Most of the guess work is taken out of determining how much child support is appropriate by following the NC Child Support Guidelines. These guidelines tell the judge how much basic child support is per child based on how much income the parents each earn and general expenses such as daycare and health insurance. The guidelines do not work for families with high incomes (greater than $25,000 per month) and they often need modifying for families with children who have special needs.

You will notice when completing the child support worksheet that there is a section called other extraordinary child-related expenses. This section is where you include cost of private school and the cost of transporting children between parents. You can see what the recommended child support order will likely be in your case by using our free child support calculator. If your child has other uncommon expenses or requires certain special care these forms may not work for you. For instance, maybe you have a child that has certain medical expenses that aren’t covered by insurance or requires care outside of the typical daycare. Maybe your child is a golf or gymnastics prodigy and has extra expenses associated with the sport.

People with special situations especially need to talk with an attorney to determine the best way to calculate child support before agreeing to a child support order. It is much more difficult to modify a child support order already in place. Modification of a child support order that is less than 3 years old typically requires the court to find that there has been a substantial change in circumstances since the order was put in place. A substantial change is a 15% difference in the amount of support currently ordered and the new amount of child support under the guidelines. This is standard can be used to raise child support or reduce child support.