Asheville Child Support Lawyer

North Carolina law requires both of a child’s parents to offer that child financial support, regardless of the parents’ relationship. This means that a child’s parents must provide them with a calculated dollar value regardless of whether or not those two were ever married.

Traditionally, North Carolina Courts established the amount parents are expected to pay to support their child by using a complicated formula. However, there are circumstances that may allow a court to deviate from this formula. 

Child Support Deviations in North Carolina

North Carolina specifically deviates from expected child support calculations when the combined gross income of two parents exceeds $360,000 per year. If a court determines that both parents can afford to pay more into their child’s upbringing in the future, the court may alter the expected percentages.

Unfortunately, these expected percentages do not account for changes in your life. If you want to request that a court assess the impact job loss, extraordinary expenses, or other conditions have had on your income, you must do so with the help of a child custody lawyer in Asheville. 

There are several factors that contribute to the amount a parent is expected to pay into their child’s future. While a child may have a say in who they spend their life within the wake of a divorce or disputed custody, you can expect a court to consider the following when assigning expected support guidelines:

• The relationship you have with the child in question
• The number of children you are expected to support
• The amount of time you are permitted to spend with the child in question
•  your gross income at the time the child support payments are disputed
• Your other financial obligations to previous partners or children in other relationships
• Extraordinary expenses, including tuition, travel, or medical care

It’s near impossible to estimate your monthly payments on your own. A child support lawyer in Asheville, NC will be able to offer estimates and work to make them optimal for you.

North Carolina uses three different worksheets to determine how parents are expected to support their child in the wake of divorce, separation, or lack of marriage. If a parent has sole custody of their child, and the other sees that child for less than 123 overnight visits, required child support is dictated by Worksheet A.

Parents who share custody of a child, with 123 overnight stays available to the both of them, will refer to Worksheet B when establishing the amount of child support each is expected to pay towards a child’s future.

Parents who are overseeing the custody of multiple children, regardless of shared custody or sole custody, must refer to Worksheet C to adequately calculate the child support between all of the applicable parties.

You may want to challenge the amount of child support you’re expected to pay for a variety of reasons. While the aforementioned worksheets are designed with a child’s future in mind, they don’t always take into account a parent’s economic standing. Similarly, these documents do not account for a sudden loss of a job, family emergencies, or devastation to personal finances. 

With that in mind, there are opportunities for you to argue for a change in child support payments. However, you must indicate that the time you bring your case forward that you are not pursuing such a change for malevolent reasons.

Most of the time, attorneys can fight to have your child support payment expectations reduced to a minimum of 15% of your income.

North Carolina courts expect you to contribute to your child’s financial future until that child turns 18. If you are in a multi-child child support agreement, you have the opportunity to change how your agreement works when at least one of the children considered in that agreement turns 18.

If you would like to take action prior to a child’s 18th birthday, however, you can contact a divorce lawyer in Asheville. Our attorneys can meet with you, discuss the changes that have occurred in your life, and brainstorm ways to present your case to a civil judge.