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CS Amounts

WindX's picture

I'm curious. What is considered low or high CS amounts?

What percentage of the CS payor's income goes to CS?

**My SO receives CS. Not sure of the amount/percentage as I don't believe it is consistent.

Tx mommy of 3's picture

Dependsbon where you live, how many kids he is paying for, and all these other things. I'm sure you can look it up somewhere. In TX, for one child it starts at 20%, then goes up to 25% for 2, but I don't know how high it goes from there. They also take into consideration how many kids the payer is supporting at home (that are biological) and deduct percentages for each kid he/she has at home. With my dh e is also required to pay for health insurance so they also deduct that amount out of the cs too. Each state has a formula basically.

Btw- I say 'he' because that is our situation, but I know sometimes the payer can be a 'she' too.

hornet64's picture

CS depends on several factors... First, each state has their own "calculator." Second, and normally, the court will take into consideration what each parent is making and and what child care/medical expenses are being paid out by each... as well as how many other children are in the home, etc. etc. Most of the calculations though are based on income.

Now what I have a problem with is these BM's keeping themselves "unemployed" or "underemployed" so that they can qualify for more CS. In South Carolina, if the court believes that either parent is purposefully keeping themselves underemployed or unemployed (or ie is getting paid under the table), then the court can assign a "potential" income amount based on the parent's education and previous employment. Most people, dad's in particular, don't know about this law in SC and they end up getting screwed royally.

What is too much CS? What is too little? I personally think about 500 per month is adequate for a child's needs. This amount may go higher during the teen years when they start driving and such but let's face it.... how much electricity and water can a 5 year old really use in a home? My DH pays his ex $675 plus medical for his 5 year old and it's pretty clear that the CS has become parental support instead of child support. The child wears used shoes for crying out loud! But here we had a situation where mom does not want to work and dad makes a great salary. In fact, according to one lawyer we spoke to, my DH should really be paying her somewhere between 800-900 per month. But I disagree... I don't think CS should equal rent or mortgage.

Are children expensive? Yes! But most primary custody persons, which are mostly moms, tend to want to "rape" the dad for CS and don't seem to want to take any responsibility for laying down without birth control. Don't get me wrong, I believe in the concept of child support but I think the system is flawed on how it is calculated. I've seen too many dad's get screwed and too many lazy mom's get rewarded for their lack of ambition in bringing home the bacon.

Tx mommy of 3's picture

I don't think the poster meant cs shouldn't COVER rent...meant they didn't agree with cs payments that are as HIGH as rent/mortgage.

they8ntmine's picture

In each state it's different. If you google child support calculator you'll find a site that can help you calculate it. The calculation in Illinois for us is 28% of his net income. That's for 2 kids. It's of his net because they take out his federal and state taxes first, they also take out his insurance requirments. 401k is added back in to the net before they figure the 28% amount. For my BF it comes to $330 every 2 weeks. The only thing that stinks for my BF is the child support was figured when he was getting a lot of overtime, at this time our company has a zero overtime policy.