How is child support set?

You and the other parent will fill out Child Support Worksheets. Then the judge will use the Washington State Support Schedule to calculate how much support should be in your case. 

The judge figures out each parent’s income based on the information in your worksheets. It adds together the parents’ incomes. Then it finds the support amount in the Schedule that applies to the number and ages of your children. This is the “basic support obligation.” 

If the basic support obligation amount doesn’t cover all the children’s expenses, the judge can order parents to share the children’s expenses for uninsured medical expenses, premiums, daycare, education, and long-distance transportation. 

Usually, you each pay a share using the child support worksheets. For example: To find out your share of daycare, multiply the total amount of daycare per month by the percentage under your column on line 6 of the child support worksheets. 

Orthodontic care, such as braces, and some psychological care (such as special classes or activities the children go to for help with an emotional problem) may not fall into this category. Put these expenses in your Child Support Order instead. Example: You add a paragraph to the order saying, “The paying parent will pay ___% of the child’s orthodontic care directly to the orthodontist.”

Yes. The support you pay for all your children should be no more than 45% of your net income. Each child is entitled to a proportional share. This applies only to the children in the case before the judge.

The judge can ignore this limit. The judge can look at whether this limit would leave the custodial parent enough to meet the children’s basic needs, and if there are any limits on your earning capacity that are out of your control, such as if you have a disability or an incapacity, or you’re incarcerated.

Gross income is your total income before deductions for income tax, FICA, or other expenses. The Schedule instructions say what to include in your gross income on the child support worksheets.

Some overtime income or income from a second job may not count if it’s to provide for current family needs or to pay off past relationship or child support debts. You must prove you’ll stop working overtime or the second job after you pay off your debts. 

The Schedule bases your child support obligation on your net income. That is income after you subtract (what you deduct) what you pay for taxes and other required expenses. Here’s a partial list of deductions you can take on the child support worksheets: 

• Federal income tax
• Social security and Medicare (on some paystubs as FICA)
• State industrial insurance (L&I)
• Mandatory union dues
• Mandatory pension contributions (in some cases)
• In some situations, up to $5,000 a year of voluntary pension contributions
• If you’re self-employed, you can deduct normal business expenses and self-employment taxes. You must have proof of business expenses. 

You can’t deduct other amounts taken from your paycheck (examples: Medical insurance, uniforms, parking) from your income on the child support worksheet.

If you get public assistance, you don’t count any TANF, food stamps, ABD, or SSI that you get as income in calculating child support. You list public assistance at line 22f of the child support worksheets.    

No and yes. No, because when filling out the child support worksheets, you put just your income and the other parent’s income.

Yes, because the judge looks at your entire situation when deciding support. You must disclose any household income from your new live-in partner or spouse and other adults and children in your household. 

The judge will also consider the expense of children in your household and other children your spouse or partner supports. 

If you ask the judge to set child support differently (to deviate) from the schedule, the judge will count your spouse or partner’s income.

Usually, you should give as much proof as you can about your income, earning ability, and financial situation. Generally, you must give the judge at least the last 2 years of your federal tax returns and your current pay stubs. 

If you didn’t file a federal tax return, or your employer doesn’t give pay stubs, you must explain why you don’t have these things and give the judge other proof of your income. Examples: W2 or 1099 forms, bank statements, or a declaration from your employer. 

If you don’t give this proof, or you voluntarily stop working full time, and you’re not getting public assistance, the judge might assume that you’re purposely not working - or working less than you’re capable of - so that you can avoid paying more support (called voluntarily unemployed or underemployed). The judge could then decide on an income for you, called imputing income to you, and use the imputed amount to set support. The judge imputes income by using this information in this order:

• Full-time earnings at your current rate of pay.
• Full-time earnings at your past average rate of pay.
• Full-time earnings at a past rate of pay where information is incomplete or irregular.
• Full-time earnings at minimum wage in the area where you live, in certain situations.

A judge who doesn’t have any of this information will use the median income for someone your age and gender. The Child Support Schedule has a median income table. 

The danger of letting the judge impute income to you is that the judge could impute more income to you than you in fact make. Then you’ll be ordered to pay more child support than you can afford. 

The judge could decide not to impute income if you can’t work due to disability. Get declarations from your doctor, psychologist, therapist, or other professional explaining why you can’t work and how long you will be unable to work. Proof that you get SSI, SSDI, or other disability benefit is also strong evidence. 

Here are some other ways to avoid having income imputed to you:  

• Give the judge proof that you’ve been trying to get a job. For example, job search records from the unemployment office, or letters turning you down for jobs.  
• Give the judge proof you can’t really work until you finish school. For example, you’re in a school program through WorkFirst, or finishing your high school degree, or taking English as a Second Language (ESL).
• Give the judge proof that you must stay home to care for children because, for example, one of your children has special needs requiring more care.
• Give the judge proof that you can’t work full time because you’re following a court-ordered plan (a reunification plan) to get your children back from foster care or CPS.
• If you get TANF and you’re exempt from work activity, ask your DSHS caseworker for a declaration explaining why they aren’t making you work. 

The judge might set support lower in special circumstances. This is called a deviation from the amount in the schedule. 

If you don’t have enough money to meet the children’s needs, the judge looks at your ability to pay. If you get public assistance, you can ask the judge to set the support you must pay at $0.

If paying the basic support obligation would leave you with income below the federal poverty guidelines, the judge should set support lower. For example:

• The judge might order you to pay $50 per month per child, no matter what this does to your net income. The judge can set support even lower if you prove you having to pay $50 per child would be unjust. The judge must consider how much the children need the $50 per child and how much it would burden you to pay it.
• You’re in prison and you have no assets. Or you’re not in prison, but your only income is SSI. In either of these cases, the judge can set child support at $0.

You must list any special circumstances in the worksheets.

The judge can order a deviation when there’s good reason to do so. The judge must:

• Consider all income and financial resources of all adults in each household.
• Look at your needs and how lowering support would affect the child’s household. 

The Child Support Schedule describes situations where the judge can grant a deviation. The judge won’t deviate and let you pay less child support if either of these is true: 

• The custodial parent’s household has much less money than yours.
• The custodial parent wouldn’t have enough to meet the children’s basic needs if the judge granted the deviation. 

If you’re also working in a correctional industry work program, at least 15% of your gross wages goes to child support. (This isn’t true if you’re in a Class I work program.) 

The judge can also base your child support obligation on any other money, assets, or property you own while in jail or prison.

The judge may order child support after high school, called post-secondary support, in one of these situations:

• So the child can go to college or vocational school.
• Because the child will still be dependent on the parents after high school graduation. Example: The child has a disability. 

DCS can’t order support after high school. You must ask a judge for this in court.

Most court orders of child support don’t provide post-secondary support. If this is true for you, and you think your child will need post-secondary support, you must file a petition asking for it before regular child support payments would end under your order.