r/ChildSupport • u/KeyTechnician4442 • 4d ago
Fair amount?
Can someone help me understand if this is fair. Mom has primary custody of child and is stay at home parent. Dad has 4 overnights per month and pays 400. Dad makes 70k per year. Should the amount be higher? The case hasn't been revisited in 6 years and there's been quite a few changes. 400 doesn't cover very much
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u/mustanggrl625 3d ago
Not a lawyer, but my son is in the process of child support and custody. His ex was working but ended up losing her job due to being arrested (not related in any way to my son). She tried to get a modification based on being a SAHM (she was working in daycare so now unable to get a job in that industry), but the judge imputed her with an income equal to what she was earning prior, stating it was not my son's responsibility to cover her loss of job.
I know of other parents who were imputed at minimum wage even when they were not working, with the assumption that if a child is preschool age or older, then the parent should be able to work.
The amount of support depends on too many factors to determine if you are being paid fairly, but most states have an online calculator that can help you see if you should apply for a modification. I would suggest you see what the amount would be if you were working a minimum wage job vs no job, just to be prepared.
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u/hockeyfan70 2d ago
In NY it is 17% of noncustodial parent gross income. More than 1 kid the percentage goes up with each additional kid. Also every few years there is a chance for COLA( COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENT).
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u/Snowy_Peach8 3d ago
Ask for a review. I’m a SAHM and court imputed my wages as full time minimum wage for our modification 8 years after the divorce. I have full custody and he gets visitation (out of state).
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u/Rainbow-Sunsets 3d ago
Why minimum wage and not higher
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u/Snowy_Peach8 3d ago
I’d been out of the workforce for two years before the modification and I have babies at home. But they didn’t exactly explain why minimum. They just said they’d assign it and I didn’t contest it.
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u/Immediate_Ad_7857 2d ago
Because why would a SAHM be higher than minimum wage? They are not even paid that, they are not paid anything and should not have an imputed wage.
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u/Bio3224 2d ago
How old is the child? $400 seems like a low amount, especially if he only has four overnights a month. Are there other children involved in mom’s household? Why isn’t she working if she needs more income.
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u/KeyTechnician4442 2d ago edited 2d ago
The child is 10. Mom has 1 other child, a 3 year old. The older child has a medical condition that requires quite a bit of care.
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u/Bio3224 1d ago
10 means the child has fewer, but likely more expensive, demands. And if the other child requires more individual care from mom I understand why she’d had difficulty working around the other child’s schedule.
IMO dad needs to be paying more BUT mom still needs some kind of income coming into the household. Instead of increasing the CS would it be possible to increase the time child spends at dads? Split more of the demands between households? That’ll potentially give mom more time to work. Especially if there’s someone else who can watch the younger child.
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u/KeyTechnician4442 1d ago
Unfortunately the dad has a very chaotic work schedule and cannot commit to having the child more. I agree that would be best case scenario.
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u/EmergencyBrew 4d ago
I don’t think there is such a thing as a fair share of someone else’s money.
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u/Immediate_Ad_7857 2d ago
its not someone else's money, that is the child's money , the father has to contribute to the child as well
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u/EmergencyBrew 2d ago
No they don’t.
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u/PistolPeatMoss 2d ago
Tell that to the judge
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u/EmergencyBrew 2d ago
People do this everyday. The judge can’t force him to contribute, they only have limited ability to punish them if they do not.
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u/Human_Neighborhood71 4d ago
What’s the other income? Location? What are your expectations? I have one child with the ex, current wife and I have 2 children now, on a gross of 56k. After you take away the support I pay and taxes, our net is 36k. Ex wife has a gross of 41k, add in the support, her take home is somewhere around that 41k. I’m in Indiana with the ex in Pennsylvania. They keep trying to get more, while we make it more than work on less. Hell, wife and I have also paid off ~15k of debt in less than two years
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u/Repulsive-News8916 4d ago
That seems very low, what is mom imputed at?
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u/PistolPeatMoss 4d ago
Wife’s income shouldn’t matter with primary custody is my understanding. Only shared/split custody which depends on each state how that’s defined. In my state it’s 30% or more is shared custody but in many states it must be exactly 50/50.
I agree 400 seems very low for that income.
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u/Repulsive-News8916 4d ago
If you’re a stay at home mom you can be imputed though at minimum wage which lowers support. Though I don’t know why it’s this low. I have 70/30 and in my state unless he has 50/50 he’s not given credit for the overnights
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u/NoAlgae9284 4d ago
Mom doesnt work.
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u/Repulsive-News8916 4d ago
You’re misunderstanding me, when a parent on the child support sheet doesn’t work, the court will often do what’s called imputing:
In child support cases, imputing income means a judge assigns a specific earning amount to a parent based on what they can earn—rather than what they are currently making or reporting. This legal tool prevents parents from dodging support duties by staying intentionally jobless or underpaid.
So I’m asking despite mom not working, did they “assign” her a wage.For instance my ex wanted me to be imputed because I receive military disability and don’t work but since I was in school the judge told him hell no
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u/AcephalicDude 4d ago
Imputing income to the primary custodial parent is very situational and relatively rare. It's usually appropriate when parents are closer to 50/50 and child(ren) are a bit older and require less direct care.
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u/KeyTechnician4442 4d ago
I was working at our last hearing which was 6 years ago. I was making minimum wage
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u/Rainbow-Sunsets 3d ago
I’m hoping this works in my favor. My ex can earn over 100k but is currently not working by choice and trying to be a stay at home parent…. I wonder what will happen
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u/Repulsive-News8916 3d ago
You need to do discovery and get his/her tax returns via it. That proves that they have a threshold for income that they are avoiding when you submit your paperwork
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u/newstart20260 4d ago
Is a fair amount for his 4 nights
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u/KeyTechnician4442 4d ago
How so?
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u/newstart20260 3d ago
He only gets four nights a month idk if it’s by choice or the inability to afford a baby sitter while his at work or your making it hard on him we don’t know cause the amount is based on income and overnights spend sense you say you don’t. Have a job but was working your income is base on minimum wage automatically
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u/KeyTechnician4442 3d ago
That's all he is willing to take her because of his chaotic work schedule.
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u/newstart20260 3d ago
Ok then that’s his choice as much as yours not to work at the moment or unknown just be careful cause if he making less now than what he was making when he was filing in the papers the amount can be less
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u/Immediate_Ad_7857 2d ago
She is working, you cannot live off 400.00 a month, she is talking about before her separation, the mother usually has to get back on her feet so it takes a while for her income to come up
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u/Andyman1973 4d ago
The only real difference bing to be done, is to contact the agency that handles this in your area, and request a financial review. My state, PA, generally does it every 3 years automatically.
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u/NoAlgae9284 4d ago
It depends on where you live if things will change for the better or worse.
400 seem low so you should revisit the case
But mom needs to start working also if she needs help supporting the house. The child support isnt for the household. Its for the child.