In Virginia, a couple of things go into a child support calculation: both parents’ combined incomes (if you are receiving spousal support, this is included as ‘income’), the amount either or both are paying for support of other children, the total amount of work-related childcare that they are paying, and the cost of health insurance coverage for the children only. Beyond that, the amount of parenting time that each coparent has also factors into the equation.
Under a primary physical custodial situation – where the non custodial parent has the child(ren) for 89 or fewer days over the course of a calendar year – it doesn’t matter whether the non custodial parent is a total deadbeat who sees the child exactly 0 days per year or whether he takes the full 89 days, the child support is the same.
Under a shared physical custodial situation – where the non custodial parent has 90 or more days with the child(ren) over the course of a calendar year – the child support calculation will fluctuate based on the exact number of days that each coparent has with the child(ren). Because shared physical custody can represent a scenario where the non custodial (or the lesser custodial) parent has just 90 days or, alternatively, a scenario where he has a full 182.5 days, it makes a difference. This creates a sliding scale depending on the amount of parenting time each coparent has, so child support can adjust accordingly.
If my child’s other parent – or I – have remarried, will this impact child support?
Generally, no. Though different states handle this issue differently, in Virginia, your new spouse (or your child’s father’s new spouse) is not relevant. Whatever his or her income may be, it is not YOUR income, so it is not included in the child support guideline calculation.
Based off of your new marriage, though, you may make changes – like deciding to become a stay at home mom – that would impact your income, and, as a result, potentially impact the child support guideline. It is possible, depending on the court, the judge to whom you are assigned, and the specific circumstances of your case, that income would be imputed to you, but that doesn’t mean that we’re using your new spouse’s income as a benchmark for how to calculate child support.
What if my child’s stepparent wants to support the child – and buys or pays for things?
That’s totally fine, but it’s not required. Whatever your child’s stepparent does for the child, whether we’re talking about paying private school tuition, fancy vacations, enrollment in extracurricular activities, or regular shopping trips, it does not count as child support. The stepparent won’t be obligated, now or in the future, to pay child support because at one point or another they decided to use some of their own money for the benefit of the child. In all likelihood, this is a very common scenario. It’s just a stepparent being kind; it is not child support and doesn’t create a pattern from which point continued contributions will be expected or required.
What if my child’s stepparent wants to adopt my child?
Stepparent adoption is easy if the child’s other biological parent isn’t interested in parenting (or just wants out of the pesky child support obligation). If they’ll sign off, you can easily accomplish a stepparent adoption.
If the child’s other parent does not want to sign off, though, stepparent adoption becomes virtually impossible. This would effectively terminate your child’s biological parent’s parental rights, which is not something that the court takes lightly. If he’s exercising even infrequent parenting time or paying child support, it’s probably not likely to happen.
For your child’s stepparent, too, there might be some reticence. It is one thing to support a child; it’s quite another to adopt them. For one thing, should you and your new partner break up, he would have to pay child support (and you might have to share custody and visitation). This would be a big shift, especially if your new partner is more likely than your child’s father to expect a 50/50 split of time.
In general, a stepparent is under no obligation to contribute towards child support; the fact that a stepparent has provided support in the past does not guarantee or require such support to be provided in the future. And stepparent adoption, no matter how strong the loving bond between a child and a stepparent, is far from guaranteed.
For more information, to learn about child support, or to request a copy of our custody guide for Virginia moms, visit our website at hoflaw.com or give our office a call at 757-425-5200.