Opinion ID: 1494025
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Maryland Child Support Guidelines

Text: This Court first addressed the Guidelines in Voishan v. Palma, 327 Md. 318, 609 A.2d 319 (1992). There, the Court explained why the Legislature enacted the Guidelines set forth in Md.Code (1984, 1999 Repl.Vol., 2004 Supp.), §§ 12-101 et seq. of the Family Law Article: The General Assembly enacted these guidelines in 1989 to comply with federal law and regulations. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 651-667 (1982 & 1984 Supp. II) and 45 C.F.R. § 302.56 (1989). The federal mandate required that the guidelines be established and `based on specific descriptive and numeric criteria and result in a computation of the support obligation.' Id. When drafting the guidelines, the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee had before it Development of Guidelines For Child Support Orders: Advisory Panel Recommendations and Final Report, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Child Support Enforcement. This report explained that the need for the guidelines was threefold: (1) to `remedy a shortfall in the level of awards' that do not reflect the actual costs of raising children, (2) to `improve the consistency, and therefore the equity, of child support awards,' and (3) to `improve the efficiency of court processes for adjudicating child support....' Voishan, 327 Md. at 322, 609 A.2d at 321. Section 12-101(a) of the Family Law Article provides Maryland courts with the authority to award child support to a custodial parent or child support agency. See Wills v. Jones, 340 Md. 480, 484, 667 A.2d 331, 333 (1995). Section 12-104(a) states that [t]he court may modify a child support award subsequent to the filing of a motion for modification and upon a showing of a material change of circumstance. Use of the Guidelines is mandatory in most instances, as § 12-202(a) provides that in any proceeding to establish or modify child support, whether pendente lite or permanent, the court shall use the child support guidelines set forth in this subtitle. (Emphasis added). Section 12-202(a)(2)(i) further provides that [t]here is a rebuttable presumption that the amount of child support which would result from the application of the child support guidelines ... is the correct amount of child support to be awarded. The presumption may be rebutted by evidence that the application of the guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate in a particular case. § 12-202(a)(2)(ii). Courts may consider a number of factors in determining whether the application of the Guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate in a particular case: 1. the terms of any existing separation or property settlement agreement or court order, including any provisions for payment of mortgages or marital debts, payment of college education expenses, the terms of any use and possession order or right to occupy to the family home under an agreement, any direct payments made for the benefit of the children required by agreement or order, or any other financial considerations set out in an existing separation or property settlement agreement or court order; and 2. the presence in the household of either parent of other children to whom that parent owes a duty of support and the expenses for whom that parent is directly contributing. § 12-202(a)(2)(iii). If the court finds that the application of the Guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate in a particular case, the court must make a written finding or specific finding on the record stating the reasons for departing from the guidelines and the finding must state: A. the amount of child support that would have been required under the guidelines; B. how the order varies from the guidelines; C. how the finding serves the best interests of the child; and D. in cases in which items of value are conveyed instead of a portion of the support presumed under the guidelines, the estimated value of the items conveyed. § 12-202(a)(2)(v)(2) (emphasis added).