Child Support in Oregon Divorce Mediation
Almost everyone has heard of child support. However, before beginning divorce mediation, most people do not have a strong grasp of what it is, how to calculate it, why it is paid, what it includes, and whether it has tax implications. Matthew House will explain all of those aspects and answer your questions. With very few exceptions, if you have minor children, you will have child support provisions in your divorce judgment.
What is child support? Child support is money paid to fund the basic needs of raising a child. The Oregon child support guidelines -- “the scale” in the Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR) -- covers the “basic needs of raising a child and does not cover the ‘wants’ of a child.” As the OAR notes, “...extracurricular activities and other ‘wants’ are common decisions being made when the child support obligation is being calculated, but the scale is based on basic needs only.”
If the guidelines don’t consider “wants,” how can expenses such as extracurricular activities be factored into the agreement? Judges (and mediation clients) are permitted to include expenses that aren’t specifically needs, added to the guideline. A mediated agreement can provide that you will exchange the guideline amount (or a modified one) for child support and an extra sum for specific purposes.
What about medical expenses? Medical expenses are reimbursed separately -- not included in child support. A parent paying a bill gets reimbursement from the other parent for half of the amount not covered by insurance. Sometimes, people agree to share medical expenses in proportion to income.
How is child support calculated? The child support guidelines calculator, is found online at www.oregonchildsupport.gov. To use it, you need to have ready the following information about each parent: Gross income from work, any mandatory retirement deductions, union dues, spousal support paid, spousal support received, the parent’s cost for his or her own health insurance, the added cost (if any) that the parent pays to insure the children, any Social Security or veterans’ benefits paid to the children, childcare costs, and the number of children from previous marriages or relationships.
Some nuances:
What is child support? Child support is money paid to fund the basic needs of raising a child. The Oregon child support guidelines -- “the scale” in the Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR) -- covers the “basic needs of raising a child and does not cover the ‘wants’ of a child.” As the OAR notes, “...extracurricular activities and other ‘wants’ are common decisions being made when the child support obligation is being calculated, but the scale is based on basic needs only.”
If the guidelines don’t consider “wants,” how can expenses such as extracurricular activities be factored into the agreement? Judges (and mediation clients) are permitted to include expenses that aren’t specifically needs, added to the guideline. A mediated agreement can provide that you will exchange the guideline amount (or a modified one) for child support and an extra sum for specific purposes.
What about medical expenses? Medical expenses are reimbursed separately -- not included in child support. A parent paying a bill gets reimbursement from the other parent for half of the amount not covered by insurance. Sometimes, people agree to share medical expenses in proportion to income.
How is child support calculated? The child support guidelines calculator, is found online at www.oregonchildsupport.gov. To use it, you need to have ready the following information about each parent: Gross income from work, any mandatory retirement deductions, union dues, spousal support paid, spousal support received, the parent’s cost for his or her own health insurance, the added cost (if any) that the parent pays to insure the children, any Social Security or veterans’ benefits paid to the children, childcare costs, and the number of children from previous marriages or relationships.
Some nuances:
- Child support awards almost always include a separate provision for unreimbursed medical expenses. The payer pays child support to the other parent. Typically, in addition to regular child support, the parents share medical expenses. If one pays a bill, the other is reimbursed (either equally or in proportion to income, as agreed). This separate reimbursement generally applies to medical expenses for professionals or prescriptions, not usually including non-prescription medications or supplements.
- Most of Matthew's clients agree to fund a child’s extracurricular activities separately, not as part of the lump sum of child support. Activities are are discretionary expenditures based on the family’s ability to afford them. They are not truly “needs,” and therefore not contemplated by the child support calculator. In Matthew's experience, parents have typically agreed to pay the child support as calculated, plus a percentage of the kids’ activities and lessons, sometimes inserting into the agreement a maximum dollar amount for those specific expenses. They often do so because the activities typically fluctuate, in terms of which activities the kids do and also the expenses of each activity.