A New Child Support Law Is Effective

When I began practicing family law in 1987, child support awards were unpredictable and often varied from county to county and judge to judge. Early in my career, child support laws evolved with the introduction of statutory guidelines. Child support guidelines were initially adopted in Maryland in 1989. A long-past-due update became effective on October 1, 2010. Now, 10 years since the last revision, we have the next installment of past-due statutory updates.

These guidelines have lent much-needed uniformity to child support disputes. Payment obligations are set according to a formula that considers each party's gross income and allots responsibility proportionately. For example, if we assume the following facts:

1. The mother of 12-year-old twins earns $120,000 per year
2. She pays $400 monthly for her children’s health insurance coverage
3. The father earns $60,000, while serving as the primary custodian
4. The mother has the children on alternating weekends, from Friday after school until Sunday evening, a dinner each week, shared holidays and three weeks in the summer

In this hypothetical scenario, the mother's child support payments will be $1,766 per month or about $408 per week. Child support obligations are greater when work-related child care, private school and extraordinary medical expenses are factored into the equation.

Courts may consider certain additional factors and deviate from the guidelines. Child support will be reduced if alimony is paid to the other party or if the payor has pre-existing child support obligations. Other expenses such as mortgage payments, assumption of marital debt and college education might reduce payments. Lastly, if a parent has the ability and opportunity to work but chooses not to do so, he or she is said to be "voluntarily impoverished." The court will attribute "potential income" to this parent, or an amount which he or she should be earning. Potential income is only ascribed to parents of children older than 2.

Prior to the change that took effect on October 1, 2020, a different formula was used where the non-custodial or visiting spouse had the child for greater than 35% of the overnights in a given year. This formula results in a lower level of support, due to the presumption that the parent having "shared physical custody" will bear some of the burden for direct expenses. If the mother in the above scenario has shared physical custody, something that she would obtain if her weekends extended to Monday and if her Wednesday dinner visit extended overnight, then her child support obligation would be $1,217 per month, a $549 reduction.

With the new law going into effect, the “cliff” effect from application of the shared physical custody guidelines has been smoothed a bit. The new statute lowers that number of overnights from 35% to 25%, or from 128 to 92. The hope is that this change will result in less haggling over how many overnights each parent may have with the children.

A common misconception involves the notion that there is some connection between the obligation to pay child support and the right to visitation. A custodial parent may attempt to deny visitation to a former spouse who has fallen behind on child support. Conversely, a parent who has been unreasonably denied access to her child may suspend payments. In either case, the court will apply its version of the old axiom "two wrongs do not make a right." The proper response by the party who has been wronged is to file a petition for contempt, whereby the offending party will be sanctioned by the court and warned against further nonpayment of support or interference with visitation privileges.

Child custody and support orders are never final. Maryland courts always retain the power to modify child support, based upon a showing of a material change in circumstances. Typically, a change in circumstance, which allows a court to revisit child support, involves job loss, significant changes in income and/or substantial changes in a minor child's financial needs. If child support has not been reviewed for several years, it may be time to do so, in order to assess whether or not a modification is justified, particularly in light of the enactment of the new statute, modifying the applicable formulas which are applied.

Child support is one of many issues to address when a marriage falters. Certainly, if you find yourself contemplating separation or divorce, you will have questions about support and other issues. You should consult an attorney who is familiar with this area of the law and who will assist you in making informed decisions.

If you need further information regarding this subject, contact the Law Office of David V. Diggs LLC at 8684 Veterans Highway, Suite 204, in Millersville, by calling 410-244-1189, or by email at david@diggslaw.com.