Does this make sense? NY Child Support

[longislandguy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY

Father is the non-custodial parent. Father pays for childs insurance through his paycheck(additional $936 a year for child) and has setup an HSA/FSA to pay for uncovered medical expenses contributing $2,400 a year into it, which has been fully used the last two years (Father has a High Deductible insurance plan)

Child support hasn't been settled in court yet
17% of fathers income after FICA is $5,534.03, this should be the 'base Child support'
Parents split(35% mother/65% father based on income) insurance premium, since it comes out of the fathers paycheck, this should reduce his CS obligation by $327.60, to a new base of $5,206.43 or $433.87 a month....

Does that seem right?

How does the HSA/FSA work? Same process?
Parents split(35% mother/65% father) HSA/FSA since it comes out of father paycheck, it reduces his CS requirement by $840 a year, to a new base of $4,366.43 or $363.87

Or since the father can also use the FSA/HSA for his medical expenses it can't be included? NY has a section called "reasonable future healthcare expenses not coved by insurance" in their worksheet, would the FSA/HSA fit in that?

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY

Father is the non-custodial parent. Father pays for childs insurance through his paycheck(additional $936 a year for child) and has setup an HSA/FSA to pay for uncovered medical expenses contributing $2,400 a year into it, which has been fully used the last two years (Father has a High Deductible insurance plan)

Child support hasn't been settled in court yet
17% of fathers income after FICA is $5,534.03, this should be the 'base Child support'
Parents split(35% mother/65% father based on income) insurance premium, since it comes out of the fathers paycheck, this should reduce his CS obligation by $327.60, to a new base of $5,206.43 or $433.87 a month....

Does that seem right?

How does the HSA/FSA work? Same process?
Parents split(35% mother/65% father) HSA/FSA since it comes out of father paycheck, it reduces his CS requirement by $840 a year, to a new base of $4,366.43 or $363.87

Or since the father can also use the FSA/HSA for his medical expenses it can't be included? NY has a section called "reasonable future healthcare expenses not coved by insurance" in their worksheet, would the FSA/HSA fit in that?

I do not know of any state that includes an HSA/FSA in the child support calculation.

 

[CJane]

I'm not sure your calculation for the insurance portion is correct - but even if it is, make sure you're only using the amount of the premium that covers the CHILD. So, if your insurance through work as a single person is $100/month, but it's a total of $300 once you add the child, only $200 of that is the child's portion. If you have a family policy, with other household members on the policy as well, your child's portion of that is only a percentage of the total.

 

[longislandguy]

I'm not sure your calculation for the insurance portion is correct - but even if it is, make sure you're only using the amount of the premium that covers the CHILD. So, if your insurance through work as a single person is $100/month, but it's a total of $300 once you add the child, only $200 of that is the child's portion. If you have a family policy, with other household members on the policy as well, your child's portion of that is only a percentage of the total.

The plan is(Medical, Dental & Vision for) $72.90 a month for 'Employee only' and $150.90 a month for 'Employee/Child(ren), the difference between those two coverages is $78 a month or $936 a year. I only have daughter and I on the plan.

I do not know of any state that includes an HSA/FSA in the child support calculation.

Thanks LdiJ, i really wasn't sure what would be included under "Reasonable Future Healthcare expenses" on the worksheet. Looks like i should just focus on the premium.

 

[longislandguy]

Just to clarify before this thread dies.

According to the best opinions on this board, my child support payment should end up being $5,206.43 or $433.87 a month?

 

[LdiJ]

Just to clarify before this thread dies.

According to the best opinions on this board, my child support payment should end up being $5,206.43 or $433.87 a month?

Only if you calculated it accurately. We don't know any of the figures. You gave yourself credit for the 65% of health insurance you are paying but did you give the other parent credit for the 35%?

 

[longislandguy]

Only if you calculated it accurately. We don't know any of the figures. You gave yourself credit for the 65% of health insurance you are paying but did you give the other parent credit for the 35%?

Good point, i'll give exact numbers now:

Base Child Support
Father makes $34,672 a year, pays $2,149.66 in FICA, for a estimates income of $32,522.34. Mother makes $18,720.00, pays $1,160.64 in FICA, for a estimates income of $17,559.36. This gives a combined income of $50,081.70 to base child support off of. 35% of that is the mothers, 65% the fathers. 17% of $50,081.70 is $8,513.89, of which the father pays $5,534.03(65%) and the mother pays $2,979.86(35%).

Insurance
Father pays for Health insurance for the child out of his paycheck, the additional cost to cover the (1)child is $936 a year. Mothers share of that is $327.60(35%) Fathers share of that is $608.40(65%). Since father is paying out of his paycheck, mothers portion should reduce his child support by $327.60 to a new base of $5,206.43 or $433.87 a month.

 

[LdiJ]

Good point, i'll give exact numbers now:

Base Child Support
Father makes $34,672 a year, pays $2,149.66 in FICA, for a estimates income of $32,522.34. Mother makes $18,720.00, pays $1,160.64 in FICA, for a estimates income of $17,559.36. This gives a combined income of $50,081.70 to base child support off of. 35% of that is the mothers, 65% the fathers. 17% of $50,081.70 is $8,513.89, of which the father pays $5,534.03(65%) and the mother pays $2,979.86(35%).

Insurance
Father pays for Health insurance for the child out of his paycheck, the additional cost to cover the (1)child is $936 a year. Mothers share of that is $327.60(35%) Fathers share of that is $608.40(65%). Since father is paying out of his paycheck, mothers portion should reduce his child support by $327.60 to a new base of $5,206.43 or $433.87 a month.

It looks accurate. I can't guarantee it won't vary a bit, but it looks accurate.

 

[stealth2]

Maybe, maybe not. A lot depends on how the order is (will be) written. My ex was required to carry insurance - I was not required to contribute to his premium. (And yes, this was in NYS.) And... insurance is often in addition to base CS.

 

[longislandguy]

Maybe, maybe not. A lot depends on how the order is (will be) written. My ex was required to carry insurance - I was not required to contribute to his premium. (And yes, this was in NYS.) And... insurance is often in addition to base CS.

Thank you for your personal experience Stealth. Were you required to pay a percentage of 'uncovered/out of pocket medical expenses', maybe they included that instead of the contribution to the premium?

ETA: And that does remind me, AM i supposed to include some language to split uncovered/out of pocket medical expenses? Or should that have been part of the original custody order(it wasn't included). I put $2400 in my HSA a year(Plus my job contributes $900 more), of which i use very little of, so i can pay out of pocket expenses, i gave the EX a copy of my HSA card to use for all medical expenses for our daughter.

BUT if i can lower my Child support obligation or lower my contribution to the HSA. Either one is a positive to my tight budget.

 

[BL]

So you are going from an original order to a modification ?

NY State Child Support Standards Act.


New York State Child Support Standards Act.

http://www.brandeslaw.com/child_support/cssa.htm

http://www.nycourts.gov/divorce/forms_instructions/ud-8.pdf Calculator

http://www.divorcehq.com/calculators/newyork-child-support-calculator.shtml

http://forms.lp.findlaw.com/form/courtforms/state/ny/ny000481.pdf

Plus + In the "exercise of discretion" the court may attribute or impute income from "any resources", including:

 

[longislandguy]

So you are going from an original order to a modification ?

There is no current CS order. I have always paid money directly to my ex to help out, but have recently run into monetary issues and was unable to give her any money the last month. This has lead to her denying me access, outside of the minimum in our visitation order, to our child and her filing with the courts.

I think if i can get something written up as soon as possible and get it agreed upon, i can get court over as soon as possible so i can start seeing my daughter again.

I'm trying to write an original order from scratch.

This is the worksheet i was working off of, but it doesn't account for the NC parent carrying insurance.
http://www.nycourts.gov/divorce/forms_instructions/ud-8.pdf

 

[BL]

There is no current CS order. I have always paid money directly to my ex to help out, but have recently run into monetary issues and was unable to give her any money the last month. This has lead to her denying me access, outside of the minimum in our visitation order, to our child and her filing with the courts.

I think if i can get something written up as soon as possible and get it agreed upon, i can get court over as soon as possible so i can start seeing my daughter again.

I'm trying to write an original order from scratch.

This is the worksheet i was working off of, but it doesn't account for the NC parent carrying insurance.
http://www.nycourts.gov/divorce/forms_instructions/ud-8.pdf

So you edited it out , nice.

You posted , original .

 

[CJane]

Why not just ask that the state set a child support amount, and go through the process. It'd be easier, and more likely to be correct as far as the standards are concerned.

 

[longislandguy]

Why not just ask that the state set a child support amount, and go through the process. It'd be easier, and more likely to be correct as far as the standards are concerned.

I know this is going to sound a bit koo-koo, but i don't really trust the state to, not just do the math correctly, but to include all of the deductions and additions that are needed to get to the correct number. This is part of the reason we get lawyers, not just to keep things far between the petitioner and defense, but to make sure everything is considered by the Judge. I COULD just leave this to my lawyer, BUT, an informed/prepared client is what makes a good lawyer great