How is my child support calculated?

The payment of child support is an issue faced by many parents after they have separated. How much child support you may have to pay to the other parent is dependent on a range of different factors, and for this reason it is different for every family.

The factors that are considered in the calculation of the payment include:

1. assessment of each parent's income
2. assessment of each parent's expenses
3. assessment of the level of care each parent provides for each child of the relationship
4. whether either parent has other dependents (that do not form part of the assessment).

The level of care each parent has is calculated as a "care percentage" and based on the number of nights a child spends with each parent. This is then used to calculate how much such care costs in dollar terms.