OCGA § 19-6-15 Child Support Guidelines For Determining Amount of Award; Continuation of Duty of Support; Duration of Support

• Library: Code of Georgia
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through 2023-2024 Legislative Session Chapter 353 and 2023 Special Session Chapter 5
• Year: 2023
• Citation: OCGA § 19-6-15

(a) Definitions. As used in this Code section, the term:

(1) Reserved.

(2) "Adjusted income" means the determination of a parent's monthly income, calculated by deducting from that parent's monthly gross income one-half of the amount of any applicable self-employment taxes being paid by the parent, any preexisting order for current child support which is being paid by the parent, and any theoretical child support order for other qualified children, if allowed by the court. For further reference see paragraph (5) of subsection (f) of this Code section.

(3) "Basic child support obligation" means the monthly amount of support displayed on the child support obligation table which corresponds to the combined adjusted income and the number of children for whom child support is being determined.

(4) Reserved.

(5) Reserved.

(6) "Child support obligation table" means the chart set forth in subsection (o) of this Code section.

(6.1) "Child support services" means the entity within the Department of Human Services and its contractors that are authorized to enforce a duty of support.

(7) "Combined adjusted income" means the amount of adjusted income of the custodial parent added to the amount of adjusted income of the noncustodial parent.

(8) "Court" means a judge of any court of record or an administrative law judge of the Office of State Administrative Hearings.

(9) "Custodial parent" means the parent with whom the child resides more than 50 percent of the time. When a custodial parent has not been designated or when a child resides with both parents an equal amount of time, the court shall designate the custodial parent as the parent with the lesser support obligation and the other parent as the noncustodial parent. When the child resides equally with both parents and neither parent can be determined as owing a greater amount than the other, the court shall determine which parent to designate as the custodial parent for the purpose of this Code section.

(10) "Deviation" means an increase or decrease from the presumptive amount of child support if the presumed order is rebutted by evidence and the required findings of fact are made by the court or the jury pursuant to subsection (i) of this Code section.

(11) "Final child support amount" means the presumptive amount of child support adjusted by any deviations.

(12) "Gross income" means all income to be included in the calculation of child support as set forth in subsection (f) of this Code section.

(13) "Health insurance" means any general health or medical policy. For further reference see paragraph (2) of subsection (h) of this Code section.

(14) "Noncustodial parent" means the parent with whom the child resides less than 50 percent of the time or the parent who has the greater payment obligation for child support. When the child resides equally with both parents and neither parent can be determined as owing a lesser amount than the other, the court shall determine which parent to designate as the noncustodial parent for the purpose of this Code section.

(15) "Nonparent custodian" means an individual who has been granted legal custody of a child, or an individual who has a legal right to seek, modify, or enforce a child support order.

(16) "Parent" means a person who owes a child a duty of support pursuant to Code Section 19-7-2.

(17) "Parenting time deviation" means a deviation allowed for the noncustodial parent based upon the noncustodial parent's court ordered visitation with the child. For further reference see subsections (g) and (i) of this Code section.

(18) "Preexisting order" means:

(A) An order in another case that requires a parent to make child support payments for another child, which child support the parent is actually paying, as evidenced by documentation as provided in division (f)(5)(B)(iii) of this Code section; and

(B) That the date and time of filing with the clerk of court of the initial order for each such other case is earlier than the date and time of filing with the clerk of court of the initial order in the case immediately before the court, regardless of the age of any child in any of the cases.

(19) "Presumptive amount of child support" means the basic child support obligation including health insurance and work related child care costs.

(20) "Qualified child" or "qualified children" means any child:

(A) For whom the parent is legally responsible and in whose home the child resides;

(B) Who the parent is actually supporting;

(C) Who is not subject to a preexisting order; and

(D) Who is not before the court to set, modify, or enforce support in the case immediately under consideration.

Qualified children shall not include stepchildren or other minors in the home who the parent has no legal obligation to support.

(21) "Split parenting" can occur in a child support case only if there are two or more children of the same parents, when one parent is the custodial parent for at least one child of the parents, and the other parent is the custodial parent for at least one other child of the parents. In a split parenting case, each parent is the custodial parent of any child spending more than 50 percent of the time with that parent and is the noncustodial parent of any child spending more than 50 percent of the time with the other parent. A split parenting situation shall have two custodial parents and two noncustodial parents, but no child shall have more than one custodial parent or noncustodial parent.

(22) "Theoretical child support order" means a hypothetical child support order for qualified children as calculated in subparagraph (f)(5)(C) of this Code section which allows the court to determine the amount of child support as if a child support order existed.

(23) "Uninsured health care expenses" means a child's uninsured medical expenses including, but not limited to, health insurance copayments, deductibles, and such other costs as are reasonably necessary for orthodontia, dental treatment, asthma treatments, physical therapy, vision care, and any acute or chronic medical or health problem or mental health illness, including counseling and other medical or mental health expenses, that are not covered by insurance. For further reference see paragraph (3) of subsection (h) of this Code section.

(24) "Work related child care costs" means expenses for the care of the child for whom support is being determined which are due to employment of either parent. In an appropriate case, the court may consider the child care costs associated with a parent's job search or the training or education of a parent necessary to obtain a job or enhance earning potential, not to exceed a reasonable time as determined by the court, if the parent proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the job search, job training, or education will benefit the child being supported. The term shall be projected for the next consecutive 12 months and averaged to obtain a monthly amount. For further reference see paragraph (1) of subsection (h) of this Code section.

(25) "Worksheet" or "child support worksheet" means the document used to record information necessary to determine and calculate monthly child support. For further reference see subsection (m) of this Code section.

(a.1)

(1) As used in this chapter, the term "child" means child or children, including any unborn child with a detectable human heartbeat as such terms are defined in Code Section 1-2-1.

(2) Notwithstanding any provision of this Code section to the contrary, the maximum amount of support which the court may impose on the father of an unborn child under this Code section shall be the amount of direct medical and pregnancy related expenses of the mother of the unborn child. After birth, the provisions of this Code section shall apply in full.

(b) Process of calculating child support. Pursuant to this Code section, the determination of monthly child support shall be calculated as follows:

(1) Determine the monthly gross income of both the custodial parent and the noncustodial parent. Gross income may include imputed income, if applicable. The determination of monthly gross income shall be entered on the Child Support Schedule A - Gross Income;

(2) Adjust each parent's monthly gross income by deducting the following from the parents' monthly gross income and entering it on the Child Support Schedule B - Adjusted Income if any of the following apply:

(A) One-half of the amount of self-employment taxes;

(B) Preexisting orders; and

(C) Theoretical child support order for qualified children, if allowed by the court;

(3) Add each parent's adjusted income together;

(4) Locate the basic child support obligation by referring to the child support obligation table. Using the figure closest to the amount of the combined adjusted income, locate the amount of the basic child support obligation. If the combined adjusted income falls between the amounts shown in the table, then the basic child support obligation shall be based on the income bracket most closely matched to the combined adjusted income. The basic child support obligation amount stated in subsection (o) of this Code section shall be rebuttably presumed to be the appropriate amount of child support to be provided by the custodial parent and the noncustodial parent prior to consideration of health insurance, work related child care costs, and deviations;

(5) Calculate the pro rata share of the basic child support obligation for the custodial parent and the noncustodial parent by dividing the combined adjusted income into each parent's adjusted income to arrive at each parent's pro rata percentage of the basic child support obligation;

(6) Find the adjusted child support obligation amount by adding the additional expenses of the costs of health insurance and work related child care costs, prorating such expenses in accordance with each parent's pro rata share of the obligation and adding such expenses to the pro rata share of the basic child support obligation. The monthly cost of health insurance premiums and work related child care costs shall be entered on the Child Support Schedule D - Additional Expenses. The pro rata share of the monthly basic child support obligation and the pro rata share of the combined additional expenses shall be added together to create the monthly adjusted child support obligation;