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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CHILD SUPPORT GUIDELINES
by: Hope D. Murphy
A. Briefing on Current Child Support Guidelines
The North Carolina Child Support Guidelines (hereinafter 'Guidelines') provide a method for determining the amount of prospective child support to be paid to the custodial parent by the non-custodial parent. North Carolina General Statute §50-13.4 governs actions for the support of a minor child, and provides statutory authority for future amendments to the Guidelines.
N.C. Gen. Stat. §50-13.4 (2001).
The Guidelines were originally enacted on October 1, 1987, as the result of a “uniform statewide advisory for the computation of child support obligations, ” Browne v. Browne, 101 N.C.App. 617, 621, 400
S.E.2nd 736, 739 (1991). The Family Support Act of 1988 “required all states to establish, by law or by judicial administrative action, a set of mandatory, presumptive child support guidelines.” Garrison
v. Connor, 122 N.C.App 702, 704, 471 S.E.2d 644, 646 (1996). The North Carolina legislature delegated the responsibility for creating the Guidelines to the Conference of Chief District Judges.
Id. As such, the advisory guidelines originally enacted in 1987 were subsequently amended by the Conference of Chief District Court Judges in October 1988. Browne v. Browne at 622, 400 S.E.2d at 739
.
“The North Carolina Child Support Guidelines are based on the Income Shares model, which is based on the concept that child support is shared parental obligation and that a child should receive the same proportion of parental income he or she would have received if the parents lived together.”
Fink v. Fink, 120 N.C.App 412, 424, 464 S.E.2d 844, 853 (1995).
The Income Shares model was developed under the Child Support Guidelines Project funded by the U.S. Office of Child Support Enforcement and administrated by the National Center for State Courts. N.C. Admin. Office of the Courts, N.C. Child Support Guidelines,
AOC-A-162 at 1 (1998).
“The Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations is based primarily on economic research performed pursuant to the Family Support Act of 1988 .” Id. “The schedule has been updated using changes in the Consumer Price Index.” Id. When applied, the Income Shares model determines the basic child support obligation by combining the gross income of both parents.”
Fink v. Fink at 424, 464 S.E.2d at 853.
Since their enactment, the Guidelines have been amended several times. One of the most important amendments to the Guidelines occurred on October 1, 1989, when the Guidelines became presumptive. Browne v. Browne at 623, 400 S.E.2d at 739
. Prior to 1989, the trial court was required to consider eight factors in setting and determining the amount of child support.
Id. In every instance, the trial court had to, “hear evidence and make findings and conclusions regarding the “reasonable needs of the child” and the “relative ability of each parent to pay support.” Id. When the Guidelines were created, these requirements were not totally omitted from the child support determination, as they “continued to represent grounds for deviating from the presumptive guidelines.” Id. Nevertheless, specific findings were no longer required to determine the amount of support, in that the amount of support decided by the trial court was presumed to meet the reasonable needs of the child, and that each parent had the relative ability to pay support.
Id. at 623, 400 S.E.2d at 740.
However, on October 1, 1990, the Guidelines were further amended by deleting these eight criteria as a means for deviating from the Guidelines, and specific procedures for deviating from the Guidelines were enacted, as discussed in Section E below. However, it is important to note that, “specific findings of fact as to the parties' income, estates, present reasonable expenses and ability to pay,” are still necessary for appellate review, so that the “appellate court may determine whether the trial court gave 'due regard' to the factors listed.”
McDonald v. Taylor, 106 N.C.App 18, 25, 415 S.E.2d 81, 85 (1992).
The current Guidelines were most recently amended in October, 2002. North Carolina General Section §50-13.4(c1) provides that, “Periodically, but at least once every four years, the Conference of Chief District Judges shall review the guidelines to determine whether their application results in appropriate child support award amounts.”
N.C. Gen. Stat §50-13.4(c1)(2001). Should the Conference of Chief District Judges determine that the applications of the Guidelines do not result in appropriate child support amounts, the
Guidelines shall be modified accordingly, and such modifications shall be reported to the General Assembly by the Administrative Office of the Courts before they become effective. Id.
It is important to note that the Guidelines should not be used to determine child support in every case. The Guidelines are designed to be used in cases wherein the combined adjusted gross income of the parties does not exceed $15,000 per month.
N.C. Admin. Office of the Courts, N.C. Child Support Guidelines, AOC-A-162 at 1 (1998). “For cases with higher combined adjusted gross income, child support should be determined on a case-by-case
basis, provided that the amount of support awarded may not be lower than the maximum basis child support obligation shown in the Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations.” Id. In addition, “the Schedule is
based on economic data which represent estimates of total expenditures on child rearing costs to age 18, except for child care, health insurance and health insurance care costs in excess of $100 per year.” Id.
Lastly, “the Schedule presumes that the custodial parent claims the tax exemptions for child(ren) due support,” but, “if the custodial parent has no income tax liability, the Court may consider assigning the exemption for the child(ren) to the non-custodial parent, and deviate from the Guidelines by increasing the obligor's support obligation.
Id.
Finally, there are three (3) different worksheets contained within the Guidelines, Worksheet A, Worksheet B and Worksheet C. The determination of whether to use Worksheet A, B or C depends on the where the minor child(ren) involved in the pending action reside. Worksheet A should be used when a party has sole custody of the child(ren).
N.C. Admin. Office of the Courts, N.C. Child Support Guidelines, AOC-A-162, Instructions for Worksheet A (1998).
For child support purposes, sole custody is defined as physical custody of the children who are involved in the pending action for a period of time that is more than two-thirds of the year (more than 243 days per year).
Id.
Worksheet B should be used when the parties share joint physical custody of the child(ren). N.C. Admin. Office of the Courts, N.C. Child Support Guidelines, AOC-A-162,
Instructions for Worksheet B (1998).
Joint physical custody, for child support purposes, is defined as custody for at least one-third of the year (more than 122 overnights per year), not one-third of a shorter period of time. Id. “Worksheet B should be used only if both parents have custody of the child(ren) for at least one-third of the year and the situation involves a true sharing of expenses, rather than extended visitation with one parent that exceeds 122 overnights.” Id. “To be a true sharing of physical custody, costs for the child should be divided between the parents based on their respective percentage shares of income. To the extent that one parent assumes a disproportionate share of costs, the worksheet should not be used or should be modified accordingly.”
Id.
Worksheet C is referred to as the “split custody” worksheet.
“Worksheet C is used when there is more than one child involved in the pending action and each parent has physical custody of at least one of the children.” N.C. Admin. Office of the Courts, N.C. Child
Support Guidelines, AOC-A-162, Instructions for Worksheet C (1998).
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