Negotiating the Amount of Child Support in NJ

I often get questions from clients about the amount one will have to pay in child support. Many people ask, “Can I negotiate the amount of child support? Do I have to use the child support guidelines?” The most important piece of my answer is child support belongs to the children. It’s the right of the children to receive support from both of their parents. It’s not something that belongs inherently to the parent of primary residence. It’s not a right that you can negotiate away. You can’t go into court and say, “I’m going to waive child support.” It’s not something that you waive. There are considerations if you want to pay more child support or if there is a consideration you’re going to pay less child support. Perhaps though that parent is directly paying private school costs or that parent’s paying the full cost of after care. There’s some other consideration that the parent is making a monetary contribution to something else in the child’s life such that you’ll then say it’s equitable; it’s then fair to the child to pay a lower amount of child support.

Are you worried about negotiating for child support during your divorce? If so, contact our professional New Jersey Child Support Lawyer for advice.

This educational blog was brought to you by Tanya Freeman, an experienced New Jersey Child Support Lawyer.

Tags: child support