Does a high income mean you won’t get child support?

You and your spouse split up, and you get custody of your kids. Your ex only works part-time and makes around $2,000 per month. You have a far better job, though, and you make over $100,000 per year. Does this mean that you’re not going to get any child support payments from your ex simply because you, as the custodial parent, earn so much more?

It doesn’t have to. Courts have set guidelines and formulas that they use to determine child support payments. They do have the ability to deviate from these in some situations, but they don’t have to.

Generally speaking, the law says that kids deserve support from both parents. If you had stayed together, for instance, the kids would have been living with a net income of around $124,000 per year. If you split up and your spouse pays nothing, the net income for the kids’ living situation is now just $100,000.

Yes, you earn more, but it’s still unfair to the children for them not to get support from both parents. The divorce wasn’t their idea, and they still deserve that support. The simple fact that you make more money won’t give your ex a free pass to deny you any support. If it did, how would courts know where to draw the line? Children have rights that must be respected.

As you go through the divorce, your kids are probably your main focus. Make sure you always know about your rights and your obligations when considering child support or child custody, regardless of your financial situation.

Source: FindLaw, “Child Support Basics,” accessed June 16, 2017