The Basics of Calculating Child Support in Maryland and D.C.

Child support is a universal feature of the divorce process when the spouses involved have children. This is true in every state across the country. All jurisdictions across the U.S. believe that natural parents have a financial obligation to their children, and this financial obligated is encoded directly into the legal system. However, even though child support is a universal part of the divorce process, the procedures for calculating, modifying and enforcing child support differ according to jurisdiction.

The law on child support is actually quite a bit more complicated than most people assume. Many people assume that child support is as simple as making a quick calculation and then just enforcing this amount indefinitely. The truth, however, is that the law on child support has many variables. There are specific rules which apply to all the different aspects of child support, such as what is included in a person’s “gross income” for child support purposes, determining custodial parent status for child support purposes, when a support order may be changed, and so forth. In this post, we will give a simple overview of how child support is calculated here in the State of Maryland and in Washington, D.C.

Calculating Child Support in Maryland

Like the system in D.C., Maryland uses a proportionate model – i.e. the “income shares model” – to determine child support obligations. There are other similarities between the Maryland’s system and the D.C. system, but there are differences as well. To calculate child support amounts in a given situation, the guides in Maryland look at several factors to make a computation. The factors are as follows: each parent’s actual monthly income, each parent’s adjusted monthly income, any work-related child care expenditures, health insurance expenditures, any other “extraordinary” medical related expenditures, and each parent’s financial statement. Financial statements will need to be submitted to the court in all instances.

As mentioned, Maryland uses a proportionate income model, and so each spouse’s proportionate share of the combined gross income is relevant to the percentage a noncustodial parent pays. However, the amount paid by a noncustodial parent is also impacted by the time each parent has with the child. Maryland has separate formulas which are used when parents have primary physical custody and shared physical custody.

Calculating Child Support in Washington, D.C.

When one parent has primary custody – in other words, when a parent holds status as the “custodial parent” – D.C. has guidelines which determine how a child support amount is calculated in a given situation. The noncustodial parent makes payments to the custodial parent, and this is because the custodial parent is presumed to be meeting his or her obligations on a day to day basis. D.C. uses a proportionate share model when it comes to determining support amounts; this means, for example, that if the noncustodial parent earns 65% of the combined total among the parents, that the noncustodial parent pays 65% of the support.

To calculate the precise amount, each parent computes his or her gross income, and then also adjusted gross income. The adjusted gross income makes allowances for certain expenses, such as medical care for the children. The child support amount depends on the number of children. So, parents use the guides to determine the amount of child support, and then the obligation for each parent is calculated using the proportionate share of the gross income.

In D.C., parents can actually develop their own child support obligations among themselves, but the agreements have to be reviewed and approved by a judge. If the amounts differ from the amounts which would be ordered by D.C.’s system, then a judge has to approve this arrangement, otherwise the default amounts apply.

Contact the Murphy Law Firm for More Information

If you want to know more about calculating child support, or another family law issue, get in touch with one of the family law attorneys at the Murphy Law Firm today by calling 240-219-8901.