Child support is money paid by non-custodial parents to primary physical custodial parents to financial assist in taking care of their children. When parents have virtually equal parenting time, child support is typically paid to the parent who earns the least amount of income. Parents may agree not to exchange child support subject to judges’ approval and determination that it is consistent with the child’s best interest because the right to child support belongs to the child.
The cost of children’s health insurance and work-related child care is also included in child support.
In 2005, the Georgia Child Support Commission was created to conduct national research and develop child support obligation tables using the income of both parents to determine the “presumptive” amount of child support parents of intact households contribute to caring for their children. The cost of children’s health insurance and work-related child care is also included in child support.
Given the extensive work and research that has gone into this presumptive amount that each parent pays, increases and decreases in the presumptive amount are not common. To change the presumptive amount of child support, judges will consider only the expenses related to the children, including extraordinary educational or medical expenses.
