Child Support Guidelines

Child support guidelines involving how amounts are calculated and enforced have changed dramatically throughout history. While the process has become much more transparent, with strict enforcement guidelines in most states, that wasn't always the case. In fact, most states gave judges complete discretion over child support orders prior to the development of standard guidelines. An estimated 30% of custodial parents had no child support at all as recently as 1984, right before federal guidelines were enacted.

This article explores the history of child support guidelines and the main models used by states to calculate amounts.

Child Support Prior to Formal Guidelines: Defining the Problem

Historically, the amount of child support awarded was completely within the discretion of the judge, based on the ability of the noncustodial parent to pay and the needs of the child. These are still important considerations today, but these awards were subject to five major problems in the absence of consistent guidelines:

• Many eligible parents received no child support award at all;
• Most custodial parents with child support orders received an inadequate amount;
• Child support awards were very inconsistent;
• As a result of this inconsistency, noncustodial parents often refused to pay; and
• Parents rarely settled, since neither parent could predict what a court would order.

Congress first addressed child support issues in 1935 with the Aid to Families with Dependent Children provision of the Social Security Act in 1935. Although this may have been the first federal law dealing with child support, the passage of the Child Support Enforcement Amendments of 1984 was Congress' real first attempt to address the issues above.

Child Support Guidelines: Federal Mandate

Congress enacted the Child Support Enforcement Amendments of 1984 (CSEA), which required states to strengthen their enforcement powers. The act required states to:

1. Require employers to withhold child support from paychecks of delinquent parents;
2. Provide for the imposition of property liens against delinquent parents; and
3. Deduct from federal and state income tax refunds unpaid support obligations.

States receiving federal funds also had to offer full parent-locator and child support services to all custodial parents. Additionally, the CSEA required states to establish advisory guidelines for determining child support amounts. The Family Support Act (FSA) of 1988 mandated that these guidelines be presumptive (rather than just advisory) by 1994. Federal law also requires that each state to:

1. Establish criteria under which application of the guidelines might be unjust or inappropriate, and require written findings by the judge as to why the guideline amount is inappropriate; and
2. Require that the guidelines also be used for any subsequent modification of the award.

Through subsequent legislation, state child support guidelines were required to take into consideration all earnings and income of the noncustodial parent; be based on specific criteria and result in the computation of the support amount; and provide for the child's health care needs, through health insurance coverage or other means.

Calculating Child Support: State Models

In response to the federal mandate, states devised different models for calculating child support awards, including:

• Income Shares Model: Based on the concept that a child should receive the same proportion of parental income that would have been received by the child if the parents had not divorced (41 states, including California, Florida, and the District of Columbia).
• Percentage of Income Model: Support is based on a percentage of the noncustodial parent's income, regardless of custodial parent's income (six states, including Alaska, Nevada, and Texas).
• Melson Formula Model: A more complex version of the income shares model, which factors in each parent's self-support needs, the standard of living allowance, and other considerations (three states: Delaware, Montana, and Hawaii).

There's no evidence that any one model is superior to any other model in terms of increased compliance, consistency, and ease of administration. But there is some evidence concerning the adequacy of awards. One study indicates that the income shares model produces the highest awards for low-income families, the Melson Formula model produces the highest award for middle-income families, and the percentage of income model produces the highest awards for upper-income families.

Get Legal Help to Better Understand Child Support Guidelines

Given the discretion that many judges have over child support orders and the various models that can be used, it may not always be easy to predict how much you could pay in child support. Make things easier on yourself and reach out to an experienced child support attorney today to discuss your specific situation.