The state of New York requires parents to be responsible for their children until they are 21 years of age. So, in most cases, if you are paying child support in this state, your obligation is not going to end until your child reaches that age. If you believe that your obligation should be complete or that there is something else amiss when it comes to your child support agreement, you may want to talk to a Suffolk County child support lawyer.
How Much Child Support Do I Have to Pay?
The Child Support Standards Act is often used to calculate how much a parent needs to contribute in order to ensure the best possible quality of life for their child. It takes a parent’s income and the number of children they are supporting into account.
For example, if there is one child to support, support may be up to 17 percent of your income up to $80,000. For two children, it rises to 25 percent. For three children it is 29 percent, and the support needed keeps on rising as the number of children increases.
There are some other variables that can affect how much you pay though. If one parent has custody, the non-custodial parent is likely to owe more for child support. This is because the custodial parent is responsible for the child’s housing and other needs much of the time. The amount of required child support can also depend on the incomes and other assets of both parents.
When Can Child Support End Earlier?
There are some cases in which a parent is not required to pay child support until their child is 21. Your obligation can end if:
- Your child gets married
- Your child joins the military
- Your child shows that they can support themselves through legal means
- Your child is emancipated
In any of these cases, your child is seen by the state as an independent person who no longer requires additional support from you. If your child is in any of the above situations, you can likely petition to end your child support obligations.
Contact an Experienced Child Support Lawyer
Maybe you think that your child support obligations in New York should have ended by now. Perhaps you are having the opposite problem, and your spouse is no longer willing to pay the child support they are supposed to. If you need to weigh legal options or renegotiate your agreement with your former spouse, you do not have to go it alone.
Contact Peter V. Mandi & Associates, Inc to learn more about what can be done to ensure that you are protected and that your child’s quality of life remains as high as possible.
