Child Support Guidelines

Child Support, in both North Carolina and Virginia, is typically decided by guidelines. For families with very high incomes, the guidelines may not apply. While judges do not have to follow the guidelines, they often do. If the judge deviates from the guidelines, an explanation of the legal reasoning is usually provided by the judge.

The most important factors for the guidelines are each parent's income, the cost of daycare for a parent to work, and the cost of health insurance for the child. In Virginia, spousal support received is added into the dependent spouse's income and deducted from the payor's income. In NC, alimony paid between the parties to the child support case is not considered.

If the parents have shared custody or split custody, there are alternate formulas to calculate child support.