If you’re getting divorced in New Jersey and have children, it’s possible that you may need to pay or may want to receive child support. Helpfully, the New Jersey Department of Human Services does have a child support calculator that you can use to estimate how much should be paid.
This isn’t a guaranteed amount, but it can be a way to get an idea of how much support you’ll receive or have to pay, allowing you to negotiate for a fair amount.
It’s a good idea to get an estimate upfront
It is helpful if you and your spouse can be on the same page with support options. Getting an estimate upfront is helpful, because you have a starting point that you can negotiate from.
In the calculator provided by the state, you will fill in a few pieces of important information, including:
- The number of children that you have together
- How many people are in the household
- The noncustodial parent’s percentage of parenting time
Along with these pieces of information, you will also need weekly amounts of gross taxable income for each party, prior support order expenses and your filing status for your taxes.
By filling in these amounts, you’ll get a generalized amount for the support to be paid. For example, here’s one calculation:
- Child support calculation
- Children: 2
- People in Household: 3
- Parenting time: 49%
- Custodial parent weekly gross income: $1,000
- Noncustodial parent weekly gross income: $1,200
- Prior support orders: $0
- Filing status: Single
- Result: $118 weekly
You can figure out your own support amount in this way, though there will be other factors that could influence your case. For example, your health, your ex-spouse’s health, your child’s education and other factors may influence the court and lead to a need for more or less support each week.
Determining child support can be complex, but it’s necessary
Figuring out child support might be a complicated issue for your family, but it is your child’s right to have that support. If the calculation seems high or not high enough, you may want to start looking at the additional factors that could influence the amount paid.