So how much child support should I expect?

In Kansas, child support is figured using both parents' incomes, the cost to provide health insurance for the children, along with work related child care expense. As your children get older, the guidelines increase support since expected expenses increase.

Surprisingly, the income of the custodial parent has very little to do with the child support amount. So don't count on a child support reduction just because the custodial parent got a big raise or a new job. This is because the increase in total income makes the total child support figure for both parents increase, but the payor's share of that total will decrease. Those two calculations usually come close to cancelling one another out, leaving child support what it was before.

Sometimes special circumstances can be used to increase or decrease support. If the non-custodial parent must travel a long distance to see the child, it is sometimes possible to get an adjustment for long distance visitation. If your child has special needs that result in great out of pocket expense, that could justify an increase in support. If the paying parent is shouldering a great deal of responsibility for other expenses in a divorce settlement, child support can be reduced for "overall financial condition".

Sharing the "direct expenses" for children in shared custody expenses has become fairly common in recent years. Direct expenses are the things we provide children outside of the home, like extra-curricular expenses, school clothes, musical instruments and the like. If these expenses are equally shared, there will still be a child support payment by the parent who earns more income, but it will be much lower than without shared expenses.

There are some free child support calculators online, and they are OK for getting an estimate of what your child support might be, but it is best to have an attorney use their software (virtually all family law attorneys in Kansas use the same software--because it works) to give you a more accurate picture of what you might pay or what you might receive. The attorney can also help you understand what adjustments might apply to your particular case.