Some idea of what is coming.

[want2befair]

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

Me and my wife are filing for a divorce soon and I would like to know what I may pay in child support. We want to file as shared custody. As far as I know Alabama still requires one parent to be custodial and the other non-custodial. I will have our two children in my care two days a week plus every other weekend which works out to almost exactly 50%. I will actually have them a bit more than my wife when things are said and done. My gross pay is about 2300 a month and hers is about 1600 so I know I will have to pay some support even though I have equal time. I'm just wondering if there is any way to make it fair and balanced because from what I can tell I'm going to be flat broke if the guidelines are strictly followed. Any ideas/advice at all?

 

[mistoffolees]

Alabama has a child support calculator here:
Alabama Child Support Calculator - AllLaw.com

However, that's probably not very useful. Like many CS calculators, it assumes one parent has primary responsibility for the child.

You really have 2 choices:
1. Talk with an attorney to see how it would probably be handled in your state.

2. Reach an agreement with your stbx and submit it to the court. The way I would do it is to start by taking 1/2 of the difference in your wages. If you were to pay her $350 a month, then you would both be equal. HOWEVER, that is the upper end of what would make sense. I would argue that the actual amount should be somewhat less for several reasons:
- as the higher income taxpayer, you're going to be paying more taxes
- you would not be getting any value for the education or career effort you put into your career which resulted in a higher pay.

$350 is too high. $0 is too low. Figure out a number in between that the two of you can live with.

 

[TheGeekess]

Link to Alabama Code on Child Custody
http://alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/acas/CodeOfAlabama/1975/128972.htm

Link to Alabama Administrative Court site on Child Support:
Alabama Unified Judicial System -- judicial.alabama.gov

AllLaw is a little high on the estimates.

However, OP can follow the second link. There are PDFs there that explain how the courts will deviate on CS orders.