Disagreement with the Child Support formula used in the Massachusetts Guidelines is not unusual. Consider some of the most common complaints:
Indeed, the very notion that the court requires a couple to abide by the state formula when they, as a couple, may disagree with the amount or even the concept of having to pay child support, seems unfair to many couples.
Yet, Massachusetts does have a child support formula that every couple with children, married or unmarried, has to submit to the court. If the couple disagrees with the formula, they can submit another form detailing their reasons for asking the court to deviate from the formula.
The reasons may be very straight forward, such as they each have the children equal time and have approximately equal incomes, yielding a minimal support figure. Here the couple may propose that they share the children’s extracurricular and extraordinary expenses equally or even proportionately.
In other circumstances the imposition of the Guidelines may pose a hardship on the payor. He/she may have extraordinary health or other costs, limiting ability to pay the Guideline support or the support may represent too high a percentage of his/her gross income to be affordable. Also, one parent may be agreeable to funding a specific extraordinary child-related expense, that, in and of itself, more than offsets the child support payments, thereby representing a more advantageous financial agreement than receiving support and also having to contribute to the extraordinary expense.
Conversely there are situations that provide a rationale for increased support. For example, the custodial parent may incur extraordinary expenses to meet the child’s special needs or the nonresidential parent may have less than one-third parenting time with the child. Structuring terms for funding extraordinary and extracurricular expenses in addition to periodic support, as part of the parties’ divorce agreement, may respond to the need for additional child-related expenses without having to apply for a deviation from the Guidelines.
The application to depart from the Guideline formula must be persuasive. Parents who object to the Guideline formula need to formulate a rational argument for their proposed substitution to the State guidelines. In making their case, they need to consider the child’s budgetary needs and how they plan to fund the needs. Parents should not agree to proceed through the court system with the Guidelines in place and privately agree not to make or accept payments. This kind of decision is an invitation for disaster particularly if either parent changes his/her mind and petitions the court for enforcement.
The problem solving approach inherent in mediation offers the couple an opportunity to assess support considerations as they focus on meeting their children’s needs as well as ensuring that they, as parents, are able to meet their financial needs.
