New Child Support Guidelines Effective August 1, 2013

There’s a new set of Child Support Guidelines that will take effect in Massachusetts as of August 1, 2013.

The Probate and Family Court is required to review the Guidelines every 4 years to make sure that the numbers continue to be financial justified for parents in the Commonwealth.  After much research and comparison, the new 2013 Guidelines makes several substantive changes to the existing calculations.

• Income from SSI, TAFDC and SNAP are excluded from the definition of income for calculations
• Factors that a court must use to determine whether secondary jobs or overtime should be included as income
• Clarification is given as to how to calculate child support for families with combined income over $250,000
• “Classes” of child support calculation created depending on how parenting time is divided
• The overall child support amount has been lowered
• Child support multiplier for families with 2 or more children has increased

The new child support guidelines and worksheets are available on the court’s website.  Our Child Support Calculator app in the Apple Store will be updated as of August 1st.