2007 changes to GA child support guidelines
Previously, child support was a flat percentage of the non-custodial parent's annual income. Under the new 2007 law, child support is based on a shared income model. Both parents are required to support their children. The law office of E. Noreen Banks-Ware, P.C. can help you to understand and comply with the new guidelines.
The shared income approach adds together both parents’ gross incomes and calculates support proportionate to each parent’s earnings. For example, if the father earns $3,000 per month and the mother earns $2,000, their total adjusted gross income is $5,000 a month. The father's percentage of support owed would be 60 percent and the mother's would be 40 percent.
The above example is an over-simplification of how child support is actually calculated because other factors also determine payment. Additional factors that the court considers may include:
- Health insurance costs
- Childcare expenses
- Self-employment taxes
- Child Social Security benefits
- Other children pre-existing child support orders
- Parenting time adjustment
- Extraordinary educational costs
- Uninsured healthcare expenses
- A parent's extraordinary needs (medical, education, etc.)
- Low income revisions
- High income revisions
- Mortgage payments
- Extraordinary travel expenses for parenting time or shared physical custody
- Split parenting
While child support calculators are available at the Georgia Child Support Commission website (www.georgiacourts.org/csc/ ), you should seek legal help to make sure all aspects of the law are applied to your child support case.
Child support tips for self-employed parents
Child support calculations for self-employed parents are complicated, making good record-keeping a must. An LLC or corporation requires current tax filing, separate records for personal and business finances, separate bank accounts, and no co-mingled assets. Otherwise, it is easy for the court to misconstrue income or expenses and rule inaccurately based on wrong financial records.
Seek experienced legal help from a child support lawyer in Georgia
Contact E. Noreen Banks-Ware, P.C. today to discuss child support.