Child Support

Child Support in Utah County Divorce Cases

Any divorce case in Utah County that involves children will automatically have to have the issue of child custody addressed.  But how is child support determined?  Several factors go into the determination of child support such as each party’s income, how many children are involved, for how many nights each party has the children, what type of custody arrangement the parties have, etc.

The Utah Legislature provides a table that it updates periodically to help determine what the base child support should be.  That table is currently found in Utah Code 78B-12-301.  It sets forth how much the base child support should be depending on the gross income of both parties and the number of children the parties have.

For questions regarding child support, give our Provo divorce law firm a call for a free consultation.

How Is Child Support Calculated

For a sole custody arrangement the amount of child support that the noncustodial parent is to pay is calculated by combining the adjusted gross incomes of the parents and determining the base combined child support obligation and then calculating each parent’s proportionate share of the base combined child support obligation by multiplying the combined child support obligation by each parent’s percentage of combined adjusted gross income.

For joint custody arrangements the amount of child support for each parent is calculated in the same way as sole custody calculations but the calculation is altered by the number of nights the paying parent has.  For example, if the paying parent has between 110 and 131 overnights, multiply the number of overnights over 110 by .0027, then multiply the result by the base combined child support obligation, and then subtract the result from the paying parent’s.  Likewise a different calculation applies for more than 131 overnights.  Fortunately, the state of Utah has put the formula into an online calculator that you can fine by search for “Utah child support calculator” online.

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