In a situation where child support is calculated via the North Carolina Child Support Guidelines, the courts will use a worksheet for the calculation of child support. The worksheet requires the court to consider the gross monthly income of both parties, any adjustments to this income for the cost or responsibility for other children not involved in this calculation, the adjusted gross income of the parties, the cost of health insurance for the children involved in the calculation, the cost of reasonable work related child care costs for the children involved in the calculation, and any extraordinary expenses of the children involved in the calculation. In addition, depending upon the custodial arrangement of the parties a different worksheet may be utilized by the courts. Worksheet A is utilized in situations where sole custody is the situation involved. This arrangement is determined for purposes of calculation of child support by counting the number of overnight visits that one parent has with the minor child whose support is being calculated. If a party has the child for less than 123 overnight visits in a calendar year then a worksheet A is utilized. If both parties have the child for overnight visits for more than 123 times a year, then a worksheet B is utilized. If the parties have a split custody arrangement whereby each of them has custody of one or more children for more than 123 overnights a year then worksheet C is applicable. If the parties or the court determines that the guidelines are not applicable, a deviation from the guidelines may be implemented. This deviation would require calculation of the guideline amounts and then presentation of evidence as to the reasons why the guideline amount is either too much, not enough, or simply inappropriate or unjust to be applied given the support needs of the children.
