Several factors are used to determining child support. Things such as a parent’s income and ability to pay; financial needs of the child; and the amount of support needed to maintain a child’s standard of living all factor in to a monthly payment typically made by a noncustodial parent.
The typical amount can vary from state to state.
Custody X Change, a web app that helps create custody agreements and calendars, used data from each state to determine the typical child support payment. The figures are based on a hypothetical family with two children, ages 7 and 10. The mother has 65 percent of parenting time, while earning $45,000 a year; the father makes $55,000.
The state with the highest monthly payment was Massachusetts at $1,187. The lowest was Virginia at $402. Alabama’s was $758 a month, the 24th highest.
The totals reflect how much a state presumes the non-custodial parent should pay but judges do have the discretion to award different amounts. And, in some cases, parents decide together how much support will be exchanged.
“Child support is complex," said Ben Coltrin, Custody X Change co-founder and president. "States don't want to set a payment too low, leaving a child's needs unmet. At the same time, they don't want to set a payment so high that the parent can't afford it.”
Only four states – Arkansas, Mississippi, North Dakota and Texas – don’t consider the mother’s income when calculating the hypothetical family’s child support. In these states, the family's child support payment is $100 higher than in the rest of the country, on average. Whereas these states award the family an average of $813 monthly, the other 46 states award $713 on average.
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