Starting January 1, 2025, New Hampshire is making important updates to its child support laws. For parents, these changes could significantly impact how child support is calculated, especially if parenting time is shared.
Here’s what you need to know to prepare for these updates and how they could affect your family …
Parenting Time Matters
For parents with approximately equal parenting schedules (both having the child 40% or more of the time), the law introduces a presumption of $0 child support when the parent’s incomes are within 10% of the other parent’s income.
When incomes are similar and parenting time is substantially shared (each having the child more than 35% of the time), courts may deviate from standard child support guidelines to reflect shared responsibilities.
Why This is Good News for Parents
For parents who have joint or shared custody, this update acknowledges that both parents contribute to raising their child. If you have your child for a significant amount of time, your financial responsibilities may be adjusted to reflect that. This change ensures that child support better mirrors the real-life costs of raising children.
How Parenting Time Affects Support
Overnight Stays Matter
The court will now consider how many nights your child spends at each parent’s home. The more overnights you have, the lower your child support payments may be.
Balanced Custody = Fairer Payments
If you and the other parent share time fairly evenly, the child support amount will reflect that shared responsibility.
Covering Expenses Together
The law also makes sure that expenses like child care, medical bills, and activities are shared more fairly, based on how much time each parent spends with the child.
What This Means for You
Adjusting Current Agreements
If you already have a child support arrangement in place, you may be able to request a modification if your parenting time has significantly changed.
Planning for the Future
If you’re currently going through a custody or child support case, make sure to keep track of your parenting schedule and overnight stays. This could directly affect the outcome of your case.
Working Together
Parents may need to collaborate more closely to ensure fair and accurate child support calculations that reflect their shared responsibilities.
Final Thoughts
It remains to be seen how the courts will interpret these new guidelines. Every family is unique, and these changes aim to better reflect modern co-parenting dynamics. To see how this affects your case, schedule a consultation to see if this new law will apply to your situation.
