Q: Will my wife have to pay child support?
My wife and I are currently going through a divorce. We are both seeking joint custody (50/50)of our 2 children. She has a substantially higher income then me. She says she can't afford to pay child support and based on that thinks she shouldn't have to. Would a judge be likely to order her to pay child support? We live in Huntsville Alabama.
A: The proper way to find the answer to this question is to do the child support calculation pursuant to Rule 32 ARJA. If both parents spend the same amount of time caring for the children here is the way this works: first, calculate child support as if the child is in the physical custody of parent one. Note the child support number -- call it dad's support. THen, calculate the child support as if mom had the child in her physical custody. Call that mom's support. Subtract the smaller from the larger, and the person who has the higher income pays the difference to the other person. That's the way it works.
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