State law requires the North Carolina Child Support Guidelines be used to calculate the child support obligation of parties with a combined adjusted gross income of $25,000 or less per month ($300,000 per year). These guidelines apply as a rebuttable presumption in all legal proceedings involving the child support obligation of a parent.

The figures that go into a child support calculation when utilizing the Guidelines include: 1) each parent’s monthly gross income, 2) the monthly cost of the child’s health insurance premiums, 3) monthly work-related childcare expenses (such as daycare or after-school care), and 4) monthly extraordinary expenses, if applicable.

The Guidelines cannot be used in cases where the parties’ combined adjusted gross income exceeds $25,000 per month ($300,000 per year). In these situations, child support is calculated based on the child’s actual needs and expenses and the parents’ respective ability to provide for those needs.

A child support order is subject to being modified or vacated at any time upon a party’s request of (i.e., filing a motion to modify child support) and proof that a substantial change in circumstances has occurred which warrants modification of the parties’ child support obligations.

In addition, the Guidelines provide for modification under certain circumstances. If a child support order has been in effect for at least three years and there is a difference of 15% or more between the amount of child support payable under the existing order and the amount of child support to be paid based on a current child support calculation, it is presumed that a substantial change of circumstances warranting modification has occurred.

You should be aware that in almost all cases, child support cannot be retroactively modified. With few exceptions, the effective date of modification will be when the motion to modify child support was filed. For this reason, it is very important that an obligor file a motion to modify child support soon after the substantial change warranting modification has occurred.

Although certain conditions allow for a court to terminate a child support obligation, an order directing payment of child support remains in place until the court actually enters an order modifying or terminating the obligation. Therefore, the paying party cannot simply stop paying child support on his or her own when a child ages out, or other changes occur. Rather, if a parent is paying pursuant to an order of the court, he or she should file a motion requesting the court to terminate the child support obligation and cite the appropriate reason for the termination. Failing to take these steps could result in the party being held in contempt of court for failure to pay child support.

Requesting Attorney’s Fees and Reimbursement of Costs
A party may request attorney’s fees and reimbursement of costs when seeking both the establishment of a child support obligation as well as the modification or vacation of the obligation.