State Child Support Guidelines
by: New Mexico State Judiciary
How do I figure out how much Child Support is the right amount?
There are two worksheets the court can use to figure out child support..
They are Worksheet A, Basic Visitation or Worksheet B, Shared Responsibility.
The parent without custody has the child more than 30% of the time.
The court must use Worksheet B.
To figure out the basic support amount:
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Add your income before tax to the other parent's income before tax. You get a total of both.
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Next divide your income by the total income. This gives you your percentage of the total income. Do the same with the other parent's income.
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Find the total income number on the Basic Child Support Schedule in the law. That tells you the lowest amount of money the state figures is needed to support your child. There are different figures depending on how many children you have.
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Add extra expenses for the child. These can include child care paid by either of the parents. There can be special expenses like tutoring, or medical expenses, and health insurance. The parent paying the extra expense gets credit for those payments.
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The amount of money each parent has to pay is based on their percentage of the total income.
What is believed to be gross income?
It includes money someone receives as a result of employment.
The income can be from:
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tips
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commissions
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bonuses
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dividends
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severance pay
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pensions
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interest
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trust income
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annuities
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capital gains
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social security benefits
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workers' compensation benefits
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unemployment insurance benefits
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disability insurance benefits
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large trades of things that bring down expenses
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prizes and alimony or money to live on.
It does not include:
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welfare
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Child Support
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Court Ordered alimony payments
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Court ordered child support
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reasonable cost of child support.
The gross income of a self employed person is gross sales less expenses.
The court did not use certain expenses in figuring child support. The self employed person cannot use them here.
A person cannot lower child support because of the birth of new children. This can be used as a reason to avoid an increase in child support.
What do we use to set Child Support if the absent parent is only working part-time now, but used to have a really good job?
The Court feels that the other spouse is trying to avoid child support. He/she is not working at the kind of job he/she has the ability to hold.
The Court can impute income. That means the Court will figure income at minimum wage for 40 hours a week. The Court may even use the former rate of income.
Think about it, if you weren't around, the absent parent would have to be supporting the kids somehow.
The Court will not impute income if a parent has primary custody for a child under 6 years old and is actively caring for that child.
If income is imputed, a reasonable child care expense may be imputed.
Sample Child Support Calculation
Figure what percentage your income is and what percentage the absent parents income is of the total. For example, If you make $500 a month and the absent parent makes $1500 a month, the total is $2000. You earn 25% of the total and the absent parent earns 75% of the total. When you look at the chart, you'll see that the support for one child whose parents make $2000 a month, is $373.00. You will be responsible for 25% of that, or $93.25, and the absent parent will be responsible for 75% or $279.75. The worksheet also includes spaces for extra expenses for the child. These can include child care paid by either of the parents, special fees like tutoring, or medical expenses, and health insurance to cover the child. The parent paying the extra expense gets credit for those payments.
WORKSHEET A --BASIC VISITATON
Mother Father Total
1. Gross Monthly Income $500 $1500 $2000
2. Percentage of Combined Income 25 % 75% 100%
3. Number of Children 1
4. Basic Support from Schedule $373
5. Children's Health & Dental Insurance
6. Work-Related Child Care
7. Additional Expenses
8. Total support $373
(Add Lines 4, 5, 6 and 7)
9. Each Parents Obligation $93.25 $279.75
10.Enter amount for each parent
from line 7
11. Each parent's net obligation $93.25 $279.75
(Subtract Line 10 from Line 9 for each parent)
Other Parent pays Custodial Parent this Amount
FATHER Pays MOTHER each month $279.75
Petitioner's Signature
Respondent's Signature
Date
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