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Child & Spousal Support
by Andrew H. Sargent, MbA, JD

Money is power. Money is freedom. Lack of Money is dependency and limitations. Money triggers strong emotion. When you couple these factors with the emotions in a divorce you begin to understand why people fight so bitterly. To avoid useless fights and wasted time and efforts lets look at the law and underlying purpose.

Child Support A parent has a duty to provide for his/her children. It is hard to find any source that disagrees with this idea. Notice this does not say the father has a duty. Nor does it say the mother has a duty. What this says is BOTH have a duty to provide for their children. This is the basic premise of the child support laws. If you accept this then you have made a major step toward dealing rationally with child support.

What is My Duty? Washington state law says both parents have the duty to provide for their children. It does not specify an amount that you will have to pay to meet your duty. What is does is give a standard that is based upon the income of BOTH parents. This is the state guideline amount. If you try to differ from this then you must explain to the court why.

Both Incomes The methodology is simple. We take the net income of the father and the net income of the mother. We add them together come up with a total. We then take this total and look it up in a table. The table gives us the total combined amount both parents are required to pay. The amount each is liable for is the same percentage as their income.

For example:

Assume
Husband earns $2,000, Wife $1,000. H is liable for 2/3 and Wife for 1/3. Assume each earns $2,000. Then each is liable for 1/2. Assume W earns $3,000 and H earns $1,000. W is liable for 3/4 H for 1/4

Where does the child live? Note we are not concerned where the child lives. At this point the child could live with either parent or with neither. The amount is not effected by where the child lives.

Special Needs, Medical insurance, Uncovered Medical Costs, Day Care etc.
We now start adding the extras. Does the child have special needs. Medical, Emotional, etc. Each parent is responsible for these amount based upon their income. The percentage we discussed above in Both Incomes.

Credit for Payments Once the final amount is determined then each spouse gets credit for direct payments made. If H provides health insurance and it is automatically deducted from his paycheck he gets credit. After you subtract the direct payments you get the net amount.

Who Pays Whom? Now where the child lives comes into play. The non-custodial parent, the one that the child does not live with pays the custodial parent.

Is there a limit? As a general rule you will not have to pay more than about 45% of you income for all your children. Since some people have children from a number of marriages this could mean the amount for the last child is reduced.

Live Ins, Not Working, Underemployment
Live ins. The court can count the income of a significant other or a new spouse in determining your net income for child support. This is a gray area so discuss it with your attorney.

Not Working or Underemployed You can not lower you liability by stopping work. It is based upon your earning for the past two years and/or your potential earnings if you are not working by choice. Income can be imputed (assigned) if all else fails. Remember - you are not hurting you ex- you are cheating your children

. Spousal Support Either spouse may be entitled to spousal support. (commonly called alimony) The principle is: A spouse my be entitle to support for a reasonable time that is necessary to rehabilitate the supported spouse to reenter the job market and become self supporting.

Factors that determine: length of marriage (usually around 10 years is required) education of supported spouse, health, skills, time out of job market. etc. A fifty year old high school graduate who has been married for 30 years and never worked will require more time to become self supporting than a 50 year old PHD who has worked through out the marriage.

Other Assets When looking at support current income is the key unless there are significant other factors such as under employment, special needs of the child or ex etc. Hiding or transferring assets if detected will not lower or avoid your responsibility.