Like other states, Virginia expects its family law judges to use Child Support Guidelines to decide how much support each parent should pay. Other states, including West Virginia and Ohio, also use child support guidelines.
Virginia’s guidelines are supposed to ensure that both parents and the children get treated fairly.
In many cases, parents in Pearisburg and the greater Blacksburg area may be able simply to rely on the formulas in the Child Support Guidelines to resolve child support issues, including issues involving childcare expenses, health insurance and uninsured medical expenses.
However, especially when one or both parents have lots of assets or a high income, figuring out child support can be both complicated and contentious.
- Wealthier individuals often receive income from many different sources, including investments. Figuring out each parent’s gross income may involve a deep dive into financial and other records. It is not simply a matter of looking at a parent’s paystub or even a tax return.
- Even if they are not wealthy, income issues may impact parents who do not earn regular income from a job. Sales professionals and those in business for themselves may fall in to this category.
- Practically, it may be easier for a parent to conceal all sources of income to reduce their child support obligation.
- In high-net-worth cases parents may have more financial resources to litigate child support issues.
- Virginia allows judges to deviate from the Guidelines for several reasons listed in the law. While judges may make an exception to the Guidelines in any case, many of the listed reasons for an exception often will apply to a couple with a high net worth.
Child support is not always noncontroversial. Even when both parents want to provide for their children, it is not wrong for them to consider what they can afford and what is fair. Those in the western part of Virginia who are dealing with a complex child support case should make sure they understand their options.