Vermont Child Support Calculator

How to Calculate Child Support in Vermont

The state of Vermont allows either parent to ask for child support. The court could decide to order one parent, or both of them, to pay for child support. But in general, the parent who spends half of their time (or less) with their child (the non-custodial parent) will have to support the custodial parent. The custodial parent is also responsible for the child’s support. However, the court assumes that the parent spends this amount directly on the child/children.

The number of children, the custody agreement, and the parents’ income will affect the child support amount in most cases. You can use Vermont’s child support calculator to estimate the fair amount you will have to pay in child support. However, a court can adjust the child support amount if the guidelines suggest an amount that would be unfair to the child/children or a parent.

You will find that Vermont’s child support guidelines can be seen as just a formula or fee schedule. Parents can pay more than the suggested amount if they want to. However, they cannot pay less. Whatever the case, a court must provide the required child support amount owed. On top of the amount determined by these guidelines, parents are also expected to share childcare costs. Any other expenses, such as education, should also be shared. A court will also order on or both of the parents to pay for the child/children’s medical insurance.

Sometimes, a parent earns much more or less than the calculator expects. If that is what is happening in your case, you may ask their local court to take into consideration several factors. This will allow the court to establish a different amount of child support owed.

These factors are:

• The child’s financial resources
• The custodial parent’s financial resources
• The needs and financial resources of the non-custodial parent
• The child’s previous living standard if the parents lived together
• The child’s physical and emotional condition
• The child’s educational needs
• The education needs of the parents if this will increase their earning capacity
• Any extraordinary travel expenses required for parent-child visitation
• Any other reasons a judge may find important
• Inflation

It is also possible for the court to order money to be paid to the custodial parent as part of child support. This is a child support maintenance supplement and is not the same as Spousal Maintenance (Alimony).

Child Support Modification in Vermont

When a child support order has been made, it is still possible to request that the court make changes to it at any time. If the request comes in less than three years since the order was issued, you have to give a good reason. You must show an unanticipated and major change in circumstances. This could be a job loss, an international relocation, change in the parenting plan, or a parent’s serious illness.

Should three years have passed since the child support order was issued, the change threshold is lower. If you need more information about changing a child support order, you can look into it on Vermont’s Office of Child Support website.

Payment of Child Support

The payment of the child support amount can be made via two methods. The most common practice is paying the child support to the custodial parent directly. The second method would be to obtain an income deduction order from the Court. In this method, the order of the Court would go to the employer who, in turn, would process and deduct the amount from the paycheck and forward it to the child support office. The child support office eventually hands over the amount to the spouse taking care of the child. Both the methods are viable options and ultimately depends on what either party agrees upon.

Common Questions about Child Support

Does having shared custody of the child affect child support in Vermont?

There is a method of changing the amount of child support in all states where the custody agreement is ‘shared’ or ‘joint custody’.

In Vermont, the child support formula accounts for shared custody when calculating payable amounts. As a result, if child custody is shared, the amount owed by the paying parent will be lowered based on the amount of time the parent and child spend together.

How does Vermont treat extraordinary medical costs?

In the state of Vermont, there are specialized guidelines when it comes to sharing any extraordinary medical care costs of a child. They are separate from basic child support payments and will be added to the determined amount. Generally, extraordinary medical costs are generated by hospital visits, costly procedures like braces, and illness.

The state sees these medical care costs as an obligatory deduction and that is added to basic child support. If child care costs are paid by the non-custodial parent, part of the total monthly costs will be deducted from the non-custodial parent’s monthly payment. The non-custodial parent has to pay their share for the child’s care to pay child support.

How does Vermont child support treat child care costs?

Vermont has special guidelines that consider childcare costs separately from the general costs of raising a child. This is because of the high costs of child care for a single payment.

The state sees child care costs as an obligatory deduction when it comes to basic child support. So if the non-custodial parent must pay child care costs, a part of the monthly child care costs will be deducted from that parent’s support payment each month. If the custodial parent is paying child care costs, the non-custodial parent has to pay their share plus basic child support.

Does Vermont child support include college education?

There is no explicit requirement in the state of Vermont for college expenses to be paid for with child support. But a non-custodial parent could voluntarily agree to help cover the costs. Once such an agreement has been reached, it is contractually enforceable.

How does Vermont enforce child support?

Vermont law states that support is to be enforced by the state child support agency. This agency deals with unpaid child support and the tracking down of the non-custodial parent. It also works to enforce child support orders.

What exactly are child support arrears?

This is the amount of child support that has not been paid by the non-custodial parent. The Vermont state can collect these arrears through court-ordered wage garnishment by withholding welfare benefits or bank levy. There are other methods of collecting overdue child support as well.

Taxes and Child Support in Vermont?

In Vermont, under guidelines stipulated by the IRS, the parent who receives money for child support doesn’t need to pay federal tax on it. The parent who pays child support can’t deduct their payments either. This is different from alimony payments’ federal taxation. Alimony is treated as a taxable income and is also deductible by the payer. Note that Vermont law could vary on the tax treatment of child support.