Parenting Plans and Child Support

Posted on July 15 by in Child Support, Parenting Plans

Something many people don’t seem to realize is that parenting plans have a huge impact on child support in Montana. But before we get into that, a few words about parenting plans:

If you have a child with someone and you don’t live with that person anymore, you should have a parenting plan. I don’t care how well things are going today, or how great things were for the past six months. If things really are going to keep going well, then they’ll keep going well with a parenting plan in place. And if everything goes bad, you’ll be glad you’ve got a plan already in place. What people too often miss is that the best time to create a parenting plan is when you’re getting along with the other parent. Don’t wait until it all goes sour and try to do it then.

Now that that’s out of the way, parenting plans impact child support very directly because they specific how many days a year the child spends with each parent. And the number of days a year each child spends with each parent is a major part of the calculation. For the purposes of the Montana Child Support Guidelines, 110 days is the magic number. When a child resides primarily with one parent and does not spend more than 110 days per year with the other parent, there is no adjustment to the transfer payment due. So, if your child spends 110 or less with one of his parents the calculation remains the same no matter how few days that parent sees the child.

But, if the child is spending more than 110 days per year with each parent, then it’s going to impact child support. For these purposes, a day is defined as the majority of a 24-hour calendar period in which the child is with or under the control of a parent. Generally speaking, the calendar period begins at midnight of the first day and ends at midnight of the second day. Parents can agree otherwise, or the Court can order a different standard – but that’s the default.

When the child is in the temporary care of a third party, like school or day care, the parent who is the primary contact for the third party is the parent who has control of the child for that period of the day.

Properly determining the number of days your child spends with each parent is vital to a correct child support calculation. And once you’ve determined those numbers, doing the math properly can mean the difference between adequate compensation and a payment that doesn’t do the job. Our child support calculator quickly and accurately determines child support, and allows you to change the number of days your child spends with each parent so you can actually see the effect it has on the bottom line. Ready to get started? Sign up today.

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Long Distance Parenting in Montana

Posted on July 13 by in Child Support

Montana is a big state, and this can have a big impact on child support calculations. Often, parents live in a different city or county from their children, but still take the time to drive regularly to see them. This is long distance parenting under the child support guidelines. More specifically, long distance parenting is any travel by a parent or child to attain the goals of the parenting plan. A long distance parenting adjustment is allowed when travel by a parent or child exceeds 2,000 miles in a calendar year.

If a parent travels more than 2,000 miles in a year, the overage is multiplied by the IRS business mileage rate. That amount is then deducted from part of the calculation (the SOLA). The good news is that if you use our child support calculator, we handle this automatically. All you need to know is the number of miles you travel in a given year.

The expenses include travel expenses only and do not include the costs of meals, lodging, or other costs. But, it can include transportation costs by means other than automobiles.

Your child support calculation includes a huge number of factors that most people would never think of. Doing the math correctly is incredibly important as these results will be submitted to the Court for your judge’s review. A major benefit of using a child support calculator that produces results actually based on the Montana guidelines is that you don’t have to worry about silly mistakes causing problems later. We do everything from the math to formatting the proper documents. Just hit print. Interested? It probably costs less than you think. Click here to learn more and get started today.

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Imputing Income in Child Support

Posted on July 12 by in Child Support, Imputing Income

Sometimes we don’t have good information about what a parent is earning. Sometimes, even if we have information – that doesn’t reflect reality very well. In those cases, the Rules say that we should impute income. Imputed Income is income that’s not actually earned by either parent. The Administrative Rules of Montana defines it in defined 37.62.106, ARM. It comes from the assumption that each parent is capable of working 40 hours per week unless there is evidence to the contrary. For a parent who can’t show a good reason for it, but is working less than 40 hours a week (or earning less than they should for that time) we can impute their income to an amount that better reflects what they should be doing.

There are 5 situations where it is appropriate to impute income, when the parent is: 1) unemployed; 2) underemployed; 3) fails to produce sufficient proof of income; 4) has an unknown employment status; or 5) is a student. Everyone knows what unemployment is. Underemployment is someone who is working, but not working as much as the Rules think they should. The part of this list that usually raises eyebrows is that we impute income to students. The reason for that is that for the rest of the world your income is a decent reflection of how much money you need to get by. But it’s not that way for students. Imputing income is about the only way to produce results that make sense when it comes to people still in school.

If it is appropriate to impute income, then the rules define what factors should be considered. Specifically, the things to consider are: 1) a parent’s recent work history; 2) the parent’s occupational and professional qualifications; and 3) existing job opportunities and associated earning levels in the community or the local trade area. This factors combine to tell us how much the parent could be earning if he was working (or working more hours).

Even if one of the parents is working, you can still impute income to that person. And the fact that the parent is earning a certain amount does not define the earning potential which can be imputed. So, if I’m a doctor, but working part time at a minimum wage job, the imputation can be based off of what I would make as a doctor and isn’t stuck only considering what I’m making scrubbing pots.

There are a number of scenarios where we can’t impute income. For example, if the reasonable and unreimbursed costs of child care for dependents in the parent’s household would offset in whole or in part that parent’s imputed income. Or, if a parent is physically or mentally disabled to the extend that the parent cannot earn income. Also, if unusual emotional and/or physical needs of a legal dependent require the parent’s presence in the home. Or if the parent has made diligent efforts to find and accept suitable work or to return to customary self-employment to no avail. And the final situation is if the court or hearing officer makes a finding that other circumstances exist which make the imputation of income inequitable. This last one is a catch all that gives Courts the authority to deal with edge cases and extreme situations.

Imputation of income is a tricky and complicated topic and this article really isn’t going to make you an expert. The best advice if you’re facing a situation where you may need to impute income it to talk to an attorney familiar with child support calculations. Once you know what to impute the other parent’s income at, you’ll be able to complete the financial information for your child support calculation.

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Child Support vs. Alimony

Posted on July 10 by in Alimony, Child Support, Maintenance

An important point to start with is that Montana does not have alimony. Instead, we call in maintenance. Other than the terminology, the concept stays the same. It is a payment from one spouse to another after the end of a marriage. Sometimes for a set length of time, sometimes for an indefinite amount of time. The rationale varies, but often involves compensating a spouse for opportunities he or she gave up for the benefit of a marriage. A typical example is a mother who did not finish college to care for a child while the husband continued on to law school. The husband now has a higher earning potential after the marriage, but he was able to do so because the wife stayed home and sacrificed her own future earning potential. In order to help balance that, the Court could award the wife a monthly payment to make up for that difference and allow her to finish school.

Montana Courts appear to dislike tying a divorced couple together with these kind of payments. Once a marriage is done, it should be as clean of a break as possible. That’s the theory at least.

The glaring exception to this is child support. If you have a child with someone, even if you get divorced, you’re probably going to be tied to that person for the foreseeable future. 18 years is just the start. Unlike maintenance, child support is very much favored by Montana courts. In fact, if you have a child under the age of 18 and get divorced from the other parent in Montana, the law requires that a child support calculation be part of the divorce before it can be finalized. So much for a clean break.

But child support is important. It allows a single parent, on a vastly reduced budget, to continue caring for the kids. There is no set formula for maintenance, but there is for child support. It’s not simple, but it is mathematic. At the risk of over-simplifying the issue, we start by adding all the income of each parent individually and then subtracting all the allowable expenses. What’s left gets put through a lot of fancy arithmetic to calculate how much one parent owes to the other for each kid. If you’re interested in doing the math yourself, Montana’s Child Support Enforcement Division has forms online that will walk you through the process.

Or, you can use our Child Support Calculator to automatically figure child support. You can create unlimited calculations too, to see what the results look like with different amounts for income and expenses. Whether you’re involved in a court case or just curious, this is powerful information available for less than you’d expect. And if you are involved in a Court case, our online software will print the Court forms you need with the information already filled out.

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What Are Montana Child Support Calculations?

Posted on June 19 by in Child Support

Child Support Calculations in Montana are described in the Administrative Rules of Montana. The guidelines were created by the Department of Public Health and Human Performance under the authority of 40-5-209, MCA. That statute states that the guidelines should be created for the purpose of establishing a standard to be used by the district courts, child support enforcement agencies, attorneys and parents in determining child support obligations.

The guidelines are based on the principle that that parent’s first priority is to meet the needs of their child according to their financial ability. The child is very much the focus of these guidelines. So much so, that the guidelines specifically state that the child’s standard of living should not be adversely affected because of the parents’ separation. Of course, that’s not always possible, but to the extent that it is – that’s what the guidelines seek to establish. These guidelines apply to contested, non-contested and default proceedings to establish or modify support orders in Montana.

The guidelines create a presumption of the adequacy and reasonableness of child support awards. This means that the amount reached in a calculation isn’t necessarily final, but a Court will assume that it is unless evidence is presented that a child’s needs are or are not being met. If such a change is requested (the guidelines refer to it as a variance) the Court is to consider a variety of factors such as: the financial resources of the child; the financial resources of the parents; the standard of living that the child would have enjoyed had the marriage not been dissolved; the physical and emotional condition of the child and the child’s educational and medical needs; the age of the child; the cost of day care for the child; any parenting plan that is ordered or decided upon; and the needs of any person, other than the child, whom either parent is legally obligated to support.

If the Court is going to order a support obligation that is different than the result of the child support calculation, it is absolutely necessary that the decree, separation order or support order contains a specific written finding showing justification that application of the guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate.

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What You Need to do a Montana Child Support Calculation

Posted on June 19 by in Child Support

The quality of your child support calculation is directly tied to how accurate the information you input is. The better your information, the better the calculation. The worse your information, the worse your calculation. The best way to get a good result on your calculation is to do your homework beforehand. Of course, sometimes you’re just looking for a quick answer to give yourself a ballpark idea. If that’s the case, estimates can be used. But if you’re preparing a child support calculation to submit to a Court or Child Support Enforcement Division, it’s important that you use current and correct data.

With that in mind, here are some things you should collect before starting your calculation:

A Child Support Guidelines Financial Affidavit: both parents should complete and sign this form with the most accurate information available. Not only will it help your child support calculation, it’s required by the law if you’re involved in a court case.

Tax Returns, W-2 and 1099 forms for the last two years for both parents: These will provide precise answers to many of the questions that the child support calculator asks.

Current Pay Stubs: for both parents.

Child Care Expenses: this applies both to children in the calculation and other children living in the house. The calculator will consider each separately, so you’ll need to know how they break down.

Children’s Health Insurance Premiums: Again, this applies both to children in the calculation, and other children if one of the parents is ordered to pay premiums for the other children.

Mandatory Retirement Contributions: be sure to note the difference between mandatory and non-mandatory retirement contributions. If you’re not sure, it’s best to ask.

Alimony Ordered by Court or Administrative Order: in Montana we refer to Alimony as Maintenance – both are the same for these purposes.

Child Support Ordered by Court or Adminstrative Order for other Children: If you are paying child support for a child not covered by the calculation you are performing, that amount is included in the calculation. But, it only counts if there’s a Court or Administrative order requiring you to pay the child support. If you’re doing it out of the goodness of your heart, it doesn’t count.

Required Employment Expenses: These are expenses that you have no choice but to incur because of your job. For many people, the line here is difficult to draw. As a general rule, if your employer didn’t specifically tell you to buy something – it doesn’t count.

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Unlimited Child Support Calculations

Posted on June 15 by in Child Support

For only $99, you get 30 days unlimited access to our calculator. Create as many different calculations as you’d like for 30 days. At the end of that time, the calculations are yours to keep in an easy to store electronically, or can is properly formatted for filing with the Court.

After your 30 days are up, we’ll keep your calculations online for one year. You can view and print them, but they can’t be edited without purchasing another 30 day pass.

Decide that you want more time? It’s simple, just purchase another 30 days at any time and we’ll bring you right back to where you were. You’ll still have access to all your calculations that you created before, and you can edit any of those you’d like. Or, you can get started creating a whole new slate of calculations. Most people do a little of both.

The Montana Child Support Calculator is the easiest way to find out what you’re owed. For less than the cost of an hour with an attorney, you can spend a month exploring all the different ways your child support obligation may play out.

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Child Support Calculations Without Downloads

Posted on June 14 by in Child Support

MT Child Support is completely online. There’s nothing to download, nothing to install, nothing to update, nothing to break. We make sure that everything is fresh and up to date to ensure that your calculations are always correct. Need a calculation done for a few years ago? No problem, our system tracks different versions of the child support algorithm making it simple to create calculations for years gone by.

And the best part? Because everything is online and web based you can access your information from anywhere. Start a calculation at work, review it at home, then print it at the library. It’s always there, at your fingertips.

Other child support calculators release periodic updates that you need to install on your computer in order to have the newest information. Our updates happen behind the scenes without you having to do a thing. You can rest assured that the program you’re using is always based on the newest and most accurate information available. All without you needing to install or update a thing.

No more wondering whether you’ve installed the newest update. Or whether a new update has been released but you haven’t gotten it yet. Just log in and get started calculating.

No more being stuck without access to your calculations. If you’ve got an internet connection, you can access your information.

So what are you waiting for?

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Calculating Child Support in Montana

Posted on June 12 by in Child Support

The way to calculate child support in Montana can be found in the Administrative Rules of Montana (ARMs). These rules were created by the Department of Public Health and Human Services, which is an administrative agency of Montana. The Child Support Enforcement Division is a part of DPHHS. The administrative rules describe how to calculate child support in Montana, but unfortunately can be tough to read.

The Department puts out a worksheet that makes the math easier. You can find these sheets on DPHHS’ website at: http://www.dphhs.mt.gov/csed/packet/guidelines.shtml

The first worksheet is 27 steps long and may involve completing another worksheet all together. The instructions can be found on that same site, but may or may not shed much light on the situation. You may also need to review the original administrative rules if you need further help.

Luckily, there’s another option. We provide an online child support calculator that uses this formula, but does all the hard work for you. You enter the numbers, and we’ll figure out the calculations. You can make as many changes as you like, because for one payment you can create an unlimited number of calculations, access them online from anywhere, and print court-ready versions of the documents. If you’re involved in a divorce with children or a child custody dispute, Montana is going to require that you provide child support calculations during the court process. Why not find out what those calculations will be?

 

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Proxy Marriage and Child Support

Posted on May 1 by in Child Support

Montana is the only country in the nation to allow for double-proxy marriages. If you’re interested in a proxy marriage, we recommend Armed Forces Proxy Marriages. A proxy marriage is one where the bride, the groom, or both the bride and the groom are absent from the ceremony. It’s primarily used by members of the armed forces who are deployed away from home, unable to easily travel, but still want to get married. A bride in Montana can marry a groom in Afghanistan with a proxy marriage.

What people sometimes forget is that a proxy marriage is a completely legal and totally valid marriage, unlike any other marriage. Some people think that because they were married by proxy they can get divorced by proxy. This isn’t the case. A couple married by proxy has to go through the same divorce process as anyone else. And in Montana, that means establishing child support for any minor children of the couple.

A proxy divorce starts just like any other Montana divorce, with a Petition for Dissolution. Assuming that minor children are involved, you’re also going to need a parenting plan and  a child support calculation. Some people do the calculation by hand, but more and more often people are doing the same thing lawyers have done for years and turning to an automated solution.

A final note on proxy marriages: just because Montana performed your proxy marriage doesn’t mean that we have jurisdiction over your divorce. The rules for who can hear a divorce are different from who can perform the marriage. It’s best to check with a divorce lawyer to make sure you’re on the right track.

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