Understanding Child Support in Maryland
Child support is a legal obligation to provide financial support for your children. Maryland uses established statutory guidelines to calculate support amounts, but applying these guidelines correctly requires an understanding of the many factors involved. At Leffler, Bayoumi & Oliver, LLC, we help both custodial and non-custodial parents navigate child support issues, ensuring fair outcomes that meet children's needs.
Maryland Child Support Guidelines
Maryland uses an "Income Shares" model for calculating child support. This approach:
- Estimates what parents would have spent on children if the family remained intact
- Divides this amount between parents based on their relative incomes
- Accounts for the number of children
- Adjusts for custody arrangements and overnights
Factors in the Calculation
- Gross income: Both parents' income from all sources, before taxes
- Number of children: Support amount increases with more children
- Health insurance costs: Premium costs to parent for children's coverage
- Work-related childcare: Actual childcare expenses incurred on behalf of a child due to employment or job search of either parent
- Extraordinary medical expenses: Unreimbursed, out-of-pocket medical costs
- Other children: Support obligations for other children from a different parent
- Custody schedule: Number of overnights with each parent
Types of Custody and Effect on Child Support
The custody arrangement affects how child support is calculated:
Primary Physical Custody
When the children spend most overnights with one parent, the non-custodial parent typically pays support to the custodial parent based on the basic guidelines calculation.
Shared Physical Custody
When the children spend at least 92 overnights with each parent, Maryland uses a different formula that accounts for the time each parent has the children, each parent's direct costs during their parenting time, and any income disparity between parents. Shared physical custody does not eliminate child support, since the higher-earning parent typically still pays, but the amount may be reduced.
What Counts as Income?
Maryland considers various income sources: wages and salary, commissions and bonuses, self-employment income, rental and investment income, retirement and pension income, Social Security benefits, workers' compensation, unemployment benefits, and/or any alimony received.
Imputed Income
If a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, courts may find the parent has voluntarily impoverished themself and "impute" income, calculating support based on what that parent could earn if working at full capacity.
Additional Expenses
Beyond basic child support, parents may need to address: private school tuition, extracurricular activities, college expenses, special needs like therapy, tutoring, or medical equipment, and/or transportation.
Modifying Child Support
Child support orders can be modified when there is a material change in circumstances to the income of either parent or the costs associated with the children. Such "material changes" include: substantial change in either parent's income, change in custody arrangement, change in children's needs, or job loss or disability. If three years have passed since your child support was ordered, you have an automatic right to review and possible modification. We help parents seek modifications when warranted and defend against unwarranted modification requests.
Enforcing Child Support
When a parent fails to pay court-ordered child support, enforcement options include:
- Wage garnishment: Automatic deduction from paychecks
- Tax refund interception: Federal and state refunds seized
- License suspension: Driver's license and professional licenses
- Contempt proceedings: Court action that can result in jail or other sanctions
- Property liens: Claims against real estate and other assets
- Passport denial: For significant child support arrears
We help parents collect unpaid support and navigate enforcement procedures.
Child Support and Taxes
Important tax considerations:
- Child support payments are not tax-deductible for the paying parent
- Child support received is not taxable income
- The IRS dependency exemption is a separate negotiable issue
- Child tax credits follow specific IRS rules
High-Income Child Support
Maryland's child support guidelines apply to combined incomes of up to $30,000 per month. For higher-income families, courts may:
- Extrapolate from the guidelines
- Consider the children's actual needs and standard of living
- Award support above guideline amounts
We have experience handling high-income child support cases where standard calculations may not apply.
Protecting Your Rights
Whether you are seeking child support or defending against an excessive request, we can help you: accurately calculate income and guideline amounts, account for all the relevant factors, present evidence of actual expenses and needs, negotiate fair agreements, advocate effectively in court, and ensure orders are properly documented. Contact us today to discuss your child support questions and learn how we can help.
