07/20/2020
#7 Child Support in Virginia: In the late 1980s, Congress passed a law requiring each state to issue presumptive (mandatory) child support (“CS”) guidelines or risk losing their highway funding. They all complied. Since then, there have been a number of tweaks to the Virginia support guidelines, the most entertaining of all was colloquially known as the “Jack Kent Cook CS guidelines reduction” which became effective around mid-1995 and benefitted payors with greater income. Thereafter the CS guidelines in Virginia expanded to include higher earning payors and made it easier to advise clients of what to expect, and thus easier to settle the issue.
In addition, there are separate CS guidelines for parties who have shared custody (where each party has more than ninety 24-hour periods-a “day”- with the children each year), as well as split custody CS guidelines (where each party has one or more children in his or her primary custody). Be careful relying on internet CS guidelines as they have historically resulted in incorrect calculations. Work with a reputable attorney to ascertain what the obligation may be and then discuss the likelihood of any increase or decrease based upon deviation factors (e.g. private school; boarding school; travel costs; extraordinary medical expenses; special services for the child; defraying of other expenses; et cetera).
To properly run accurate CS guidelines, you will need the correct cost for the children to be covered under health insurance (children cost differential, excluding cost for the participant); the day care cost paid to allow the parents to work (annualized to ensure you capture the summer camps and typical cost increase); and the correctly counted number of days the parent who has lesser time has custody of the children.
Child support ends in Virginia when the child attains the age of 18, but shall continue for any such child who continues to live in the recipient’s home until graduation from high school or attaining age 19, which ever first occurs. If you have a disabled child who requires continued child support beyond that age, speak to your attorney and be sure to file the request and substantiating allegations timely. Once the child support is terminated by age, it may be too late to seek continued CS for a disabled child.
Unmarried parties are not eligible to seek or receive spousal support from their partners.
