Child Support And Joint Custody
Joint custody covers a lot of different arrangements. Some parent share the children equally — half a week each, or every other week, or some other arrangement. The old-school arrangement — one custodial parent and a non-custodial parent with the children every other weekend and perhaps an evening or two a week is less and less common. Most parents want to be fully involved with their children even after divorce.
The question of child support in joint custody arrangements. The Courts tend to take an all-or nothing approach. Whoever is the custodial parent gets the full form based child support. In joint custody arrangements, whoever has the children more that 50% gets the full formula-based child support. If the parents have the children equally, then the parent with the lesser income gets the full formula-based child support.
The Courts:
The Courts simply do not like allocating child support — it is too complicated. This approach often has very unrealistic or unfair results. In mediation, we certainly recognize that the custodial parent has the right to the full formula amount, but we also try to look at the real circumstances of how the children will be raised and how to best allocate the total resources of both parents in a way that best takes care o the children’s interests, while recognizing the real needs of each parent. It is a question of being reasonable and realistic in addressing these issues.
If you’re interested in learning more about how we can help with child support mediation, contact us today. We can also help you with custody agreements for special needs children, as well. If you’re looking for experts that can handle a range of child support & custody needs, LI Divorce Mediation can help.