Child Support in Pennsylvania:

• (1) Both parents are legally required to support their minor children.
  • (2) Child support is a right that belongs to the child, i.e., the parents cannot bargain it away.  Any such agreement is void against public policy, (e.g., if the parties want to put something into a prenuptial agreement or postnuptial agreement that says, “We agree that my spouse will not have to pay child support,” that part of that agreement will be void. The parties cannot agree or disagree on child support).
  • (3) As part of the divorce settlement, usually the non-custodial parent must pay some child support.
  • (4) States have specific mathematical formulas for child support and they are known as “child support guidelines”, and
  • (5) When determining child support, Pennsylvania uses the “income shares” approach, which looks at both parents’ incomes.

Calculating Child Support:

  There are standard guidelines in Pennsylvania to determine the amount of child support.  Courts take into account the reasonable needs and the obligor’s ability to pay.  These guidelines are focused on the parties’ net incomes and other earnings.

Factors to calculate child support:  The  factors that Courts use to calculate Child Support include:

• (1) Ages of the children;
  • (2) Unusual needs and obligations of the parties;
  • (3) Support obligations of the parties;
  • (4) Assets of the parties;
  • (5) Medical expenses not covered by insurance;
  • (6) Standard of living of the parties;
  • (7) Duration of the marriage, and
  • (8) The Best interests of the child;

NOTE:  Child support includes reasonable education expenses based on the child’s needs and what can be reasonably expected from the child’s parents. For instance, private school costs might be required depending on reasonableness when balancing the child’s needs and the parents’ ability to pay, (e.g., if the child has special needs that require the child to be in the special school, it would be included in child support).

Modification of Support:

Modification of a child support order requires a material andsubstantialchange of circumstances regarding the child’s needs or parents’ financial situations.

For example:

• (1) Remarriage of a parent who now has additional children to support;
  • (2) Increase in income;
  • (3) Serious illness, and
  • (4) The child move from one parent’s home to the other.

The amount of support will not be reduced simply because the obligor voluntarily reduces his income, such as by quitting a job.

Theguidelines assume a certain percentage of time that will be spent with the non- custodial parent; significant deviations upward or downward can be a basis for a parent to ask for a modification (or a deviation in the initial calculation).  However, child support and visitation are viewed separately, thus, non-payment of child support cannot be used to withhold visitation, (e.g., the failure of a parent to pay child support is not a basis to deny him contact with the child by withholding visitation).

Termination of Child Support:

The support obligation usually ends when the child turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever is later, unless the child is physically or mentally disabled and incapable of self-support.  The support obligation may also be terminated if a child is emancipated before the age of 18.  Emancipation requires proof (using a totality of the circumstances) that a child is self-supporting and independent of parental control. (E.g., emancipation occurs by operation of law if a child is permitted to be married under 18.) This must be decided on a case-by-case basis by the court.

• Note that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has held that a child may not continue to seek support from a deceased parent’s estate, unless the parties have entered into a settlement agreement that provides otherwise.
  • Also note that pregnancy or bearing a child by itself is not a sufficient basis for emancipation.

Enforcement of child support Awards: There are many ways that a court can enforce a child support award, including but not limited to:

• (1) Income withholding;
  • (2) Interception of tax refunds;
  • (3) Seizing property, and
  •  (4) Civil and criminal contempt orders may be issued by the court for failure to pay child support (this include fines and jail time).

Pennsylvania has adopted the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, which simplifies collection of inter-state child support situations through income withholding.  In Pennsylvania, there is a process for registering a child support order that was issued in another jurisdiction so that it can be enforceable.

Tax Consequences of Child Support:

• (1) The obligor cannot deduct child support payments; and the recipient cannot include child support payments in gross income.
  • (2) The custodial parent gets the child dependency exemption, unless it is waived in writing, (i.e., the person who the child is living with most of the time get to claim the child), and
  • (3) The parent that pays for medical expenses may deduct them.

Recent Changes:

• High income obligors:  Previously, the child support guidelines schedules only applied to combined net household incomes up to $20,000 per month.  The new schedule applies to combined net household incomes up to $30,000.   For combined net incomes above $30,000, there is also a formula from which a presumptive amount can be calculated.  The bottom line is:  Now, there are formulas and guidelines that are applicable for high income obligors.

• Low income obligors:  The self-support amount, which is the minimum amount a party must earn in order to be subjected to child support obligation has been increased to $867 net income per month, (i.e., if you have less than $867 as net income per month, you will not be subject to paying child support).

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