Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

Re: child support amount calculation

Child support is based upon the combined gross income of both parents. Also the cost of day care and medical insurance are factored in along with any extraordinary expenses. Usually one of the parties has primary physical custody but there are shared custody arrangements that could affect the amount of child support.

Re: child support amount calculation

By statute, gross income, not take-home,is used to set child support. Income is from all sources, not just salary. The Virginia Code contains tables that permit calculation of the presumptively correct child support, to which is added child care expenses necessary for the custodial parent to work and health insurance cost for the children alone (not the whole family). The total of those three amounts is apportioned between the parties on the basis of their respective gross incomes.

If both of the parents have more than 90 days of visitation with the child(ren) a different table is used to determine the amount for "shared custody". If the kids are split between the parties, one or more with one parent and another or more with the other parent, that requires special calculation as well for "split custody".