Monroe, MI asked in Child Support, Child Custody and Family Law for Michigan

Q: Full legal custody = full legal responsibility? Seems like an imbalance. Please explain. Confused.

I make all the decisions legally with full custody. You pay! Legally? If the legal responsibility lies with one person, shouldn’t all legal responsibility lie with that person?

1 Lawyer Answer

A: Not at all! Children are entitled to support from BOTH parents. If you look closely at the child support formula calculation, you will see that both parents' income is taken into account, along with the number of "overnights" each person has. The formula is intended to put a child in a similar financial spot (albeit with one parent paying the other) as if both parents would living under the same roof and contributing.

Legal custody has NOTHING to do with child support. And you can't opt out of child support by "giving up" custody. There are public policy reasons against doing so, and is meant to ensure men AND women are primarily responsible for children they bring into this world instead of the tax payer.

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