Once child custody arrangements are made for divorcing couples, child support may be another factor that needs to be resolved. This can give money to the parent that financially needs it to support the child sufficiently. When these cases are brought to court, a judge will preside over the case. A judge will consider many factors to make a final decision on how much child support should be paid to the parent for the benefit of the child. These factors can include the child’s needs, the family’s standard of living, each parent’s economic contributions, the earning capacity of each party, each family member’s age and health, any income, assets and earning ability of the child, other children in need of support and other factors that may be deemed important for a specific case. New Jersey has guidelines in place to help these judges use their best discretion to make fair and just decisions for these cases. The court system tries to look out for the best interests of the child.
Can child support be changed?
Since child support is decided on at a specific time, it may be changed later on in the future when circumstances have changed. If one parent loses their job, this may cause a change to child support payments. They may no longer be able to provide these steady payments or the parent may need more child support from the supporting parent. There are many situations that can cause a change. For these cases, the child’s well-being is the main focus. Although these cases are about money, in the end, the money is to benefit the child’s life. The money serves as a support system.
New Jersey laws used to end child support at 18, but now the age of emancipation is 19. However, this is not always the end of child support payments for some situations. If a child is planning on attending a college or university, they may be eligible to receive child support payments until they are 23. This is to help them maintain a standard of living while they are getting an education and are unable to work full-time.
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