Alimony And Child Support In Massachusetts In Queens
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Under California law, for the most part, a new spouse's income is not used in the calculation for child support. It may only be considered when not doing so would cause extreme and severe hardship to the child involved. Usually, the calculation is made strictly using the parents' gross income.
In Massachusetts, if you are a parent who pays or receives child support, your obligation to support your child does not end just because you get remarried.
That's because California law prohibits judges from considering the income earned by either parent's new spouse or nonmarital partner when they first determine the amount of support or when they're modifying an existing support order. (Cal. Fam. Code § 4057.5 (2024).)
In Massachusetts, child support is based on the non-custodial parent's gross weekly income and the number of children to be supported. The breakdowns are based on the following categories of gross weekly income: $0-100; $100-280; $281-750 and $751-max.
A parent, not a stepparent, has the primary duty to support his or her child. However, either parent's remarriage may still affect child support obligations. A new spouse's income and assets are relevant to a parent's ability to provide support.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court took a novel approach and determined that the alimony law and the child support guidelines allow the court to consider awarding both alimony and child support based on the same income.
After a divorce, it's common for one spouse to make payments to the other as part of the divorce agreement. These payments can be alimony, child support or a mix of both.
If your original divorce didn't award alimony, and didn't mention alimony in any way, you can file a complaint for alimony for the first time at any time after your divorce. To request alimony, you'll need to file: Complaint for Alimony. This is a form you write yourself, not a form you get from the court.
Child support is never deductible and isn't considered income. Additionally, if a divorce or separation instrument provides for alimony and child support, and the payer spouse pays less than the total required, the payments apply to child support first. Only the remaining amount is considered alimony.
