New Hampshire Child Support Laws
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The following is a summary of New Hampshire child support laws, and is by no means intended to be an all-inclusive description of what to expect in your particular case. In some cases, the exact text of the statute may have been simplified and/or modified to provide for easier understanding. For a more specific understanding of the laws, you should consult the full New Hampshire Statutes and/or consult with an attorney about how the law might apply to your particular situation.

 

Child Support Guidelines.
Child support is determined in New Hampshire by taking the parents' total net income, and multiplying it by the following percentages:

For 1 child - 25%
2 children - 33%
3 children- 40%
4 or more children - 45%

The total child support obligation shall be divided between the parents in proportion to their respective incomes. Allowable child care expenses or medical insurance should be divided between the parents in proportion to their income, then added to the basic child support obligation.

The minimum child support order in New Hampshire is $50 per month.

 

Calculating Net Income.
"Net income" is calculated by taking the parents' combined adjusted gross income and subtracting the following:

(a) Court-ordered or administratively ordered support actually paid to others, for adults or children.

(b) Fifty percent of actual self-employment tax paid.

(c) Mandatory, not discretionary, retirement contributions.

(d) Actual state income taxes paid.

(e) Amounts actually paid by the obligor for medical insurance coverage for the minor children and actual work-related child care expenses for the children, up to no more than an annual total of $5,000 for one child, $9,000 for 2 children, and $12,000 for 3 or more children.

(a) Standard deductions published on an annual basis by the department of health and human services and based on federal Internal Revenue Service withholding table amounts for federal income tax, FICA, and Medicare, which an employer withholds from the monthly income of a single person who has claimed a withholding allowance for 2 people.

"Gross income" means all income from any source, whether earned or unearned, except overtime pay. The court, in its discretion, may impute a parent's income if the parent voluntarily becomes unemployed or underemployed, unless the parent is physically or mentally incapacitated. The income of either parent's current spouse shall not be considered as gross income to the parent unless the parent resigns from or refuses employment or is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, in which case the income of the spouse shall be imputed to the parent to the extent that the parent had earned income in his or her usual employment.

 

Deviation from the Guidelines.
The guidelines shall be applied in all child support cases, unless the presiding officer issues a written or specific finding that the application of the guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate in a particular case. The following shall be considered to determine whether the guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate:

(a) Ongoing extraordinary medical, dental or education expenses, including expenses related to the special needs of a child, incurred on behalf of the involved children;

(b) Significantly high or low income of the obligee or obligor;

(c) The economic consequences of the presence of stepparents, stepchildren or natural or adopted children;

(d) Reasonable expenses incurred by the obligor parent in exercising visitation or physical custodial rights, or expenses incurred by such parent in extended visitation or physical custodial rights, provided that the reasonable expenses incurred by the obligee parent for the minor children can be met regardless of such adjustment;

(e) The economic consequences to either party of the disposition of a marital home made for the benefit of the child;

(f) The opportunity to optimize both parties' after-tax income by taking into account federal tax consequences of an order of support;

(g) State tax obligations;

(h) Split or shared custody arrangements;

(i) The economic consequences to either party of providing for the voluntary or court-ordered postsecondary educational expenses of a natural or adopted child;

(j) Other special circumstances found by the court to avoid an unreasonably low or confiscatory support order, taking all relevant circumstances into consideration.

 

Child Support Termination.
Unless otherwise specified, child support terminates when all the dependent children for whom support is ordered complete their high school education or reach the age of 18 years, whichever is later, or become married, or become a member of the armed services. This amount shall remain as specified unless a legal order expressly allocates the payments on a per child basis. If the order involves a disabled child, the court shall specify the duration of the order, which may be beyond the time when the child reaches the age of 18.

 

-From the New Hampshire Statutes 458-C through C:5.

 

Learn more about general child support laws.

 

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Other pages on New Hampshire divorce laws:
General New Hampshire Divorce Laws
Alimony Divorce Laws in New Hampshire
New Hampshire Child Custody Laws
New Hampshire Child Support Laws
New Hampshire Laws on Property Division

 

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IMPORTANT: Help Yourself Divorce is a paralegal service, not a law firm. Please don't rely on this information for legal advice. Seek help from an attorney if you need legal advice.

This information has been summarized from the New Hampshire statutes. You can find the full-text version of these and other New Hampshire divorce statutes online here: New Hampshire Divorce Laws.