C H I L D S U P P O R T. i n N E W J E R S E Y. Prepared by. Partners for Women and Justice 60 So. Fullerton Ave. Montclair, NJ 07042

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1 C H I L D S U P P O R T i n N E W J E R S E Y Prepared by Partners for Women and Justice 60 So. Fullerton Ave. Montclair, NJ With generous financial support from The Junior League of Montclair-Newark June 2007

2 N O T E S 19

3 N O T E S T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S General 1 Calculation of Child Support 3 Additional Expenses 8 Adjustments 9 Payment and Enforcement 13 Applying for New Jersey 16 Child Support Services 18

4 If a divorce action is already filed, how can I request child support? If you wish to start receiving child support during a divorce proceeding, you have to file what is called a pendente lite motion with the court that is presiding over the matrimonial matter. You and your spouse will be required to complete a Case Information Statement, which provides information on your earnings, assets and expenses. The court may issue a temporary support order during the divorce litigation, but it may be modified when the divorce is finalized. How can I find out if a child support payment has been made? There are two ways to find out if a payment has been made. You may call the Child Support Hotline at KIDS. This is a toll-free, 24-hour service that provides payment and general child support information. If you call, you will be asked to enter your case number (it begins with CS ) in order to access your particular information. You may also access your case information at Click on the tab My Case Information ; then click Access Your Case Information and you will be prompted to provide your case number (CS number), your date of birth and the last four digits of your social security number. 17

5 A P P L Y I N G F O R N E W J E R S E Y C H I L D S U P P O R T S E R V I C E S What child support services are available? Child support services include locating the non-custodial parent by using federal and state tools; establishing legal fatherhood for the child; obtaining an order for child support; collecting and distributing support payments from the non-custodial parent; reviewing and recommending periodic changes to the support order; keeping accurate records of payments; and enforcing the support order. How do I apply for these services? You can get an application for child support services from Family Court. Information and applications are also available by calling NJKIDS1 or through the state s child support services website, The cost is $6.00 to apply for full child support services. If you receive public assistance, you do not have to pay the fee. Who is eligible to apply for these services? You may apply for child support services in New Jersey if you live in the state and you are the parent or legal guardian of a child who lives with you. G E N E R A L Who is required to support a child? Both parents are required to support their children, either until the children are old enough to be financially independent or the court orders payments to be stopped. Both share the total child support amount, based on their incomes. For example, if one parent makes twice as much as the other, he or she is responsible for approximately twice the child support. Which parent normally pays child support? Normally, it is the non-custodial parent who pays his or her share of child support to the custodial parent. The custodial parent is the parent with whom the children live the majority of the time. Do I have to be married to the parent of my child in order to collect child support? No. You may collect child support even if you are not married to the other parent of your child. If I am married, can I receive child support before I am divorced? Yes. You may apply for child support even before you file for divorce. If there is a divorce matter filed, you may also ask for child support before the divorce is granted. 16 1

6 Can I get child support without going to court? Yes. Both parents may agree on the amount of child support one parent will pay the other, but it is much harder to prove there is an agreement than an order of the court. It is also harder to enforce a private agreement than an order of the court. What if the father won t admit that he is the father? The court will make a determination as to whether the claim is credible, and may order a paternity test to be done. The father will generally have to pay for the test. What if the other parent is unemployed or is paid under the table? All parents are required by law to support their children, regardless of their income or employment status, except in very rare circumstances. You may always go to court to file for child support from the other parent. What if I am not receiving child support that was ordered? If the non-custodial parent does not pay, and the child support is payable through the Probation Department, Probation is supposed to take steps to enforce the order. But they do not always have the resources for enforcement. You should call your caseworker to remind her/him that you need assistance with enforcement. If that does not help, you may file a motion in court for enforcement of the child support order. You may ask the court to order payment withheld from the other parent s salary (if this is not already being done), to order lump sum payments, to order the past-due amount to be taken out of the salary and from tax refunds or lottery winnings, to order that the other parent s driver s or professional license be suspended until past due amounts are paid, or to execute on (take payment from) bank accounts, insurance proceeds, cars, boats, or real estate. You may also ask the court to charge interest on any overdue amounts of child support. 2 15

7 C A L C U L A T I O N O F S U P P O R T Are there disadvantages to having payments made through Probation? Sometimes, it can take several weeks to set up an account, so arrangements must be made for payment until the account is set up. There may also be a lag between the time Probation receives the payment and makes it available to the custodial parent. How do I set up an account with the Probation Department to get my child support? You may go to the Probation Department in your county and apply for child support, requesting that it be paid through Probation and/or garnished from the non-custodial parent s paycheck. If your case goes before a judge, you must ask the court to order that the support be paid through Probation. What if the non-custodial parent moves to another state? If your account has been set up through the Probation Department, the Department will be able to get the out-ofstate employer to take the amount from his or her wages and send it through Probation. If you have not used Probation and the non-custodial parent stops the payments, you may go to Probation or the court to set up an account. You might also need to file a petition in the other state s court, asking it to enforce the support order directly. Does New Jersey have guidelines for child support? New Jersey has Child Support Guidelines that the court uses to determine the amount of child support. The amount does not depend on your actual expenses. Instead, it is an average amount that parents in your income bracket would spend to support their children. The amount of child support calculated under the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines includes the general basic costs of a household, such as shelter, food and transportation, clothing, entertainment and other personal items. How does the court determine the amount of child support? The court first determines the weekly net income of each parent. The two incomes are combined, and the court consults a chart that provides a basic child support amount, depending on the number of children, for parents with that combined weekly net income. The basic child support amount may be adjusted up or down if there are special circumstances. If a child has extraordinary expenses, for example, medical expenses above a certain amount or special education expenses, they are added to the basic child support amount. Work-related child care is also added to the basic child support amount. 14 3

8 P A Y M E N T A N D E N F O R C E M E N T How does the court determine each parent s share of child support? Once the basic amount of child support and any additional special expenses are determined, the amount of each parent s share of child support is pro rated based on income. The non-custodial parent is responsible for paying his or her share to the custodial parent. There may be a slight adjustment to the amount owed if the non-custodial parent has some overnight visitation. How can I get financial information from the other parent? When you file your papers, you may ask the court to order that the other parent provide you (and the court) with his or her financial information. In a summary support action, both parents should have filed the Financial Statement for Summary Support Actions. In a divorce matter, both parents should have filed a Case Information Statement. Both these statements provide information on each parent s income, assets and expenses. You may also request discovery from the other party by making a motion for it to the court. Discovery is the process of getting information you need for the court to make decisions about your case. 4 How is child support paid? Child support payments may be made in three different ways: Paid directly by the non-custodial parent to the custodial parent. Paid directly by the non-custodial parent to the Probation Department, which then forwards payments to the custodial parent. Deducted directly from the non-custodial parent s paycheck and paid through the Probation Department, which then forwards payments to the custodial parent. Are there any advantages to having payment made through Probation? Yes. The Probation Department keeps a record of how much money has been paid by the non-custodial parent. If payments fall behind, it also keeps track of any arrears and may issue a warrant for failure to make the payments. The Probation Department will also help garnish the wages, collect unemployment and tax refund payments of the noncustodial parent if the payments fall behind. (The custodial parent must ask the Probation Department to perform these services.) Another benefit is that the Probation Department will offer the custodial parent a debit card that can access the account and get fast payment. Either parent has access to the Probation Department child support account records by telephone or online by entering the Case Number, date of birth and last four digits of his or her social security number. 13

9 Is child support paid during college? The parents may agree or the court may order that child support be paid to the custodial parent while the child attends college, especially if the child lives at home and commutes to college. If a child lives away from home during college, however, the award of child support will depend on particular facts and circumstances. Can I determine the non-custodial parent s child support obligation? Yes. You can use the Guidelines yourself if you can find a computer that has a Child Support program on it. Check with your local library to see if it has the Guidelines. You will need to enter information about both you and the other parent s earnings and money spent on the child such as health insurance and work-related child care. You can also compute the child support amount manually. Do the Child Support Guidelines apply to most income brackets? Yes. The guidelines apply to most parents in low- to uppermiddle income brackets. They do not apply to parents with very high combined yearly net incomes. In that situation, the court will apply the guidelines up to the top amount and supplement the guidelines-based award with a discretionary amount based on the additional combined income of the parents. What if a parent becomes unemployed? 12 Unemployment is considered a temporary change and the unemployed parent is still required to make child-support payments if he or she is the non-custodial parent. Unemployment benefits can be garnished for child support. The court may impute income to the unemployed parent if he or she does not seek new employment at an equal salary. This means the court will assume that the non-working parent could earn a certain amount of income. 5

10 What happens if one parent chooses not to work or is underemployed? If one parent does not work, the court will determine whether that parent could or should be working. For example, sometimes a parent of an infant is not required to work in order to stay at home with the child. But if a parent chooses not to work, or takes a lower paying job than he or she can get, the court will impute income to that parent. How does the court impute income to a parent? The court uses information from the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, which provides the average salaries for virtually all occupations in New Jersey. If, for example, a person trained as a bus driver decides not to work, or is not making good faith efforts to find a job as a bus driver, the court can go to the Department of Labor website and check the average income for bus drivers in the county in New Jersey where that parent resides. What if the other parent is receiving income that he or she is not reporting? When you make your request to the court for child support, you should inform the court in your papers that you believe the parent is hiding income. You will need to provide specific details as to the reason for your belief. The more proof that you can provide to the court the better off your case will be. 6 Does child support automatically end when a child reaches age 18? No. In New Jersey a child is a minor until age 18 and generally the law presumes that a parent s obligation to support a child ends at the age of majority, 18. However, if the parents agree or if the court rules that the child is not yet emancipated, then child support may be continued. The Child Support Guidelines do not apply to children over the age of 18. The parents or court may structure a support order based on particular circumstances. What is emancipation? As a general rule, when a child reaches the age of majority, 18 in New Jersey, the child is then "emancipated," freeing the child's parents of any further support obligations. However, the court may declare that a child over 18 is not emancipated, and therefore, still entitled to receive child support, if the child is still attending high school or postsecondary school, the child is permanently disabled, or if the court finds that the child s ability to care for and support himself/herself is impaired. Are college expenses covered by the support guidelines? No. The Child Support Guidelines do not apply to college expenses, but the court may order both parents to pay a portion of the child s college expenses if the child is not considered emancipated. 11

11 If the other parent of my child does not want parenting time (visitation), or is not granted parenting time by the court, does he or she still have to pay child support? Yes. A parent is still responsible for child support even if he or she does not have rights to parenting time or chooses not to exercise parenting time. Parenting time and child support are separate issues and are independent of each other. If the other parent does not pay child support can I refuse to allow him or her to have parenting time with the child? What if my actual expenses are not covered by a child support award? Because the Child Support Guidelines are based on averages, an award may not cover all of your child-related expenses. The presumption is that the Guidelines will apply in most cases, and it is assumed that an award of support calculated under the Guidelines is the correct amount of child support. A parent must show that it is inappropriate to apply the guidelines because of special circumstances. This is a difficult showing to make. No. Child support is based upon the financial needs of the child and the ability of both parents to provide for the child s financial needs. Parenting time with both parents is considered an important and integral part of a child s life and development. Parenting time and child support are separate issues and are independent of each other. Consequently, the custodial parent must continue to allow parenting time with the child even if the non-custodial parent does not pay child support. Is there an adjustment for teen-aged children? That depends. If a child support order is entered before a child turns 6, the order will not be increased as the child gets older. If, however, the order is entered after a child turns 6, the custodial parent can file a motion to adjust the child support upwards once the child turns

12 8 A D D I T I O N A L E X P E N S E S Are child care expenses covered by child support? They may be. Only child care expenses that are paid to enable a parent to go to work may be added to the child support calculation. This is called work-related child care expenses. If these costs change you may apply to the court for a modification in child support. Are unusual expenses covered by child support? Yes. You may get child support for expenses such as special education, special lessons, uniforms and equipment. You should request that the non-custodial parent be required to share these expenses, since the Child Support Guidelines only take into consideration typical child-rearing expenses. Are medical expenses covered by child support? Yes. The first $250 in un-reimbursed medical expenses per year per child are included in the Child Support Guidelines and so the custodial parent is responsible for that. Any outof-pocket medical expenses (co-pays, prescriptions, noncovered medical care) more than $250 per year per child are shared by the parents on a pro rata basis, based on income. Who is responsible for a child s health insurance? The court will determine which parent is responsible for maintaining health insurance for the child. If, for example, one parent has a better or more affordable medical plan, that parent may be required to cover the child. That parent s additional cost to include the child in the health insurance plan will be factored into the child support award. A D J U S T M E N T S What if one parent is responsible for the support of another child or other children? This should be brought to the attention of the court, so that an adjustment can be made. How the adjustment is made will depend on whether the child support for the other child is court-ordered, whether it is voluntary, and with whom the other child is living. The amount of child support may be reduced, but it is not a dollar-for-dollar reduction. Calculating child support in this situation can be complicated and often does not make a significant difference in the child support amount. What if the amount of child support is too low or too high? Child support awards may be adjusted up or down, but only if circumstances change. To ask the court to increase or decrease your child support you must file a motion for modification, or change. You will have to show the court what circumstances have changed since the order was originally entered and why the change is necessary and warranted. Are cost of living increases automatic? By law, child support payments established or modified after September 1, 1998 are eligible for a cost of living increase every two years. If you are not receiving child support payments through the Probation Department of the County, the increase is not automatic. You will have to ask the court to increase the amount. 9