As you may know, the Child Support Standards Act, as it is embodied in the Family Court Act and the Domestic Relations Law, provides a dollar cap in calculating child support, above which a judge can only vary from the provided formula far calculating child support by provided a valid reason for that variance. That cap, which had been $80,000, has now been raised to $130,000.
In reality, the so-called “cap” has never really been a cap on income subject to child support, and, certainly, here on Long Island, judges routinely go to $150,000 to $250,000 in income before they begin to apply standards other than the statutory formula.
The legislature has also provided that the Commissioner of Social Services is to revise the cap amount every two years to reflect increases in the cost of living.
How does this impact divorce mediation on Long Island? In reality, not much. For those middle class families for whom the income of the non-custodial parent is less than $80,000, it has no impact at all.
For those non-custodial parents whose income is above $80,000 and $130,000 or less, what impact does it have? Obviously, parents in divorce medation on Long Island can vary the application of the Child Support Standards Act formula — one of the benefits of divorce mediation is the ability to craft a deal that works best for both parties. But, in reality, my experience is that parties tend to keep to the formula, perhaps varying it to provide for large payments in other areas, such as maintenance (alimony) by reducing the specific child support payment.
What is most important in calculating child support, as well as any other support amounts, is that the family, as a whole, has a certain finite amount of financial resources available, and certain unaviodable expenses. Both parties have to maximize their earning potential, and also recognize that two households are more expensive than one, and that reducing unnecesary expenses is going to be essential.
