The State of New York has very specific laws in place for calculating child support payments. These are set by the Child Support Standards Act within the New York State Domestic Relations Law and the Family Court Act and define who may be required to make child support payments. The net effect of  the law is that custodial parents are paid child support by non-custodial parents each month for any qualifying children in their care.

When you go through a divorce, and there are children involved, you will spend part of the process focusing on child support. One parent, depending on a range of factors, typically ends up paying the other parent a certain amount of money each month in the form of child support to help cover costs relating to the children’s schooling and extracurricular activities, as well as other expenses.

Some people may believe they are paying more than their fair share when it’s all said and done. If your divorce has already been finalized and you are questioning whether or not you’re paying more child support than required, there are two key steps you can take.

Undergoing a divorce can be a long, emotional process, especially if there are children involved. Not only must asset distribution, property division and child custody be determined, but also the amount of child support, if any.

When parents of minors decide to get divorced, determining a child custody agreement is a top priority for the courts and the parents. There are two decisions that need to be made, either by the parties in a settlement before trial or by the Judge at the end of a trial: where will the children reside most of the time (“residential,” or “physical,” custody) and which parent will make the major decisions about the children (“legal” custody)? For most people, the bigger decision is about the residential custody of the children.