Your right to receive support or your obligation to pay support is serious and can be very complicated. Washington State law requires parents to support their children. In all divorce, custody and paternity cases, the judge must decide or approve the appropriate amount of child support that one parent must pay another for the benefit of their children. The amount of child support is determined by the amount of income each parent has, the number and ages of the children involved, special needs of the child such as day care costs, and several other factors. The judge looks at the whole situation.
Child support is determined using the information in the work sheets.
Each parent contributes a proportionate share towards the support of their child based upon their combined income. Parents cannot simply agree to lower or give up child support. It is the child's right to be supported by both parents, not the parents' right to receive or pay an agreed lower amount. Child support is paid by one parent to the other, but it is for the benefit of the child, to help pay for food, housing, clothing, and other usual living expenses. The judge may set support at a higher or lower amount than the economic table suggests, but only if the judge can state in writing the reason to deviate from the basic amount in the table.