Child support payments

True or False: Neither parent has to pay child support if both parents care for their children for an equal amount of time.

Answer: Usually, this is false. When separated parents share equal parenting time with their children, child support can be, and often still is, payable. What differs is the amount of child support that 

is payable.

In an unequal parenting time situation, child support is dictated by the Child Support Guidelines tables, which we usually call the “table amount”. The table amount is primarily determined by the paying parent’s income and the number of children.

In an equal parenting situation, you must calculate the table amount for both parents and take the difference between the two amounts to determine the child support payable. This is often called the “set off” table amount. The higher income parent pays the set off amount to the lower income parent. For example, if parent A earns $80,000, the table amount for 2 children is $1,211 per month. If parent B earns $60,000, the table amount is $915 per month. The set off is $296. Therefore, parent A would pay parent B $296 in child support each month.

As such, the only time child support would, technically, not be payable in an equal parenting time situation would be if both parents had the same income. Please note that this applies to children under 18.