New York Child Support Explained: Why Calculators Fall Short & What Parents Need to Know

The federal government requires all 50 states to have a systematic way by which to determine a basic child support obligation. So every state including New York has a child support guideline. But the way child support is determined varies from state to state.

Some states use a simple percentage-based formula. You’d simply take a share of the supporting party’s income and give it to the other party and you’re done. While other states are more comprehensive and attempt to factor in things like both of your incomes, the ages of your children, the number of overnights they spend with each of you, which one of you pays for their health insurance, who takes them as a tax deduction, and more.

But in New York, things work a bit differently.

Determining child support in New York is a very tricky proposition.

Let’s take a closer look at how child support is calculated in New York as the NY child support model doesn’t fit cleanly into either of the models described above. To begin, the guideline would calculate what each of your net incomes is. Well, it’s not really your net income, but rather, what the State of New York calls your net income.

I’m no CPA or accounting professional mind you, but the state of New York’s definition of net income doesn’t reduce your gross income by Federal taxes paid. Which last time I checked, that’s how most people do it… But not NY, I guess?

So once you have all that net income business all figured out, you now apply a percentage to the number you came up with in step one based on the number of children you’re trying to provide child support for.

The New York child support calculator percentages are as follows:

• 17% for one child;
• 25% for two children;
• 29% for three children;
• 31% for four children; and
• No less than 35% for five or more children.

Assuming you can do some basic math, it seems that all you’d have to do is multiply the percentage in the table above with the net income number you came up with in step one and you’d be all set.

Right? I hate to break it to you, but it’s not that simple. Not even close. You see, the percentages shown above are only applied to the first $183,000 of combined net income (that is net income as defined by the State of New York’s standard in 2024) as that’s what the cap on the guideline says to do.

So what do you do if your incomes are above $183,000?” Well, that’s where things get even trickier.

Dealing with the NY child support cap

If you and your spouse do earn more than $183,000 per year in “net” income, one of two things could happen if you were to find yourselves in court.

The courts could either:

• Use the formula we discussed above, applying the same percentage to your incomes that exceed $183,000 as was applied to your income that was below $183,000;
• Use their own formula and randomly decide how much additional child support there will be; or
• Not award any additional child support.

It’s truly anybody’s guess.

Whether or not there will be additional child support will be predicated on the following factors:

• How much money you and your spouse have as well as how much money your children have;
• Your children’s health from both a physical and emotional standpoint;
• If your children have any special needs or show any special abilities that may require additional financial support;
• What your children’s lives would have looked like were you and your spouse not to divorce;
• The taxes you each pay;
• Other contributions that are not financial in nature that each of you will make to your children;
• If either of you wants to go to school and further your education;
• If there’s a large disparity in your incomes; and
• If there are any other children from a previous relationship that either of you is supporting.

You’ll notice most of these factors aren’t even financial in nature so how the courts will apply them is a mystery.

So far, you’ve learned the NY child support guidelines attempt to provide you with an amount of financial support needed to raise your children.

But even when you run the guidelines and go through all the steps mentioned above, there are still many other expenses that aren’t included in the basic child support amount.

In New York, there’s also something called “add-on child support.” This is in addition to your regular child support and child support on any income above the upper-income threshold.

These add-on expenses may include:

• Child care costs;
• Medical insurance premiums;
• Unreimbursed medical expenses; and
• Educational expenses; and
• Non-recurring payments from extraordinary sources.

What the heck are non-recurring payments from extraordinary sources?

Good question! Non-recurring payments from extraordinary sources are expenses that you as parents incur but don’t fall neatly into any of the expenses explicitly mentioned above. Examples of non-recurring payments from extraordinary sources may include:

• Guitar lessons;
• Gymnastics;
• Sleepaway camps;
• Tablets and smartphones;
• Prom dresses and tuxedos;
• Auto insurance;
• And lots more!

All of these items must be negotiated at the time of your divorce as there is no formulaic way to determine them.

Starting to see why determining child support is not as simple as using some free calculator you may have found on the Internet?

In addition to the regular and add-on expenses associated with having a child, you and your spouse will also need to discuss and come to an agreement on:

• Who deducts the children on their taxes;
• Whether you have enough life insurance to cover the children’s expenses now and when they go off to college;
• How college will be paid for;
• The duration of child support payments in New York (because for some children, it may extend beyond the normal age of emancipation.)

Making the list of what isn’t addressed by the NY child support guidelines longer and longer!