If you are a high-net-worth individual, your divorce proceedings may differentiate from that of a standard divorce. This includes how your child support payments will be determined. Read on to discover whether you will be required to pay more child support as a richer individual and how a seasoned Bergen County child support attorney at McNerney & McAuliffe can help you navigate this.
As a richer individual, am I required to pay more child support?
Essentially, the court will refer to the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines when determining how much child support you will be required to pay. And according to these guidelines, if you and your spouse have a combined net income that is more than $187,200 per year, then they will treat your child support case differently.
That is, they may require you to give your receiving spouse a supplementary award based on your income disparity. For example, if you earn approximately $150,000 per year, and your receiving spouse earns approximately $50,000 per year, then the court may order you to pay more child support than what they would usually order.
At the end of the day, the court will decide on a child support agreement that is in the best interest of your child. So in addition to evaluating your yearly income, the court will take into consideration the following factors:
- The child custody arrangement that has been established.
- The standard of living that was established while you were still married.
- The financial situation of you and your spouse (i.e., assets and liabilities, earning capacities, etc).
- The needs of your child (i.e., medical care, education, etc).
- The age and health of your child.
- The age and health of you and your spouse.
- Whether you or your spouse have other orders for child support.
What should I do to obtain a fair child support agreement?
If you believe your child support agreement to be unfair, you may be able to appeal it. With this, you may argue that this agreement does not maintain, but rather exceeds, the quality of life that your child had when you were still married. For example, you may defend that you would not have chosen to spend such a significant amount of money on your child while you were still married to not spoil them.
Or, you may believe that your child is qualified for emancipation. In the state of New Jersey, a child may be considered emancipated if they are 19 years of age or older and if they can be financially independent. With this, you may not be obligated to make child support payments.
Overall, just become you are considered a richer individual does not mean that you should be faced with such excessive child support payments. This is why you must retain the services of a competent Bergen County family law attorney. We will work to limit your child support payments and make them as realistic as possible. Call us today.
