In Missouri every parent whether natural or adoptive, owes a duty of support to their child(ren). Therefore, when parents dissolve their partnership and separate, the law determines whether one parent should compensate the other parent for the burden they bear due the greater amount of time they physically care for the child or due to a disparity in income between the parties. So, the parent who has more custodial time generally receives the child support, or in cases of equal custodial time, the parent who earns less income usually receives the support. This does not prevent arguments in equal custody cases as to which parent actually sustains more daily expenses for the child and a Judge can make the final determination after hearing evidence.

Child support can be entered via Missouri’s administrative agency known as the “Family Support Division” or by the Circuit Court. Most attorneys would agree that if you are the party from whom child support is being sought, it is highly advisable to have your child support obligation determined by a Judge through the Circuit Court. This is due to the fact that the state agency will issue a child support order, but will not determine child custody. Circuit Courts will always determine custody and support together as related issues. In addition, the overloaded state system is a much more impersonal machine in which to navigate. 

Whether administratively or Court-ordered, child support is mathematically calculated using “Form 14” which you can view here https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=114613. Child support begins with the idea that if the parents had remained together in one household, the child would have enjoyed a specific standard of living and therefore a specific monthly amount of money spent on their behalf. This specific amount is based upon the “Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations” which can be viewed here: https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=92453. Then, that amount is divided pursuant to what percentage of that gross income which is earned by each party. Therefore, if the paying parent earned 75% of the gross total monthly household income, they would be responsible for 75% of the amount found on the Schedule which becomes the baseline child support amount. The amount is then adjusted for a few items such as child support obligations paid for other children, the number of other children residing with each parent, extraordinary medical expenses, daycare costs, and the child’s insurance costs. Finally, the paying parent can receive a discount off the support amount based upon the number of overnights they have with the child per year. This discount is only available if the parent receiving support earns a minimum amount of income as set by the Form 14 rules (currently $1,400 in cases with one child and $1,700 in cases with two children, etc).

As you may note from the information above, the reasonable monthly expenses of each parent aside from the few items mentioned, are not considered in the calculation! Believe it or not, the Form 14 result is presumed to be an affordable amount. Therefore, attempting to argue that you cannot afford child support is an uphill battle at best. If your expenses make child support unaffordable, the Court will generally expect you to reduce your expenses and make supporting your child first priority. Similarly, if one parent is voluntarily underemployed or unemployed, the Court will “impute” a reasonable amount of income based upon their work history, education and skills.

Support will usually be retroactive to the date the Petitioner filed their case and it’s common for an additional amount to be temporarily tacked onto the normal monthly payments in order to catch up. Once the monthly amount is determined, it can be paid directly to the parent receiving support (by agreement between the parties), by payment directly to the state who then forwards the funds, or via Income Withholding where the funds are withheld by an employer, sent to the state and then forwarded to the receiving parent. 

As you can see, child support can be quite complicated and there are many more small factors which are too numerous to cover in this brief explanation. This is a very basic overview meant only for informational purposes.

If you have questions, you can call or message us today to discuss paying or receiving child support. It’s 100% free and confidential. Every case is unique and we’re ready to help!