Legal Question in Family Law in Indiana

So We have done this:

GUIDELINE 6. PARENTING TIME CREDIT

Split Custody and Child Support. In those situations where each parent has physical custody of one or more children (split custody), it is suggested that support be computed by completing the Child Support Obligation Worksheets in the following manner:

1. Compute the support a father would pay to a mother for the children in her custody as if they were the only children of the marriage.

2. Compute the support a mother would pay to a father for the children in his custody as if they were the only children of the marriage.

3. Subtract the lesser from the greater support amount. The parent who owes the remaining amount pays the difference to the other parent on a weekly basis.

This method of computation takes into account the fact that the first child in each home is the most expensive to support, as discussed in the Commentary to Guideline 1.

However we both want to be fair and when I claim the kids as Controlled Exp I owe $142 and it States in Box 7 Because Mother's credits exceed her support obligation, the court shall order father to pay amount on line 8 $142 When She claims the CE Child Support owed by me is $209 So Am I right in assuming that I Father will pay her the diff $67 a week We even have 50/50 parenting time and both want to be fair with each other. So is this the correct way by the guidelines ? The comment in Box 7 states Mother Exceeds credit. Makes me feel ackward and unfair?


Asked on 2/03/12, 11:57 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Douglas Jeschke

If I understand your situation right, it seems that you are using the guidelines incorrectly. Split custody does not mean equal parenting time (50/50). Split custody mean that one parent has primary custody of one (or more) child and the other has primary custody of another child (or more than one).

If you have equal parenting time, and have put in the correct number of overnights, you then have to answer who is paying controlled expenses (school fees, uninsured medicals, etc.). If Mother is paying them, Father pays Mother $209 a week. if Father pays controlled expenses, he pays Mother support of $142. That is the end of the calculation.

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Answered on 2/04/12, 5:56 pm


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