Child Support
The parent who has physical custody of the child is entitled to assistance with the expenses of raising that child. While financial support was traditionally seen as the father's responsibility, all states now allow the court to require either parent to make child support payments to the custodial parent.
Alert
More and more states are moving to an income-based model for determining child support. This model takes the entire support the child should expect and divides it among the parents in proportion to their income. The income-based model assures that the parent with the larger income bears a greater share of the support obligation than the parent with a smaller income.
The amount of child support is determined by official guidelines. These guidelines designate a percentage of income as child support based on the number of children being supported and the income of the person paying support. Deviations from the child support guidelines are infrequent and may only be made for good cause. An example of
good cause is a child with a medical condition who requires additional support. Because nonpayment of child support is a social problem, many state statutes allow the court to order the employer of the non-custodial parent to automatically withhold the child support obligation.
