Child support in New York is a court-ordered payment that is made by one parent to the other for the benefit of their child. Specifically, child support itself is a court-determined periodic payment that is ordered by a family court when a child’s biological parents are separating or going through the divorce process.
The parent who does not have primary physical custody of the child or who lives with a child less than half of the time, is generally the parent who is ordered to make child support payments.
Child support is meant to provide for a child’s basic needs, including food, clothing, education, and medical care. In New York, when a family law court is initially calculating child support, the total amount of the child support will be based on various different factors.
Factors that may impact the total amount of child support include the custody arrangement between the parents or custodians, the child’s best interests standard, each parent’s income and financial obligations, and the number of children involved in the support case.
Specifically, child support in New York is calculated according to the Child Support Standards Act (“CSSA”). The CSSA provides a formula that takes into account the incomes of both parents and the number of children being supported.
The percentage of net income allocated for child support depends on the number of children, as follows:
- One child: 17% of the non-custodial parent’s income
- Two children: 25% of the non-custodial parent’s income
- Three children: 29% of the non-custodial parent’s income
- Four or more children: 31% of the non-custodial parent’s income
Some examples of such financial needs that are addressed by child support payments include, but may not be limited to:
- Food, shelter, and clothing
- Medical care and health-related expenses
- Educational expenses, such as private school tuition
In some cases, a parent may not timely pay child support. In these cases, that parent may be sued for enforcement of child support, which carries various different legal penalties and consequences. Eventually, that parent will likely owe retroactive child support, also known as back child support to the custodial parent.
In New York, an adult child cannot generally sue a parent for back child support. This is because they have no legal standing to sue for back child support. However, there are certain exceptions in which an adult child can seek back child support.
For instance, if the adult child is the designated representative or executor of their custodial parent’s estate, then they may be able to pursue back child support on behalf of their parent’s estate.
In other words, their custodial parent had a legal right to sue the other parent for back child support. As such, the adult child may sue for back child support by stepping into their deceased custodial parent’s shoes in order to seek back child support on behalf of their parent’s estate.
It is important to note that in the state of New York, a custodial parent has 20 years from the date of default to sue the other parent for back child support. This means that unpaid child support can be collected retroactively for up to 20 years. This law is what allows an adult child or children to seek unpaid back child support.
More specifically, The statute for back child support in New York is covered under New York Consolidated Laws, Family Court Act – Section 413. That statute outlines a parent’s duty to support their child until the age of 21 and provides guidelines for calculating child support obligations. It also provides information concerning child support default and back child support.
