Child Maintenance Payments?

Question

Me and my wife recently seperated amicably. We have 2 children together, 5 and 2 and both have full time jobs. I have asked her to let me know what she expects off of me maintenance wise. Neither of us have any idea about this sort of thing.
What is the normal thing? Is it a percentage of my wage? Is it a set amount per child?

Any help will be appreciated to get us out of this rut

Answer 1

There is a website you can go to, with your state figures on it, and calculate from it. Type in "child support" in the search engine, and go from there.

Answer 2

It would probably be best to contact a lawyer or maybe the state's child support organization. They can tell you what the state uses for a guideline to set child support. They might even calculate it for you. This would be the best way to go in case the two of you decide to go ahead with the divorce you will be current in child support and they will not hit you up for back child support you have already been paying. Also make sure to keep copies of checks you pay to her with child support written in the memo part of the check for the same reason, proof you have been paying her. This is for your own protection, in case something would happen to make the amicable separation turn into a nasty divorce or even that the state feels you have not paid your due amount. Good luck.

Answer 3

Well, I believe it's supposed to be 17% for the first child and slightly lower for any additional children. You really don't have to go through all of that since the both of you sound like you're not angry with each other. Just sit down together and work it out. Write out a list and agree on what the both of you will split. Or open a joint account for the children and the both of you put an equal amount in there. It's easier if the both of you can work it out between yourselves.

Answer 4

The standards are different everywhere you live. If you don't want to go through the courts a good way to figure it out is...
House hold expenses (rent/mortgage, utilities, food) divided by the number of persons living in household. then take the children's portion and subtract 50%
Clothing allowance 50%
School fees or child care 50%
Medical 50%
This is if you both make about the same money. If either of you makes substancially more then you can ajust the percentage

Answer 5

For 2 children, the norm is 25% of your wages. I would start paying now, or have it set in stone by the court. No matter how amicable you are now, you run the risk of not getting along in the future, and she can take you for back child support, plus interest, which can add up quickly. Best wishes!

Answer 6

It depends on several factors:
-The Gross Income of each parent
- child support & alimony payments to a prevoius family (would be deducted from your gross wages)
- who has full custody?
- how many overnight visits do you have a year? if its over a certain amount ( like around 93) then you get a credit for that.
- the amount of health insurance paid on the children by either spouse
- the amount of chlid care work related or educatoin related paid by either parent
-extraordinary medical expenese paid by either parent.

it also varies by state. I for example, am from Colorado. I make $20,000 gross as does my babys father. ive cacluated for us. with me having full time custody and paying out $500 in day care and $350 in health insurance premiums on my daughter, and him having no children from a prevoius marraige. He owes me $759 a month.... if however i had 0 day care cost and 0 health insurance cost, he would owe me $359. this should give you an idea. go to your states court web page and go to the self help center, do some surfing around you should be able to find the actual worksheet that the court uses, along with instructions to fill it out and calculate a payment. good luck

Answer 7

There is absolutely a worksheet based on both sets of wages. It differs from State to State. You should be able to obtain one easily from your Court House. Agreeing on these things will save the money for the children and not a legal hassle with attorney fees. Such good luck to you.

Answer 8

my partner and i split up and we 3 children, we just sat down and worked out our incomes and what we both needed to pay each month...rent, elec, gas etc......we then worked out what the kids required each month and went from there some months are different but i get an average of £150-£200 per month, we go halves on birthdays chrismases etc.....its a good idea to make things as amicable as possible in these circumstances and i strongly reccommend that the both of you get together and come to an arrangement......hope this helps

Answer 9

The normal procedure is to have her file for temporary child support set-up with an attorney. They will take your income and hers and determine the appropriate level set by the state. If you don't want to go to all that trouble, most states have a website that you can use to calculate it, although some are computerized and some are on papers. Go to your state website and see if you can find any resources.

Answer 10

I agree totally with jemaloo04.
If things turn unfriendly then the lawyers will resort to legal calculators and then the arguments will start.
But if it's amicable, then don't waste money on paying lawyers to argue, sit down and work out what you can afford and what is comfortable for both of you and the kids.
That's what my partner and I did, and I'm paying voluntary maintenance.

Answer 11

DO NOT go to the csa. They will ruin your friendship and destroy your finances. The 'rule' for the csa is 20% of your wage (for 2 kids) after deducting tax, insurance, pension, housing costs. But that may be a bit steep. Work out what you can afford - or maybe give her a little money and take responsibility for paying for holidays or school uniforms or something.