Do I Have to Pay Child Support if I Have Joint Custody of My Child?

It depends on what sort of joint custody you are speaking about. Legal custody relates to decision-making authority and has nothing to do with child support. Joint physical custody is in fact, an unclear term and exactly what matters is how time is divided. In the majority of joint physical custody circumstances, the child’s time is divided between the moms and dads in such a way that means one mom and dad has more time than the other with the child. With this kind of joint custody, child support is payable. If this is a true 50/50 time share, child support is frequently still purchased to be paid by the moms and dad with more cash to the one with less, but there are definitely cases in which none is purchased.

Legal Custody

Legal custody is when a mom and dad can make major choices about the child’s life. Joint legal custody provides both moms and dads the right making decisions collectively for the child. For example, moms and dads with joint legal custody should make joint decisions concerning the child’s health, education and religious beliefs. Both moms and dads usually have equivalent access to the child’s academic and health records. Joint legal custody does not impact child support.

Physical Custody

Physical custody refers to with whom the child will reside. If one mom and dad has full physical custody, the other moms and dad may have visitation privileges. Visitation may be described as “sensible” or “structured” in many jurisdictions. Sensible visitation indicates that there is not a well-established schedule for visitation. Rather, it goes through the arrangement of the parents. Structured visitation occurs on a regular schedule, such as particular vacations, weekends and summer visitations. Joint physical custody likewise includes a schedule of when the child will be with each parent. The child generally resides with both moms and dads at various periods. While some moms and dads may have joint custody, they may not have the child the precise very same amount of time as the other moms and dad. In some cases, moms and dads have both joint legal and physical custody. In others, they may only have joint legal custody.

Joint Custody Child Support Calculator

Child support is a series of periodic payments that a mom and dad pays in order to financially support and care for his or her child. In cases where one parent has full custody of the child, the other parent is generally purchased to pay child support to the custodial parent. The quantity of child support that is granted is frequently based upon a certain formula that is designated by a state statute. In joint custody cases, the moms and dad with the higher income may be bought to pay child support to the parent with lower income. The quantity of child support that a party need to pay depends upon the state law where the child support order is issued. Use a Utah Joint Custody Child Support Calculator here.