Historically, the dollar amount of child support payments was determined on a case-by-case basis according to two factors: the ability of the parent to pay support and the child's needs. However, without a uniform standard to calculate child support obligations, several significant problems ensued causing Congress to react. As a result, federal law now requires each state to have guideline formulas in place to calculate child support. Such statewide guidelines ensure uniformity, fairness and efficiency.
Federal Action Regarding Child Support Guidelines
In the seventies, Congress enacted the Family Support Act (FSA) in order to address several problems regarding child support obligations, including enforcement issues and award inconsistencies. In 1984, Congress amended the FSA to tighten enforcement and to establish a national advisory panel on child support guidelines. In 1988, a new Family Support Act was passed to make the guidelines presumptive rather than merely "advisory." The new FSA of 1988 allows each state to establish its own criteria for setting child support guidelines, but all states must still comply with certain minimum requirements.
Minimum Requirements for States to Establish Child Support Payment Levels
According to federal law, each state is entitled to develop its own guidelines by taking into account the parents' income and expenses. States allow their judges varying degrees of leeway in setting the amount, as long as the general guidelines are followed. However, the FSA does require that all state guidelines perform the following:
- Take into consideration all earnings and income of the absent parent
- Be based on specific descriptive and numeric criteria and result in a computation of the support obligation
- Provide for the child(ren)'s health care needs, through health insurance coverage or other means
- Provide a rebuttable presumption that the amount, as is determined under the guidelines, is the correct amount
All states must revise their guidelines once every four years. Also, in most states, the support amount increases as the non-custodial parent's income and the number of children increases. Further, in many states, the support amount decreases as the custodial parent's income rises.
Recommendations to the States in Establishing Guidelines
In addition to setting some minimum requirements for states to follow in setting their child support guidelines, the Advisory Panel on Child Support Guidelines also included some further "recommendations" for the states. These recommendations suggest that states consider the following principles in setting their guidelines:
- The basic needs of the child as a first priority
- The child's standard of living before the divorce (e.g., the child's standard of living should remain the same)
- Both parents should share legal responsibility for supporting their children and economic support should be divided proportionately in relation to income
- All children of a parent should have an equal right to share in their income
- All children should receive child support regardless of the marital status of the parents
- Guidelines should be applied equally without regard of the gender of the parent
- Guidelines should avoid creating a disincentive for re-marriage or participation in the labor force
Modification of Child Support Obligations
In addition to the above requirements and recommendations for state child support guidelines, any modifications to an award of child support are subject to the same state-set criteria. A modification might be necessary when new circumstances cause a substantial change such as a new job or a significant raise. However, regardless of the cause for a modification, federal law requires that all modifications undergo the same calculation provided by the state's guidelines as the original child support order.
Deviation from the Guidelines
Federal law also requires all states to establish set criteria when an application of the state guidelines would be inappropriate or unjust. In such a situation, a judge who deviates from the guidelines to determine the amount of the child support payment must make written findings to explain their reasoning. Some factors courts may consider in deviating from the guidelines may include:
- The educational needs of either parent
- The needs of the children presently supported by the non-custodial parent whose support has not been deducted from the parent's income in the current support proceeding
- Extraordinary expenses incurred by the non-custodial parent to visit the child
Goals of the Federal Legislation
In passing federal regulations regarding the state implementation of child support guidelines, Congress set out to establish several goals including the following:
- To increase child support award adequacy
- To increase child support award consistency and predictability
- To increase compliance through perceived fairness of the awards
- To increase the ease and efficiency of the administration of child support cases
The federal government has one particular and further interest in ensuring the consistency, adequacy and enforcement of child support awards. Since it is the federal government who must pay for children who receive inadequate support or no support at all, requiring the states to establish guidelines under the FSA also alleviates the federal government's own burden.
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