Also known as: basic child support obligations · BCSO · child support obligation
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A presumptive amount of child support calculated from statutory guidelines based on the parents' combined income and the number of children. Courts start with this figure and then consider any permitted deviations or additional factors before entering a final order.
Brooke Bryant obtained a New York child support order when her daughter was born. After moving to North Carolina, she registered the order there for enforcement. When the child turned eighteen, Brooke continued to seek payments under the original schedule because New York law sets emancipation at age twenty-one. The court applied New York rules to the basic child support obligation and ordered continued payments until the child reached twenty-one.
Bharat Bhatia sought a downward deviation from the basic child support obligation after his income dropped. The court examined all statutory deviation factors under Ohio law and found none justified a change from the guideline amount. It therefore ordered support at the scheduled level without adjustment.
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Bradley Banks already paid support for a child from a prior relationship. When calculating his basic child support obligation for a second child, the court refused to apply the serial family payer reduction because the prior obligation had not been court-ordered. The guideline amount remained unchanged.
Bethany Boyd stopped paying the basic child support obligation set in a prior order. The court held her in contempt after finding she had the ability to pay and had willfully failed to do so. It imposed sanctions to enforce the guideline amount.
Benjamin Brooks faced civil contempt proceedings for falling behind on the basic child support obligation. The court considered whether appointed counsel was required given the risk of incarceration. It ultimately enforced the guideline amount after determining the procedural safeguards had been met.
Courts calculate the basic child support obligation from a statutory schedule that uses the parents' combined net income and the number of children. When combined income exceeds the top of the schedule, the amount at the highest bracket serves as the minimum presumptive award, with any higher amount decided case by case.
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No. A marital or premarital agreement that attempts to restrict or eliminate a child's right to support calculated from the parents' actual resources is unenforceable as against public policy. Courts disregard such provisions and determine support under the guidelines regardless of the contract language.
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The amount and duration of the basic child support obligation remain governed by the law of the issuing state under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act. Registration in a second state affects only enforcement procedures, not the substantive terms of the original order.
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A court may deviate only after considering all statutory factors listed in the guidelines and making specific findings that justify a different amount. The basic obligation from the schedule serves as the starting point and presumptive figure.
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…the order. We hold that in order for the serial payer provisions of the percentage standards to be applicable, the "additional child support obligation" referred to in § HSS 80.02(21) must be the result of a court order, and the support obligation being calculated must be for children from a subsequent family or a subsequent paternity…