The question often arises whether a stepparent has any responsibility to pay child support for their stepchildren. The general rule is that a stepparent has no duty to pay child support for their stepchildren. However, practically speaking, if your stepchildren do not reside in your home, i.e., if you and…
In a typical New Jersey case a parent cannot be forced by the court, or the other parent, to contribute to the cost of a private school education. However, if the parents combined net incomes are above the child support guidelines cut off contribution to private school costs will usually…
A basic question in a New Jersey child-support case is which expenses are covered by child-support? Does child-support just cover food, shelter, and clothing for the child, or is it supposed to cover vacations, dance lessons, sports activities, and other non-basic expenses? I’m often asked by the parent who is…
Custodial parent’s in New Jersey are often surprised to find out that even if they are deemed the custodial parent by a family court they are not automatically entitled to claim their children as tax exemptions each year. The New Jersey courts treat the issue of custody and who can…
Generally speaking, in a New Jersey divorce, the parent who has to pay child support is required to carry life insurance. The rationale for requiring the person paying child support to maintain life insurance is that the child support obligation is a multi-year obligation. If the person paying child support…
On top of basic child support both parents have a duty to contribute to the cost of the custodial parent’s work-related childcare expenses.Work-related childcare expenses are not limited to the cost of placing a child in daycare. Work-related childcare can also include: after-school care, care provided prior to school, having…
In addition to calculating each parent’s child support obligation the cost of providing health insurance for the parties’ children has to be calculated, and allocated between the parties. There are two ways to calculate the health care premium for the children. The first is to calculate the actual marginal cost…
Child support in New Jersey is paid on a weekly basis by the non-custodial parent (the Parent of Alternate Residence – PAR) to the custodial parent (the Parent of Primary Residence – PPR). The amount of child support to be paid is calculated by using one of two worksheets which…
A divorce or separation rarely starts off in a clean, orderly fashion. Once the relationship begins to deteriorate there is often a messy period where the parties rights and options are sorted out. Who stays and who goes, and on what timeline? Who pays for what expenses? Who keeps what?…