Does the amount of child support have to follow the State guideline calculator in Kentucky? Are the parties allowed to negotiate or mediate a settlement which is different from the calculated amount of child support in their divorce case?
If the parties earn roughly the same amount of income and are sharing visitation with the children rather equally there may not be any child support at all. While child support is an important component of any divorce with children, there is some flexibility available to the parties. The parties themselves may agree to a different amount than the guideline figure based upon other aspects of give-and-take involving either the amount of custody time for each parent, maintenance or marital property division.
The guideline child support calculator requires one to enter a large variety of factors including but not limited to the earnings of the parties, the specific needs of each child and the amount of time each parent will spend with each child. The State of Kentucky has established that it is the responsibility of each parent to provide for a child’s needs such as food, clothing, shelter and health. The Court will require the guideline results and this is one of those times when the amount of child support have to follow the State guideline calculator.
Once the Judge has reviewed the guideline child support results the Court will entertain an agreement between the parties for a deviation from the results of the child support calculator. The Court will evaluate the proposal to ensure the needs of the child are able to be met and that the requested deviation is fair based upon all other circumstances.
Does the amount of child support have to follow the State guideline calculator? No, but the Court will have the final review and option to approve, modify or reject any other proposed amount. We invite you to review the strong recommendations of our former clients and contact us or call 502-584-1108 to schedule an appointment with one of our experienced divorce and family law attorneys.
