Factors in Calculating Tennessee Child Support Amounts

In a Tennessee child support case, parents are often faced with the difficult and sometimes contentious task of dividing up the obligations for raising a child. Often a child support case is preceded by a conflict over custody of the child, which can make the issue of child support amounts much more sensitive.

Child support calculations are complex, and a Memphis child support attorney will best be able to help you. However, there are some basic guidelines that are used to determine child support amounts in a Tennessee child support case.

The cornerstone of determining the amount of child support is something called the Basic Child Support Obligation (BCSO). The BCSO is a complicated mathematical formula that helps calculate the financial obligation of both parents and applies that amount towards child support.

There is a child support calculator that can be useful in determining a Tennessee parent’s financial obligations to the child, but basically, the obligation begins with examining expenses for the child.

They include, but aren’t limited to: 

• housing;
• food;
• transportation;
• educational fees;
• clothing; and
• entertainment.

Housing, food and transportation are usually the biggest factors, while clothing, entertainment and educational fees, like buying books and school supplies, ultimately play a smaller role.

Childcare costs and medical expenses are also part of the equation, but they can vary from case to case in Memphis. Insurance premiums and deductibles are factored in, but they more readily can be calculated if they are routinely paid as part of the child’s care.

After a determination of the approximate expenses to raise the child, the next step is to calculate the income of each parent. After taking into account all sources of income for both parents, including wages, tips, capital gains, lottery winnings and pensions among others, several credits are used to adjust that number.

Some of the credits that may impact the adjusted gross income are: 

• self-employment taxes;
• credit for a child in the parent’s home;
• child support already being paid by the parent for another child; and
• a child who is not living in the home but receives support, albeit not through the courts.

The last category requires documentation like receipts or cancelled checks to establish a pattern of payment. The next step is to add the parents’ adjusted gross income together. After that, a comparison with a child support schedule gives a rough estimate of what each parent is obligated to provide. Finally, the BCSO is divided by the parents’ adjusted gross incomes to calculate a pro-rated percentage of Income that will be the respective parent’s obligation to the child.

Child support laws can be complicated, and other factors come into play, including the amount of time the child spends with each parent. A Memphis child support attorney who works throughout Tennessee can guide you through how time spent taking care of the child can adjust child support arrangements.

The notion begins with a calculation of exactly one half of one year at 182.5 days, in which the parent spends 12 or more hours parenting the child. It is then adjusted for the realities of a specific child custody arrangement.

Once a child support arrangement is made, there are several ways that the funds can be collected. Occasionally, a judge may place a wage garnishment against the obligated party if there is a history of late payments.

A Memphis Child Support Attorney Can Help 

An attorney with the Miles Mason Law Group in Memphis can help you with your Tennessee child support case. The guidelines can be complicated, and a lawyer can assist you in determining your obligation to a child as well as another parent.