| Both parents are obliged by law to support their child in accordance with their ability to do so. Most jurisdictions have establish child maintenance standards, which provide a formula for determining child support based upon a proportion of gross income earned by each parent.
During a marriage or committed relationship, such issues are seldom a concern for the court. But when parents end their relationship or live separately from their children, the court commonly obliges a non-custodial parent to pay child support to a custodial parent. Like the issue of custody, this can be settled by agreement or by fighting it out in court. Like alimony, child maintenance payments, may be incorporated into the divorce judgment or may be provided for in a marital separation agreement. This arguable issue can be avoided, provided both the mother and the father agree to the proper sum of child support and make this agreement part of a marital separation agreement.
If a non-custodial parent has other legal obligations, they will also be taken into account in determining child support. For example, if the non-custodial parent is paying child maintenance from a previous relationship, it will be taken into consideration. Life necessities, including food and rent will also be considered by the court. Nonetheless, the court will not reduce child support payments to make it easier for the non-custodial parent to pay discretionary obligations. Unlike alimony, child maintenance payments cannot be deducted from the parent's income taxes.
To assist the court in determining the appropriate sum of child maintenance, both parents will be required by the court to complete a financial declaration. Each parent will be required to completely reveal their income, property holdings, including current accounts, investments and real property and their financial obligations. These documents will be heavily rested on by the court in making the order and, hence, it is in the children's best interests that the required documents be filled in fully and honestly.
Parents who deliberately avoid paying child maintenance can be punished. If the custodial parent makes a legal claim against the nonpaying parent, he or she may be taken to court. In the USA if the defendant is found guilty, he or she may be jailed. Or, the guilty parent may be placed on probation and allowed to remain free if he or she repays all child support and makes all future payments in a timely manner. |
