycare bill. In addition to the child support, that’s doubling the amount of child support and making it difficult for him or her to live.
Child support, according to the Child Support Standards Act, uses the child support percentages of 17% for one child, 25 percent for two children, etc. by the total parent’s income or the total income of both parents if it is less than $80,000.00. Note, when the income of both parents exceeds $80,000.00, the law permits, but does not require the use of the child support percentages in calculating the child support obligation on the income above $80,000.00. It is our experience that in the Counties of Suffolk and Nassau, the Judges will not hesitate, not for one minute, to apply the percentages up to $160,000.00 worth of combined income. This is based on thousands of child support cases that we have had over the years. This is a real number that is based on our experience.
When child support cannot be obtained on “true income” because a party has either impoverished themselves or is hiding money, the Courts can impute income based on an analysis of that party’s expenditures. For example, if the non-custodial parent has a business that claims to earn only $30,000.00 a year, yet the non-custodial parent seems to be spending $70,000.00 a year with respect to living expenses, autos, etc., the Court will impute income far in excess of the $70,000.00 (up to $140,000.00 or double the expenses). In addition, if a party is simply not working or has impoverished themselves, the Courts will force them to pay child support based on what they could be making if they decided to get a job. There are always cases where people cannot find jobs in their field; will appear in Court with dozens of resumes and rejection letters; and will otherwise be unable to support themselves as they previously did. We are well-versed in representing the person who no longer has such an income and the person who is claiming the income still exists. We have handled hundreds and hundreds of cases where we have been able to find income that “didn’t exist” and we have also been extremely successful in reducing child support obligations for people who can no longer make income due to disability, loss of job, or a shrinking market place.
The use of financial appraisers and actuaries is something that we are very comfortable with at Bryan L. Salamone & Associates, P.C. We have an excellent relationship with various appraisers and actuaries, and we are able to show streams of income and the valuation of certain businesses that are claimed to be “low-income” but which are actually thriving. We have the expertise and the knowledge to prosecute or defend any child support case. We have handled cases where the non-custodial parent is earning seven figures per year (in the millions) and where the non-custodial parent is living below the current poverty income guideline for a single person as reported by the United States Department of Health and Inhuman Services ($10,000.00 or less).
SPOUSAL SUPPORT/MAINTENANCE/ALIMONY
In many cases maintenance is ordered. We are well-versed in obtaining maintenance for our clients, as well as representing clients who wish to seize or reduce maintenance. Maintenance is different than child support, as it is maintaining a standard of living to which the spouse (ex-spouse) is entitled. Maintenance can be rehabilitative, wherein a spouse is seeking maintenance to go to school for three years or otherwise to refrain from entering the work place until the youngest child enters school (age 6 or 7). Maintenance can be “lifetime” and, for short- to medium-term marriages it is often one-third of the length of the marriage. Maintenance, unlike child support, is taxable to the person who receives it and tax deductible to the person who is paying it. Maintenance may cease on certain terminating events such as the cohabitation of the person receiving maintenance with a paramour or romantic partner.
CHILD SUPPORT TERMINATION
Child support terminates when the child becomes twenty-one in New York; or when the child is eighteen if they live away from home and are self supporting; if the child enters into the military; if the child marries; if the child dies; or the party paying child support obtains custody of the child.
Maintenance is terminated at a specific amount or if it is non-durational (lifetime) upon the death of the person receiving maintenance; their remarriage; together with other additional factors.
CONCLUSION ON SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE
When it comes time to hire an attorney to obtain support, whether it is child support or maintenance, you want an attorney who has the experience to get the job done. We have handled thousands of cases. Each and every attorney in our office has handled hundreds of cases involving maintenance and child support. Based on the Unified Court System and the volume of our firm, we handle more child support and maintenance cases than any other firm in Nassau or Suffolk County, and we have six dedicated Associates who do nothing but divorce and family law. We have the experience to handle your matter.
With respect to defending a person from child support and maintenance, we have the experience and know-how to work on both sides of this fence. We can reduce child support and terminate maintenance if the facts are in our favor. We have been very successful through the use of financial appraisal companies and actuaries, together with business appraisals, to show that either a business has much more money than a party is claiming or that a business has less money than the party seeking support is claiming.
We welcome the challenge of maintenance and child support cases. We urge you to contact us with your most complex cases, and we will rise to the challenge and earn our fees by obtaining the results you need.
