How do they decide what my fair share of child support is?
A: There are a number of steps to calculating child support under the guidelines: Determining income and deductions, using the Guidelines charts, calculating both parents' shares, and taking care of special add-ons, deductions, and poverty tests. All of the steps are very important to doing the Guidelines right. You can help by making sure you bring all of the information and papers you have about your money, taxes, and things like child care and health care insurance to your support hearing or conference. If you bring all of your information, you can help make sure you pay or receive the right amount.
If you want more specifics about how the calculations work, read The Eight Major Steps In Calculating Child Support in New Jersey, attached to these Question and Answer pages.