In 1990, the Maryland legislature enacted the Maryland Child Support Guidelines which immediately became mandatory for use in almost all cases involving the custody and support of children. The guidelines were modified in 2010 to account for the increasing cost of raising children and increased incomes of the parents.  Deviation or changes from the amount of support mandated by the guidelines is at the discretion of the court, but it is rarely done.

Child support is calculated using the gross income of the parties before deductions for income taxes and other expenses. For the purposes of child support calculation, shared custody is when each parent has physical custody of the children at least 35% of the time and sole custody encompasses all other cases. Other factors that may affect child support include whether either or both parents have other children, alimony being paid by or to either party, health insurance costs, work related child care costs and extraordinary medical costs. If the parties agree, private school and other expenses for the children can be included in the calculation.

For a general idea of how much child support should be paid in your case, calculators may be found at these websites:

Maryland Online Support Worksheet

SASI-CALC Home Users Edition

Using these calculators are not a substitute for advice from a trained legal professional, and I encourage you to discuss your findings with your lawyer. Please contact me if you would like to schedule a consultation.