New Mexico Child Support Guidelines

New Mexico child support guidelines ensure fair and consistent support for children’s basic needs when parents live apart. Child support, managed by the Child Support Services Division (CSSD), is calculated using an income shares model based on parents’ combined gross income and custody arrangements. 

New Mexico child support guidelines use an income shares model to calculate child support payments. This system combines both parents’ gross income to calculate obligations based on custody arrangements and additional expenses. Child support aims to provide children with financial support similar to a two-parent household.

Child support orders can be modified due to significant changes in circumstances. The Child Support Services Division oversees collection and enforcement, ensuring child support obligations are met to support children’s basic needs until they reach adulthood.

If you’re making child support payments, receiving them, or having your child support obligations determined, the process can seem bewildering. To help make things a bit clearer, this article will explain how the New Mexico child support guidelines work. You’ll come away with a better understanding of what to expect and which agencies you’ll deal with.

Basic Child Support Information

The responsibility of each state to oversee the collection, disbursement, and enforcement of child support payments became federal law under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act of 1975. In New Mexico, the Child Support Services Division (CSSD, formerly the CSED) of the New Mexico Health Care Authority handles these duties.

Each parent is obligated to provide for their children, regardless of the relationship between them. Child support orders can result from child custody hearings, divorce proceedings, or one birth parent petitioning for support from the other birth parent.

When Does Child Support End?

Children in New Mexico are eligible for child support until they turn 18 years of age. If they haven’t graduated from high school yet, support is extended until they graduate or reach the age of 19. Support can also terminate if the child becomes emancipated, joins a branch of the military, gets married, is adopted, or dies. Parents should alert the CSSD if any of these occur.

Who Can Get Child Support and How Do They Get It?

Either parent can apply for child support. The CSSD offers applications online, over the phone at 1-800-283-4465, or in person with an appointment at one of their field offices. If you’re receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), you may already have an account.

What Does Child Support Cover?

Child support is designed to provide a child with the same level of financial support they’d have in a two-parent household. Both parents will have a child support obligation. This means that all of the following needs are covered:

• Clothing
• Dental insurance premiums
• Educational expenses
• Food
• Health insurance premiums
• Reasonable childcare costs
• Shelter
• Work-related childcare
• Extraordinary medical, dental, and educational expenses
• Transportation and communication expenses necessary for long-distance visitation or time-sharing

The court and CSSD can add other requirements if required by the situation.

The Child Support Order Creation Process

There are a lot of variables involved in making a child support order in New Mexico. Unless there’s a good reason to deviate, both CSSD and the courts follow the New Mexico child support guidelines to determine the obligations of each parent.

In any child support order, one parent is the custodial parent and the other is the noncustodial parent. In most child support cases, the noncustodial parent makes child support payments to the custodial parent. This doesn’t mean that the noncustodial parent never has custody of the child.

The custody arrangement is one of the factors used by the guidelines. If the custodial parent has sole custody and the noncustodial parent’s contact is often visitation only, New Mexico Child Support Worksheet A is used for child support calculation. This is common for cases involving domestic violence or child abuse.

The state of New Mexico prefers joint custody if possible, as it’s considered more beneficial for the children. Shared responsibility arrangements use New Mexico Child Support Worksheet B for child support determination. Whichever parent has the child for more overnights per year is the custodial parent. The percentage of the obligation each parent pays is based on the custody percentage.

Like most other states, New Mexico uses an income shares model in its guidelines to determine child support obligations. This system combines the gross incomes of each parent as a starting point. How much each parent pays depends on the custody arrangement, their contribution to the combined gross income, and the number of children.

The child support creation process begins when a parent applies for custody at the CSSD or courts initiate support during divorce or custody hearings. It then follows these steps:

Establish Parentage (if necessary)

• Children born to a marriage are assumed the offspring of the former spouses. For other cases, determination of paternity may be required. If both parents agree on the biological mother and father, they can file an Acknowledgment of Paternity statement. This packet of court forms is used for a legally binding order.
• If the alleged birth father denies they’re the parent of the child, court-ordered genetic testing can settle the issue. The CSSD can help with this process, including locating the parent named in the order.

Determining the Child Support Obligation

• The procedure to determine the child support obligation varies depending on which custody arrangement is in place and whether the shared responsibility worksheet or the basic visitation worksheet is used. Both parents determine their gross income through full financial disclosure. Possible sources of income are listed in the table below.
• Each parent’s percentage of the combined income is taken into account, as well as the number of children eligible for the order. From these numbers, the New Mexico Basic Child Support Schedule provides a basic child support amount.
• This basic obligation has additional payments added to it. This includes health insurance premiums, dental insurance premiums, and childcare costs. The resulting total support amount is multiplied by each parent’s percentage to determine their child support obligation per month. The noncustodial parent’s total may be affected by the amount of time they have custody.

A Court Approves and Issues a Child Support Order

• New Mexico courts must inspect and approve every child support order. They follow New Mexico guidelines unless a deviation is necessary.

CSSD Begins Collecting and Disbursing Child Support Payments

• The CSSD handles all child support payments. In most cases, a mandatory income withholding order (IWO) is applied to child support payments. This means employers are required to deduct the child support amount from the noncustodial parent’s paycheck. They then send the payment to the CSSD.
• Parents not required or unable to have the payment taken through an IWO can meet their obligation through other methods. These include online payments, automatic withdrawals from a bank account, through the mail, or in person at a CSSD field office.
• Disbursements from the CSSD are available in a few forms. Recipients can have funds directly deposited into an account or loaded onto a debit card. If the support payment was sent to the CSSD as a check, it’s possible to request payment by paper check.

New Mexico Child Support Enforcement and Modification

The CSSD is responsible for enforcing child support payments and collecting on accounts that fall into arrears (behind on payments). If income withholding isn’t already in place, that’s often the first step for overdue accounts.

The goal of getting the funds for the children outweighs imposing punitive measures if possible. The CSSD has administrative procedures to collect on arrears, including:

• Sending a letter to the non-custodial party informing them payments have not been received
• Wage garnishments if non-custodial parties are employed
• Suspending a driver’s license, professional license, hunting and fishing license, or other license
• Intercepting tax refunds
• Placing a lien on financial accounts or property
• Restricting the issuance of a passport

If these fail, the court may issue a bench warrant.

When Paying Child Support Is Too Hard

The state of New Mexico understands that significant changes in circumstances can make paying child support difficult if not impossible. The Supporting, Training, and Employing Parents Upwards (STEPUp!) program is designed to help parents get training and find new employment.

The “Fresh Start” Arrears Management Program offers parents in arrears of at least $1,000 the opportunity to negotiate the amount they owe. Certain conditions apply. For example, you cannot apply if the custodial parent is receiving TANF.

For parents suffering substantial hardship, child support orders are also subject to modification. The CSSD reviews each order three years after issuance to ensure it’s still fair and effective. Parents can also apply for modification if there’s at least a 20% change in the child support obligation. Contact your CSSD caseworker or speak with a family law attorney for assistance.

New Mexico Child Support Guidelines – Summary

As you’ve seen, there’s a lot to know about child support in New Mexico and the guidelines that shape it. The table below offers a recap along with links for further research.

Disclaimer: New Mexico state laws change often. While we do our best to provide the most up-to-date information possible, speak with a family law attorney to confirm current New Mexico law before making any decisions about your child support arrangement obligation.

Related Resources

• Creating or Managing Your New Mexico Child Support Account – YES.NM.gov
• Child Support Modifications
• Child Support – Determining Parents’ Income
• Child Support Laws
• New Mexico CSSD Office Locator

Issues With Child Support Guidelines in New Mexico? An Attorney Can Help

Child support guidelines are often confusing. If you would like legal assistance with a child support matter, please contact an experienced New Mexico family law attorney. Put their expertise in family law to work for you.