Negotiating Child Support: 5 Tips for Parents

hands exchanging money over a gavel - negotiating child support concept

Whether you are paying child support or receiving it, the amount one parent must pay the other is often a key factor in parents’ divorces and child custody cases. While a family’s child support amount is largely controlled by the Michigan Child Support Formula, there are some tips for parents negotiating child support to help avoid extensive litigation while receiving a fair result.

How is Child Support Calculated?

Both parents have a legal obligation to financially support their children. When parents are divorced or separated, this comes in the form of court-ordered child support. Under Michigan law, the family court judges are supposed to enter a child support order in every case where they award custody or parenting time.

The calculation of each parent’s base child support obligation is calculated based on the Michigan Child Support Formula, which considers:

  • That spouse’s income
  • The total income of both parents
  • The number of overnights the children spend with each parent

That number is then adjusted to account for:

  • Ordinary medical expenses
  • Health insurance payments related to the child
  • Child care expenses related to a parent’s work or educational obligations

When this calculation is complete, it results in a recommended child support amount. While the court is not required to enter an order for this amount in every case, if it doesn’t, it must explain the reason for the “child support deviation” as part of the order.

Can You Negotiate Child Support?

Given the mathematical nature of the Michigan Child Support Formula, some parents believe that you cannot negotiate child support. However, that’s not entirely the case. Most child support litigation is not based on what comes out of the Michigan Child Support Formula, but what goes into the formula. For example, if one parent is self-employed or supplements their income with contract work, it may be difficult to pin down what that parent’s income actually is. Parents seeking to avoid child support litigation can negotiate about what will count as income for the purposes of calculating support and avoid the time and expense of proving what each spouse actually earned.

In other cases, a parent may have extensive daytime parenting time that is not reflected in the overnights they were awarded. This may mean that they end up financially supporting the children in their home more than is reflected in the formula. In that case, you may be able to negotiate a downward deviation to reflect those additional expenses.

5 Tips for Parents Negotiating Child Support

You Can’t Trade Child Support for Parenting Time

Michigan law says you cannot offer “quid pro quo” exchanges for child custody and parenting time. In other words, you can’t offer more parenting time in exchange for lower child support. Similarly, you are not allowed to withhold parenting time with your child simply because your spouse is behind on their child support. Keep those two ideas separate in your mind.

Can You Waive Child Support?

Some parents don’t like the idea of being dependent on an ex-spouse or partner for support. A Michigan court is allowed to waive child support in certain circumstances, though it is uncommon. A zero dollar child support order is most likely where:

  • Each parent has sufficient income to pay for the child’s expenses individually
  • The parents’ income is relatively equal
  • The parents share physical custody with 50/50 or close to equal parenting time
  • The Michigan Child Support Formula recommends a very small amount of support per month
  • The would-be paying parent assumes other child-related expenses such as tuition, travel costs, orthodontics or medical costs, or extracurricular expenses; and
  • Neither parent is receiving government assistance

If either parent receives government support, such as WIC, the state is entitled to reimbursement for a portion of the benefits paid from the non-recipient spouse. In those cases, the Court will generally not waive child support.

Keep Your Kids Out of the Child Support Negotiations

Your kids do not need to know about any part of your divorce or custody litigation – that includes child support negotiations. For child support, this often looks like one parent telling the children they can’t take vacations, participate in extracurricular activities, or receive gifts because the other parent isn’t paying their child support (or receiving too much support). Talking to your kids about your child support concerns puts them in the middle, forcing them to align with one parent against the other. It can also cause the Court to rule against you.

What Information Do You Need for Documenting Support?

One way to smooth child support negotiations is to freely exchange income information with your opposing party. This may include documentation of:

  • Wages and income (most often a W-2, pay stubs, or tax returns)
  • Business income if self-employed
  • Health insurance expenses (and how many people are covered by the plan)
  • Receipts for extraordinary medical expenses, extracurricular activities, tuition costs, and child care expenses
  • Evidence of each parent’s regular bills, expenses, and debt to show whether they are living within their stated means, are over-extended and therefore not likely earning more than they claim, or living beyond their stated means without debt and therefore likely earning more than they claim (note, a new spouse’s or significant other’s or relative’s income could account for a lifestyle that appears to be beyond the means of a parent).

Michigan’s court rules give both parties the right to demand this information from the other party, or subpoena it directly from employers, banks, and medical providers. However, you can save both parties time and money in the negotiations by simply exchanging information without going through the formal discovery process.

Consider Direct Payment of Extracurricular Activities

If you are unable to deviate from the Michigan Child Support Formula, you may still be able to negotiate child support related issues. Remember that child support is designed to cover the everyday expenses of the child, such as food, clothing, housing, and basic medical care. Other expenses, such as club fees, private lessons, and camps fall outside the court-ordered payments. This means you and your co-parent can negotiate over how those costs will be divided. You can even agree to make the payments directly, if you are concerned about how the additional support will be spent.

Can You Modify a Negotiated Child Support Order?

When negotiating child support, it is important to remember that the Court can always modify a child support order any time the parents’ circumstances or the child’s needs change. This can include when one parent gets (or loses) a job, if a child has an special medical or educational need (such as private school or braces), or if custody and parenting time change. This is true even if you have entered a consent child support order.

Get Help Negotiating Child Support

At NSSSB, we are proud to serve as child support lawyers parents in Michigan. We want to help you and your children get the support you need to live comfortably and provide for their needs. Click here to schedule a consultation with a Southeast Michigan family law attorney at one of our offices in Ann Arbor or Bloomfield Hills. We will listen to the details of your situation, answer your questions, and give you the tools to navigate your child support case.

Categories: Child Support