Oregon child support is based on overnight totals
Oregon uses overnight totals in its child support formula to determine the amount of child support in your divorce case.
Besides income, overnight totals are a key part of the Oregon child support formula. Your parenting time directly affects your child support, whether you pay or receive. Use the calculator above to see how much you will owe or collect under this formula.
Most overnight time totals are estimates (and thus incorrect)
Oregon lawyers and judges often rely on overnight estimates only, even if they are incorrect, because counting total hours is tedious and time consuming. Divorcing parents often rely on these estimates as well.
Using estimates means your overnight totals are wrong when compared to your actual parenting time schedule. This means your child support amount will not be fair or exact.
How to calculate overnights instead of relying on estimates
To calculate overnights, the easiest and most accurate way is to use software. Without software, you're forced to count each night for a whole year, which is error-prone when you include alternating holidays, summer break, and any changes to the schedule throughout the year.
Visualize your schedule. Get a written parenting plan. Calculate your parenting time.
Using software, you can also tweak your schedule to see how even little changes affect your total parenting time, and you can see how your overnights change each year due to holidays and other events.
You can also track what actually happens, and show how much time you've actually received for any period of time. Historical information is a powerful tool when you request a child support modification or when you request more parenting time.
Fast facts on child custody and child support in Oregon
In any divorce, Oregon family courts award custody of the children to one or both parents. Custody is divided into legal custody and physical custody. The total parenting time factors into the child support formula for both sole and shared custody.
Oregon sole physical custody: The children reside with and are supervised by the residential parent, while the other parent is entitled to scheduled visitations. In Oregon, sole physical custody is given to the parent with whom the children live with and spend the most time with.
Oregon shared physical custody: Oregon law outlines shared custody as any arrangement in which the child has regular and continuing contact with both parents. Parenting time does not have to be equally divided to qualify for shared physical custody.
Oregon child support formula and parenting time adjustment
Oregon family courts use one formula that considers both parents' incomes and the needs of the child to arrive at a monthly child support amount. A parenting time adjustment is given based on overnights for both sole and shared custody.
Sole and Shared custody formula: The total income from the nonresidential parent is put into the formula. Certain deductions from that total are allowed. Parenting time credit given is given for all custody situations. The more overnights, the greater the credit is toward child support.
Examples of Oregon child support
Consider the hypothetical case of Robert and Mary. Robert's adjusted income is $4,000 per month, while Mary's adjusted monthly income is $2,400. They have two children.
See how the child support amounts change in these examples:
- Scenario #1: Robert is scheduled to host the children for 100 days per year. He pays $591 in child support each month to Mary.
- Scenario #2: Mary is the nonresidential parent and hosts the children for 100 days per year. She pays $278 in child support to Robert.
Other factors in the Oregon child support formula
Oregon's child support formula uses the following information to calculate your monthly amounts for child support:
Eligible children: Child support is paid for all children under 18 years old, or 21 years old if the child is attending school at least part-time. Provisions must be specified in the court order for support. Child support is automatically terminated at age 18 if it is not addressed.
Gross earnings: Gross earnings are established based on tax records and current pay stubs. Oregon law uses one parent's income from the equivalent of one full-time job to determine a child support amount in sole custody cases. Both incomes figure into shared custody child support.
Specific deductions: There are some deductions allowed by Oregon family courts that allow an adjustment of the income, including health insurance premiums for the children, support for other children and child care expenses, for example.
How accurate child support helps your children
Paying accurate child support helps your children in several ways, primarily because it ensures their financial needs are met.
Here are some other reasons why accurate overnight numbers help you, the other parent and your children:
- It provides a fair way to determine your child support amounts
- It guarantees the child support amount reflects each parent's responsibilities
- It allows for modifications if your actual time and scheduled time are different
- It is compliant with Oregon law
Your financial obligations to your children don't end with divorce, so whether you are paying or receiving child support, you owe it to your children to pay or receive the proper amount.
Top 5 things to remember about Oregon child support and overnights
To ensure you are paying or receiving the right amount of child support in Oregon, remember these 5 things:
- Oregon Child Support Guidelines uses the same formula regardless of sole or shared physical custody based on the number of overnights each parent receives.
- All Parents qualify for a parenting time adjustment based on the number of overnights per year. The parenting adjustment means lower child support amounts.
- In the case of a 50/50 split in parenting time, the higher earner pays child support to the lower earner.
Use Custody X Change software to create a custody schedule that will quickly calculate the total parenting time for the Oregon child support formula.
As you negotiate what kind of custody schedule will best fit your needs, the software will accurately calculate your overnights.
Visualize your schedule. Get a written parenting plan. Calculate your parenting time.