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Question: How do I enter shared custody in Connecticut?
Answer:
First, we want to distinguish shared custody from Split custody.
Split custody is where each parent has primary custody of one or more children.
This is the situation where, for example, two children live with Parent A and one child lives with Parent B.
Shared custody is a situation in which all children have essentially the same custody arrangement, and where each child has substantially equal time and contact with both parents. The timeshare does not have to be exactly equal.
This is the provision of the regulations for calculation of support in shared custody situations:
(B) Shared Physical Custody. In a shared physical custody situation, as defined in section 46b-215a-1(23) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, the presumptive current support order shall equal the presumptive current support amount of the parent with the higher net weekly income, payable to the parent with the lower net weekly income. If the shared physical custody deviation or any other deviation criterion applies, complete section VIII of the worksheet, checking all boxes that apply, and attach an additional sheet if necessary to explain the deviation. Enter the presumptive weekly current support order on line 30.
There are several references in the Preamble to shared custody that further explain why there is no exact formula in CT for shared physical custody connected to overnights, as there there is in some other states.
How do you enter this in FamilyLawSoftware?
Do the following:
1. Designate the lower income person as the one receiving the child support (the column that says “custody for guideline” on the line with the child’s information).
2. Look at the after tax cash flow results in the income summary to determine whether or not you think that is a reasonable number given the circumstances of the case.
3. If you want to deviate go the bottom of the Client Info > Child Support Data screen, open the group for “Child Support and Alimony to Use in the Budget [etc]”, clear the button that uses the guideline amount, fill in a possible deviated number and go back to the income summary to see if it is reasonable for the parties.
To quickly try multiple child support scenarios, you can use Negotiate tab > Guideline “What If,” or Negotiate tab > “What If” Analysis. Each of these screens has a “Help on this screen” link at the top of the screen.