When does the maintenance start?
The Maryland court can help you with child support only if you petition the court to determine that child support is due. The court does not revert to the date of separation of the parties if no case has been filed. Prompt filing is mandatory for the court to grant retrospective assistance.
Who is covered?
All children born to the parties, whether married or not. If the question concerns a child's capacity to marry, the court may order a paternity test.
I just lost my job. Will the court return to the date I was fired?
No, an amendment to a Maryland child support order begins on the effective filing date of an amendment. If you wait two months after termination to request a change in your maintenance obligation, the court can only grant you an exemption from the date you made your request, not the date it ended.
How Does Maryland Determine Child Support?
The Maryland legislature enacted a child support statute that covers child support policies. The guidelines are more complex than many states, which simply use a percentage. Maryland takes each parent's actual gross income and accounts for:
(A) pre-existing maintenance payments;
(B) health insurance premiums;
(C) child support (whether paid in your current case or in another case in which you are a party);
(D) work-related child care costs (day care, after school, etc.);
(E) extraordinary medical expenses;
(F) additional expenses (may include: special or private school, transportation between parents' homes)
How do I determine the "actual yield"?
"Actual Income" consists of, but is not limited to:
(A) Wages;
(B) wages;
(C) commissions;
(D) bonds;
(E) income from dividends;
(F) pension income;
(G) interest income;
(H) income of the trust;
(I) annuity income;
(J) social security benefits;
(K) employment injury benefits;
(L) unemployment insurance benefits;
(M) disability insurance benefits;
(N) Alimony or Child Support Received.
(O) Regular payments from a relative (your parents send you money every month);
(Q) Other fringe benefits of employment, e.g. B. car, cell phone, cable or internet service, etc. that you could have paid for even if you didn't have your current job)
And the overtime?
If you are paid regular overtime and not occasional overtime, the court may count this as 'actual income'. This is a one-off situation that needs to be carefully analyzed. If you are paid overtime once every 3-4 months, then one hour is considered different than 5-10 hours per week.
Will you consider private school?
If the parties have previously agreed on a private school, the court examines the background and what is best for the child. However, if the parties cannot continue to pay for the private school, the court can refuse to include the costs of the private school. Again, these are isolated cases.
What is the formula for the Maryland Child Support Guidelines?
Maryland uses a mathematical table of numbers that takes into account the number of children, stays longer than 128 nights, and the factors discussed in this FAQ article. Child support policies do not apply if combined adjusted income is over $10,000. Courts can, but rarely do, derogate from child support calculations below $10,000.00 a month total income. Most courts use SASI-Calc software to determine child support in Maryland.
What is joint custody?
If the party's child(ren) spends 128 nights a year, or 35 percent of the time, with a parent, the court uses a separate formula that recognizes more than one cost-sharing approach to determining support.
What happens if the debtor quits their job to avoid paying child support?
A person who has to pay alimony cannot knowingly quit their job to avoid alimony. This is called involuntary impoverishment. The court can fine the non-paying parent for contempt of court and put them in jail. The Maryland Office of Child Support can request a tax deduction for any tax refund, revoke your Maryland driver's license, and even deny you certain travel/passport/visa privileges if the delay reaches a certain amount through the state and federal reports.
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General glossary of terms used in this FAQ:
Requester:The party bringing the lawsuit to court.
Accused:The party against whom the action is being brought.
Number of Children:The number of children under the age of 18 for whom child support is sought. SMALL CHILDREN ONLY. Enter the number of children, their real names and their dates of birth.
Shared Custody:Joint custody generally occurs when one parent has the children more than 128 nights per year but fewer than 236 nights. You can change the number of nights and SASI-CALC will calculate the appropriate support number.
sole custody:Sole custody exists when one person is granted sole custody of the minor children and the other party has fewer than 128 visiting nights.
Monthly income:The gross amount of money earned before taxes, inclusive
Regular overtime and part-time pay per month. If the pay period is not a monthly pay period, click the Calculate button next to the field to open the Month Calculator, which converts multiple common pay periods into a single monthly amount.
Existing alimony payments:If one or both parties already have child support payments, the amount must be entered in these fields.
health plan:This is the amount that one or both parties will pay in health insurance premiums for the child(ren). Typically, this is the difference between the total monthly contribution for a family and the total monthly contribution for a single person.
alimony paid:Enter the amount of money that one or both parties pay as child support to a person from a previous marriage.
Maintenance payments in this case:Enter the amount of money the court ordered one party in this cause of action to pay the other child support.
Childcare:Enter the amount of money paid for the provision of childcare or similar custody to look after one or more minor children. This may also include home care. In the case of joint custody, enter the contribution of each party. There may also be circumstances where the noncustodial parent is responsible for childcare and SASI-CALC will take this into account when registering.
Extraordinary medical expenses:This is when children have extraordinary, unusual physical, psychiatric, dental, or medical expenses. This should be broken down into a monthly number.
Additional costs:Enter the monthly amount paid for tutoring, tutoring (e.g. dance or music lessons), private school, etc. Information on additional expenses must be explained in the comment field.
Recommended payment:This field shows the payment calculation performed by the SASI-CALC program. This field displays the correct payment recommendation after you click the calculate button on the main form. This field cannot be changed by the user.
non-statutory calculation
If you have declared income of more than $10,000 per month, current law does not address the required amount of child support and is subject to court discretion. The program extrapolated the same child benefit percentages applied to the highest income level covered by the law and applied that percentage to incomes greater than $10,000.00. There are numerous alternatives to calculating child support on income in excess of the guidelines. This program adopted one of the most widely accepted methods. You should consider any options or light variations that are most beneficial for your position.