Case Title: Amendment of Rule 1910.16-4 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure (rules)

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Docket Number: 

State: pennsylvania

Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Date: 2011-12-01T00:00:00Z

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Rule 1910.16-4. Support Guidelines. Calculation of Support Obligation. Formula. * * * (d) Divided or Split Physical Custody When Each Party Has Primary Custody of One or More of the Children. Varied Custodial Schedules (1) Divided or Split Physical Custody When Each Party Has Primary Custody of One or More of the Children. When calculating a child support obligation, and one or more of the children reside primarily with each party, the court shall offset the parties’ respective child support obligations and award the net difference to the obligee as child support. For example, if the parties have three children, one of whom resides with Father and two of whom reside with Mother, and their net monthly incomes are $2,500 and $1,250 respectively, Father’s child support obligation is calculated as follows. Using the schedule in Rule 1910.16-3 for two children at the parties’ combined net monthly income of $3,750, the amount of basic child support to be apportioned between the parties is $1,190. As Father’s income is 67% of the parties’ combined net monthly income, Father’s support obligation for the two children living with Mother is $797. Using the schedule in Rule 1910.16-3 for one child, Mother’s support obligation for the child living with Father is $273. Subtracting $273 from $797 produces a net basic support amount of $524 payable to Mother as child support. [(2)] (A) When calculating a combined child support and spousal or alimony pendente lite obligation, and one or more children reside with each party, the court shall, except as set forth in subdivision [(3)] (B) below, offset the obligor’s spousal and child support obligation with the obligee’s child support obligation and award the net difference to the obligee as spousal and child support. [(3)] (B) When one or more of the children resides with each party and the obligee’s net income is 10% or less of the parties’ combined net monthly income, then, in calculating the spousal support or alimony pendente lite obligation, the court shall deduct from the obligor’s income both the support owed for the child or children residing with the obligee, as well as the direct support the obligor provides to the child or children living with the obligor, calculated in accordance with the guidelines as if the child or children were not living with the obligor. (2) Varied Custodial Schedules. When the parties have more than one child and each child spends different amounts of partial or shared custodial time with the obligor, the trier of fact shall add the percentage of time each child spends with the obligor and divide by the number of children to determine the obligor’s percentage of custodial time. If the average percentage of time the children spend with the obligor is 40% or more, the provisions of subdivision (c) above apply. Example 1. The parties have two children and one child spends 50% of the time with the obligor and another spends 20% of the time with the obligor. Add those percentages together and divide by the number of children (50% plus 20% = 70% divided by 2 children = 35% average of the time with the obligor). Pursuant to subdivision (c), the obligor does not receive a reduction in the support order for substantial parenting time. Example 2. The parties have three children. Two children spend 50% of the time with the obligor and the third child spends 30% of the time with the obligor. Add the percentages of custodial time for all three children together and divide by the number of children (50% plus 50% plus 30% = 130% divided by three children = 43.33% average percentage of time with the obligor). Pursuant to subdivision (c), the obligor receives a reduction in the support order for substantial parenting time. Note: In cases with more than one child and varied partial or shared custodial schedules, it is not appropriate to perform a separate calculation for each child and offset support amounts as that method does not consider the incremental increases in support for more than one child built into the schedule of basic child support. * * *