Articles
|
An Indiana Court may order either or both parents to pay a reasonable amount for support of a child in an action for dissolution of marriage, child support, legal separation or paternity. The factors the court considers in determining the amount of child support are (1) the financial resources of the parent with physical custody of the child; (2) the standard of living the child would have enjoyed had the parents remained together; (3) the physical or mental condition of the child and the child's educational needs; and (4) the financial resources and needs of the parent who does not have custody of the child. These four factors have been incorporated into the Indiana Supreme Court's Child Support Rules and Guidelines ("Guidelines"). Indiana courts must use the Guidelines in any proceeding for an award of child support. The duty of support for a child ceases when the child reaches age 21, unless a court deems the child emancipated prior to age 21. A parent's obligation for educational expenses may continue beyond age 21. Support orders for two or more children may be for a total amount or on a per child basis. If the order is for a total amount, the total obligation will not decrease when the oldest child reaches age 21 unless the court modifies its original support order. The Guidelines have three objectives:
The Guidelines are based on the Income Shares Model. The concept under the Income Shares Model is that the child should receive the same proportion of parental income that he or she would have received if the parents lived together. The Guidelines relate the level of child support to the combined income of both parents and the number of children in the household. There is a rebuttable presumption that the amount arrived at through application of the Guidelines is correct. However, there is room for flexibility in setting an amount of child support. The Guidelines provide for a 10% deviation of the support amount if regular visitation is exercised. Other reasons for deviating from the Guideline amount include the following: the noncustodial parent provides child care; the noncustodial parent has extraordinary medical expenses; the children spend substantially more time with the noncustodial parent than in the average case; the custodial parent has moved a substantial distance away and the noncustodial parent will incur significant travel expenses in visiting the children. Where the noncustodial parent has visitation for an extended period of time during summer vacation or other periods of seven consecutive days or more, the Guidelines recommend that the noncustodial parent receive a 50% abatement of their support obligation for the period of extended time with the children. A child support order is not set in stone, and it is likely that it will be modified at least once before a child is emancipated. The Guideline amount may be modified by a court upon a showing of changed circumstances, or upon a showing that a party has been ordered to pay an amount in child support that differs by more than 20% from the amount that would be ordered by applying the Guidelines. Since the implementation of the Guidelines, problems with inconsistent and capricious setting of child support awards have been eliminated. § |
