Legal Question in Family Law in Massachusetts
Child Support
My husband has joint legal custody of his daughter who is 12. She spends 7 days out of 14 day period with her father who pays $400.00 a month in child support. Based on the shared custody, does he owe child support?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Child Support
The Child Support Guidelines are intended for the "traditional" every other weekend parenting time. Since your husband has the child for half the time, he could argue that he owes no support, even though he is not listed as the "custodial parent." Often I find, however, that one parent does pay support, especially if the other actually buys the clothing, pays for the doctor and dentist, pays for extracurricular activities, etc.
Re: Child Support
Shared legal custody takes support "out of Guidelines," giving the judge more discretion in awarding support. HGowever, support most emphatically does NOT simply disappear. Each parent is obligated to supply support, and the Court can and generally DOES have a higher-earning parent pay support to the lower-earning parent.
Child Support
There is some confusion here. The issue is if there is shared physical custody. Even under these circumstances, there could be some support payments. This is a matter that would or should have been raised in court.
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