The rule in Michigan is that both parents are required to provide financial support for their children. In order to determine the amount that each parent is required to pay in child support, Michigan uses guidelines developed by the Friends of the Court Bureau. The guidelines take several factors into consideration, such as:
- Financial resources of the parents;
- Family size;
- Ages of the children;
- Child care and educational expenses;
- Health care coverage costs and medical/dental expenses; and
- Other criteria
The court may deviate from the Michigan child support formula, if it is found that application of the child support formula would cause unjust or inappropriate support amounts. You can go to: https://micase.state.mi.us/calculatorapp/public/welcome/load.htmlanduse the calculator to calculate your child support amount, using the Michigan child support formula.
Can I terminate or modify my duty to pay child support?
The duty to pay child support automatically terminates upon the child’s death, marriage, or emancipation at the age of 18. A court may order child support up until the age of 19 years and six months, if the child is enrolled in high school. After this time, the child support obligation will automatically terminate.
Secondly, the court may also mandate that the parent continues to pay child support, even if your parental rights have been terminated. In other words, it is not automatically revoked, unless the court chooses to modify or terminate the obligation.
Lastly, child support is modifiable if there has been a substantial change in circumstances in the parents’ ability to pay the support obligation and/or the child’s needs have changed. It is automatically presumed that the after a certain period of time has elapsed, that the needs of the child has changed, and the child support should be examined for modification. For example, Friends of the Court will automatically re-examine a child support order every 36 months, if the money for the child support is being collected by the state, and the child or custodial parent is receiving public assistance. In all other situations, a party must request a review for modification,
A modification of child support will be ordered if there is a substantial change in the following areas:
- Employment
- Growth of the children
- Inflation
- Income
- Retirement
- Disabling Illness
Although, you are able to modify future child support obligations, you are unable to modify arrears. Arrears are past child support obligations that were not paid by the parent. It is possible to set up payment plans and erase the arrears through certain procedures. Talk with an attorney to consult you on how to do this.
What will happen if I don’t pay my child support?
If the payer is not abiding by the child support order, a number of repercussions can result from non-compliance:
- Wage Withholding and Payment to Court Clerk: Under Federal legislation, the court can issue an income withholding order to the payer’s employer, and the employer must send the income withheld to the court clerk.
- Tax Refund: Under Federal legislation, a state may intercept a payer’s tax refund, if the payer owes more than $500 in back child support. The payer is entitled to notice of this interception, and may contest the intercept of the tax refund.
- License may be suspended, not granted, or not renewed: The state of Michigan allows the court to suspend the payer’s drivers, occupational, recreational, or sporting license when the payer owes at least two months of back child support.
- Child Support Recovery Act: It is a federal crime to willfully fail to pay back child support to a child who stays in another state, if the amount is more than a year of back child support or the amount due is greater than $5000.
- The right to an attorney is not automatically required: The right to an attorney is not automatically required for civil contempt of the child support order that leads to incarceration. This is specifically true when the state provides alternative procedural safe guards to insure that the payer’s due process rights are protected. For example, fair opportunity to dispute relevant information.
- Michigan Criminal Proceedings: Under Michigan law, failure to comply with a child support order is a felony punishable by up to 4 years’ imprisonment and/or a fine of not more than $2000. The prosecutor must show: (i) the defendant was required by court order to pay child support; (ii) the defendant appeared or received notice by personal service of the action for support, and (iii) the defendant failed to pay support as ordered.