Navigating a divorce can be challenging for service members who juggle unique demands such as deployments and transfers. When children are involved, helping to ensure their wellbeing is a priority for the courts.
Child support is a key concern in many military divorce scenarios, both for the parent who will be paying support and the parent who will primarily be responsible for maintaining the children’s expenses.
Child support guidelines in the Garden State
New Jersey uses a fixed formula for calculating child support that is primarily based upon the parents’ incomes and how much time each parent will spend with the children at their respective homes after separation. The child support paid for children is meant to be that parent’s contribution to many expenses for the children, including housing, food, transportation, clothing, entertainment, and a variety of personal care costs. Under special circumstances, additional expenses such as extracurricular activities or medical needs may adjust the calculation. The key objective is to preserve the child’s living standard despite their parents’ separation.
The focus of New Jersey’s child support calculations is to give children the benefit of their parents’ financial situation similar to what parents are likely to do when the family is residing together. For that reason, income may be imputed to a parent if the court determines that parent is employable but choosing not to work to capacity or not working at all. For service members, this means all sources of income are included in the calculations, including Base Pay, BAS and BAH allowances, as well as additional payments such as fly pay and proficiency pay, where applicable.
A parent’s time with the children is factored into the calculation of child support because of the costs the parent will have while the children are with him/her, and may also consider costs that parent pays to maintain a house for the children depending on how often the children will be staying there. Parenting time schedules for service members may need to include contingencies for time the military parent may miss due to deployment, TDY, and requiring training, as well as how the parents will deal with necessary changes in the event a change of station will create geographic distance between the parent and his/her children. An attorney experience in dealing with the unique circumstances faced by military families can offer focused advice and creative s
Child support orders for service members in New Jersey accommodates the unique challenges of military life. By working closely with an experienced legal team, divorcing service members and their families can help ensure the best outcomes for their children.
