New Hampshire Bill Would Pro-rate Child Support

By Julia Spalding

Published on March 03, 2006

The bill, which would significantly alter the structure of child support payments in the state of New Hampshire, has come under fire by family practice lawyers and others who question its fairness -- specifically to the children involved. Divorced mothers and fathers who don't have full custody would only owe child support for the days that the other parent actually cares for the children.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. David Bickford says the state's current guidelines are outdated, and that they can penalize divorced parents who have partial custody. However, critics say the bill that's now headed to the Senate could provide the wrong kind of motivation to parents when they're making visitation arrangements with their former spouses.

Currently, payments are determined by a formula, with the "obliger" paying 25 percent of his or her net income to child support. The percentage increases to 33 percent if the obliger has two children; 40 percent for three children; and 45 percent for four or more children. Bickford says he would eventually like to see the formula altered so that the payments are based on the actual cost of raising a child, rather than the income of the divorced parent.

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