Massachusetts Divorce Law...

Massachusetts Law - What Other Factors Determine Child Support?

Along with the child support guidelines, the court will consider the payer's obligations to children of prior or subsequent relationships, and issues of basic fairness.

Section 28.

Cases:

Buckley (1997) 679 NE2d 596 (The guidelines were not applied in this case because it would have been unfair to the mother. One of the parties' children went to live with the father, who had remarried. The father was earning $65,000 a year. The mother was earning $16,640 a year. The father asked the court to require the mother to pay child support for the child, but the court did not do so. This was a case where applying the guidelines to the mother would have yielded an unfair result.)

Leonardo (1996) 665 NE2d 1034 (In this case, the court was allowed to deviate from the child support guidelines, ordering the father to pay more than the guideline amount. There were five children, and the wife earned substantially more than the husband. The court ordered the husband to pay $140 per week, as opposed to $120 which were calculated under the guidelines. The court observed that the guidelines make little provision for more than three children. The court also observed that under the guidelines, the fact that the wife had more income than the husband would have had the effect of reducing the husband's contribution. The judge also helped the husband, by having the wife pay all day care expenses, canceling the husband's obligation to pay health insurance, and giving the husband the right to claim one additional child as a tax deduction.)

Canning v. Juskalian (1992) 597 NE2d 1074 (In this case, the court deviated from the guidelines, allowing the father to pay less than the guideline amount. After the divorce, the mother moved to California with the couple's child. The mother remarried and had another child, who was 2 years old at the time of the hearing. The appeals court said that it was acceptable for the trial court to deviate from the guidelines to take account of the cost of 2-per-year cross-country flights for the child. This reduced the support that the father paid. Also, there was the issue of whether the mother should be considered to be earning income. Prior to giving birth in California, the mother had earned about $30,000 a year. Now, the mother was staying home to care for the baby by her new husband. The court had attributed $30,000 of income to her in the child support guideline calculation, further reducing the support that the father had to pay. The guidelines state that income should not be attributed to a parent who stays home with a child under age six. The mother argued that this should apply even when the child is a child of a subsequent family. The court rejected that argument, saying it applied only to a child of the marriage, and the court did calculate the guidelines as if she were earning $30,000 a year.)

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