How do new children affect child support?

            It’s quite common for single parents to start new relationships, often way before they should. These new relationships can of course produce new babies and new babies mean spending more money, lots of money. Diapers, clothes, formula and the somewhat extraordinary costs of childcare can put a dent in the wallet. The costs of a new child can strain finances, especially when one or both parents may be paying child support for children born in previous marriages or relationships. So when new children are introduced either through birth, what is the affect on child support? The answer is it varies from state to state but in Missouri there is a clear answer.

How is child support calculated in Missouri:  Form 14

Every child deserves financial support from both parents, and child support was developed to help “legally encourage” parents to support their children. With today's cost of living, absent being rich, it would be extraordinarily difficult to be a single parent of one or more children without financial assistance from someone. The courts assume the role of financial support for children falls on the shoulders of the parents.

In Missouri courts determine child support orders primarily via three factors, including each parent’s income, healthcare costs and childcare costs. Mo. Rev. Stat. 452.340. Interestingly, Missouri courts do not take into consideration marital misconduct when determining child support obligations. Rather, the court will consider all relevant factors, including:

1. The financial needs and resources of the child;

2. The financial resources and needs of the parents;

3. The standard of living the child would have enjoyed had the marriage not been dissolved;

4. The physical and emotional condition of the child, and the child's educational needs;

5. The child's physical and legal custody arrangements, including the amount of time the child spends with each parent and the reasonable expenses associated with

the custody or visitation arrangements; and

6. The reasonable work-related child care expenses of each parent.

To establish consistently and uniformity with child support orders, the Missouri Legislature developed the Child Support Amount Calculation Worksheet, otherwise known as Form 14, to aide Missouri courts in making consistent and fair child support orders. Form 14 is a formula that takes into consideration a multitude of factors when determining a child support obligations. When all these factors are inputed into the formula, the form reveals the amount of child support the payor parent will pay to the other parent on a monthly basis.

While Form 14 is required to be completed and filed in every case, Judges do not have to order the exact amount of child support Form 14 suggests. Rather, Form 14 establishes a rebuttable presumption that the child support should be what it is says it should be. Judges are allowed to take into consideration other factors and if they feel the number produced by Form 14 is unjust, they can determine the child support on their own. Form 14 is a starting point, and Judges have the discretion to deviate from Form 14 results.

The Sword vs. Shield Rule:

      Missouri courts calculate child support obligations using a formula created by the Missouri Legislature know as Form 14.  Form 14 takes into consideration both parents' income and the financial obligations each parent is responsible for. More importantly, Form 14 takes into consideration any previously established legal payment obligations such as maintenance or child support for previously born children. These previously established payment obligations can lower the payor parent’s financial obligation in any current or future divorces or child support orders for additional children. Any new child support obligations from new children will not definitely cause any previously ordered child support to be reduced.

            The State of Missouri does not allow those who pay child support to reduce their child support obligation by attempting to modify the child support order solely on the basis of having a new child. In other words new children cannot be used as a “sword” to reduce the amount of previously ordered child support. However, the costs of raising new children or new child support obligations are taken into consideration if the previous spouse attempts to modify the previous order.  In other words, new children can protect you from increases in previously ordered child support. This protection is known as “the shield.”  Under the Sword vs. Shield rule, babies born after a child support judgment was made can only be used as a shield and not as a sword.

It is important to consult with an experienced Cass County family law attorney if you have questions about how new children can affect your child support obligation or how much child support you receive if you are the recipient. Attorney Robert Davis at the Men’s Center for Domestic Resolution in Pleasant Hill, Missouri serves men who find themselves in domestic disputes such as divorce or child custody matters.