Negotiate > Guideline What If

This screen allows you to ask “what if” with the child support guideline calculation.

You can ask:

· What would child support be if a party’s income were higher or lower.

· What would child support be if a different party claimed the tax exemptions.

· What would child support be if overnights with the party were different (if this affects child support).

· What would child support be if a different party paid key expenses for the child.

The screen opens initially with a column of actual key numbers from the child support guideline.

To create a “what if” column, click the button at the top labeled “add scenario.”

The new scenario will appear in column 2 with the same numbers as the actual child support guideline calculation.

Then you can change any of the numbers shown in column 2.

The “what if” child support amount will appear at the top of the column (not the bottom).

You may make as many scenarios as you wish.

If you change a number in the “Actual” column, that number will change the actual support calculation for purposes of the financial affidavit, child support guideline on Forms & Reports, Budget Report, etc.

To print the child support guideline worksheet for any scenario, click the “print” or “PDF” link at the top of that scenario’s column.

To print the worksheet which shows all of the scenarios at once, the way the screen appears, click the Print or PDF button that is at the very top of the page, to the right of the Forms & Reports tab.

If you wish to swap the order of columns, click the “swap” link at the top of the column.

If you wish to make one of the columns the new “actual” column -- that is, to change the actual numbers that will then flow to the financial affidavit, budget Report, and other reports -- simply swap that column with the Actual column.

To reverse the operation, simply swap the columns back.

If you have created 10 scenarios and want to print a page with five of them, swap the columns so that the five you want are showing.

Then, delete the other five.

Then you can print the five that you want.