Child Support Demystified: Key Terms and Concepts You Need to Know

After a divorce, child support payments are an important means of financial support. Understanding how child support works and how it is calculated is essential to both parents.

“Child support is financial assistance that one parent provides to the other to help cover the costs of raising a child after a divorce or separation,” says Matthew Dolan, founding partner at Dolan Divorce Lawyers. “How child support is calculated differs from state to state; however, it generally considers factors such as the terms of the parenting plan, the income of the parents, the number of minor children, child care costs that either party may incur, as well as medical expenses associated with the children.”

Key Takeaways

• Child support is money one parent pays to the other to assist with the costs of raising a child.
• Child support lasts until the child graduates high school or reaches the age of 18.
• Failing to pay child support has serious consequences, including wage garnishment, suspension of a driver’s license, and jail time.

What is a key concept about child support that is important to understand?

“You generally need to understand that the child support amount depends (on) which parent has primary physical custody of the child, along with the income and expenses of each parent,” Dolan says.

Key Child Support Terms

What child support terms are important to know?

Lucia Ramirez Levias, partner at DuBois Levias Law Group, offers these four key definitions:

• Child support order: A legal document issued by the court that outlines the financial responsibilities of each parent
• Mutual agreement: The ideal scenario where both parents agree on child support terms before presenting them to the court
• Mediation: A process where a neutral third party helps parents negotiate child support terms, often reducing legal costs and conflict
• Court determination: If parents cannot agree, a judge will decide on child support terms based on financial documents and legal guidelines.

Lewis Landerholm, founding partner of Pacific Cascade Legal, says divorcing parents also need to understand the difference between obligor and obligee and gross income and net income.

“The obligor is the parent who is ordered to pay the child support, while the obligee is the parent who receives child support,” Landerholm explains. “It’s also important to understand the difference between gross income and net income. Gross income is a person’s total income, before taxes and deductions, and is a key factor in calculating child support. Net income is your take-home pay—the amount of income after taxes and deductions.”

What If You Don’t Pay Child Support?

What happens if you are late or skip child support payments?

“Late or skipped child support payments can have serious consequences,” says Marina Shepelsky, managing partner at Shepelsky Law Group. “These may include wage garnishment, interception of tax refunds, suspension of driver’s or professional licenses, and even jail time. It’s important to stay current with payments to avoid these penalties.”

When Will Child Support Payments Finish?

How long do child support payments continue?

“Child support payments typically continue until the child reaches the age of 18 or graduates from high school, whichever is later. In some cases, payments may continue if the child has special needs or if the parents agree to extend support for college expenses,” Shepelsky says.

Divorce is a challenging time for all families. Establishing child support payments is just one of the key factors in a divorce.

“If you’re going through a divorce proceeding, remember: Be patient. Keep your eye on the prize,” Shepelsky says. “Some divorces take years to complete! There may be a lot of issues to resolve, from custody, parenting plan, and visitations to the complex financial issues of child support. Find a solution that sets your children up safely and securely, including their finances and emotional well-being.”

The Bottom Line

Divorce is a difficult time, and child support payments are important financial components. With child support payments, one parent pays financial assistance to the other parent for the upbringing of a child. Child support is based on a number of factors, including both parents’ gross incomes, the costs of raising a child, and a child’s medical expenses.

Child support payments last until the child turns 18 or graduates from high school. Some parents choose to extend child support payments to help meet college expenses. Having a special needs child is another reason why parents may choose to extend child support payments.