Child Support FAQ's

How is child support calculated in North Carolina?

In North Carolina, the Courts apply the North Carolina Child Support Guidelines. The North Carolina Child Support Guidelines are applicable in cases where the combined income of the parties is less than $300,000.00 per year. North Carolina’s child support guidelines apply as a rebuttable presumption in all legal proceedings involving the child support obligation of a parent. The guidelines must be used when the court enters a temporary or permanent child support order in a non-contested case or a contested hearing. The court upon its own motion or upon motion of a party may deviate from the guidelines if, after hearing evidence and making findings regarding the reasonable needs of the child for support and the relative ability of each parent to provide support, it finds by the greater weight of the evidence that application of the guidelines would not meet, or would exceed, the reasonable needs of the child considering the relative ability of each parent to provide support, or would otherwise be unjust or inappropriate.