If you have children, you have a responsibility to support them. In most states this obligation continues until the children marry, die, join the military, finish high school, obtain full-time employment, or otherwise become emancipated. Some states end the obligation at age eighteen; others extend it to age twenty-one. Ask your lawyer about the law in your state.

Historically, child support orders varied widely from state to state and from county to county. Child support was based on the reasonable needs of the child and the payor's ability to pay. This arrangement gave judges a lot of discretion in determining child support awards. Often the spouse ordered to pay child support didn't pay, so households with children experienced significant reductions in living standard.

Creating Guidelines

In the 1980s, Congress responded to growing concerns about the impoverishment of children of divorce and the increasing number of single-parent families on welfare. Congress passed child support enforcement amendments that required all states to develop guidelines by October 1, 1987, or risk losing the federal contribution to their welfare programs. States responded, and today all states have child support guidelines. Even though these guidelines have improved the process for obtaining child support, there are still many people who don't pay their support regularly or on time.

Three Primary Approaches

At present, there are three primary approaches implemented by different states to determine the amount of child support. The first approach is based on percentage of income and only considers the income of the noncustodial parent. States that use this approach have developed a chart that includes the income of the payor, the number of children, and percentage to be paid. Percentages vary based on income, number of children, and in some cases the age of children. This approach, which makes certain assumptions about the payor's ability to pay child support, is based on a formula rather than on the child's needs. It does not take into consideration the custodial parent's income.

The second and most common approach is the income shares model. The idea here is that the child should receive the same percentage of parental income as if the parties were living together. The incomes of both the custodial and noncustodial parent are considered in this model. Using both incomes and a chart that determines the percentage of parental income to be paid per number of children, the court will calculate the amount of support the child should receive from both parents. That amount will then be divided between parents based on their proportion of earnings to the total income. The noncustodial parent will then pay his share to the custodial parent.

The third and least common approach, called the Melson formula, requires the court to determine the basic needs of each parent and then set the child support. But because the majority of states use a percentage of income approach, most of the current child support discussion is focused on determining the income of the payor.

All three approaches generally fix an amount called the self-support reserve. The self-support reserve is an amount of money that the state has determined is the minimum amount needed by a person to live. If the amount of child support you are supposed to pay leaves you with income that falls below the self-support reserve, the Court will usually reduce the child support amount. If your income is below the self-support reserve before the court even calculates child support, most states provide for a minimum amount of support to be paid like $25 or $50 per month. In all three approaches, a provision is usually made for deviation from the formula if you are the parents of a child with special needs. If you have extraordinary expenses, make the court aware and be prepared to show proof of these expenses when you go to court.