How much child support can I receive?

Child support in North Carolina is usually determined by using the North Carolina Child Support Guidelines. It is presumed that use of the Guidelines and the accompanying child support worksheets will provide enough support to meet the reasonable needs of the child for health, education and maintenance. ( N.C.G.S. §50-13.4(c) ). The Guidelines take the gross monthly incomes of you and your spouse, the costs of child care, health insurance premiums for your children, your responsibility for your other children that are not the children of your spouse, and any extraordinary expenses. Your gross monthly income, according to the Guidelines, is income from any source, whether you are an employee or self-employed, including but not limited to salary, wages, bonuses, commissions, dividends, severance pay, and investment income. (North Carolina Child Support Guidelines) The worksheets used by the Guidelines are based on the custody schedule you have in place. If you have custody of your child at least 242 overnights per year, then you should use Worksheet A, the “Primary Custody” worksheet. If your child spends 124 overnights per year with your spouse, you should use Worksheet B, the “Joint Custody or Shared” worksheet. Worksheet B is often used by parents sharing 50/50 custody of their children. If you have more than one child, and one child, for instance, will live with you primarily, and the other child will live with your spouse most of the time, you should use Worksheet C, the “Split Custody” worksheet. This is not the same as a 50/50 custody arrangement. To use Worksheet C, you must have primary custody of one of your children, and they must live with you more than 50% of the time, while the other child lives with your spouse more than 50% of the time. You can find more information on how child support worksheets operate, as well as Worksheets A, B & C at Support Worksheets.

Child support generally terminates when the child turns 18 years old. If your child has turned 18, but still has not graduated from high school, child support may continue until the child has graduated, but not beyond age 20, whether he or she has graduated or not. Child support does not extend to children who have graduated and are attending college. North Carolina courts do not have the power to order a parent to pay college expenses for a child. You may agree that one or both parents will contribute to college expenses, but it is not something that you can be awarded in court.