Child Support Calculation Worksheet - North Carolina

PREPARATION AID — NOT AN OFFICIAL NORTH CAROLINA COURT FORM

Use this document to collect information before completing the applicable official form:
AOC-CV-627 (Worksheet A), AOC-CV-628 (Worksheet B), or AOC-CV-629
(Worksheet C). A parent's presumptive obligation must be determined on one of
those worksheets. The Guidelines say the court should consider incorporating or
attaching the worksheet to its order, or including it in the case file. Do not file
this preparation aid as a substitute for an official worksheet.

CHILD SUPPORT CALCULATION PREPARATION WORKSHEET

North Carolina Income-Shares Guidelines

1. Case Information

2. Children Included in This Calculation

Total children included: [____]

3. Select the Official Worksheet

Select based on actual physical custody, not merely the label used for legal custody.

☐ Worksheet A — Primary Custody (AOC-CV-627). One parent or a third party
has primary physical custody of all children included. Primary physical custody means
the child lives with that parent or custodian for at least 243 nights during the year.

☐ Worksheet B — Joint or Shared Physical Custody (AOC-CV-628). Each parent
has at least 123 nights with a shared-custody child and assumes financial responsibility
for that child while the child is with that parent. Also use Worksheet B when one parent
has primary custody of one or more children and the parents share custody of another child.

☐ Worksheet C — Split Custody (AOC-CV-629). There are at least two children,
each parent has primary physical custody of at least one, and the parents do not share
custody of any included child. If any child is in shared custody, use Worksheet B instead.

4. Monthly Gross Income

Gross income is income before taxes, Social Security or Medicare taxes, insurance
premiums, retirement contributions, or other payroll deductions.

For self-employment, begin with gross receipts and subtract ordinary and necessary
business expenses. Do not automatically use taxable business income: accelerated
depreciation, investment tax credits, and expenses the court finds inappropriate are not
deductible for Guidelines purposes.

Excluded Income Check

Do not include the following as a parent's gross income:

• ☐ Adoption-assistance benefits
• ☐ Means-tested public assistance, including TANF, SSI, food benefits, or General Assistance
• ☐ Child support received for another child
• ☐ Employer contributions toward future Social Security or Medicare payments
• ☐ Employer-paid insurance or retirement benefits not withheld from the parent's pay
• ☐ Income of a spouse, partner, custodian, or other person who is not the child's parent

Potential Income

Potential income may be used only if the court finds bad-faith voluntary unemployment or
underemployment, or deliberate suppression of income to avoid or reduce support. It may
not be imputed to a physically or mentally incapacitated parent, and incarceration may not
be treated as voluntary unemployment when establishing or modifying support.

☐ Potential income issue identified for Parent 1: $[________] per month

☐ Potential income issue identified for Parent 2: $[________] per month

Basis and supporting information: [________________________________]

Income Verification

5. Adjustments to Gross Income

Do not deduct payments on child-support arrears. Do not deduct alimony paid; the court
may instead consider it as a deviation factor. The other-child deduction equals the basic
support obligation for those children based on that parent's income.

Combined adjusted monthly gross income: $[________]

Parent 1 percentage share: [________]%

Parent 2 percentage share: [________]%

6. Basic Support and Low- or High-Income Check

Use the current Schedule of Basic Support Obligations in AOC-A-162.

☐ Adjusted gross income below $1,150. Absent deviation, the Guidelines require
a $50 minimum order.

☐ Worksheet A shaded-area case. Compute the basic and total obligation using only
the obligor's income. Do not add childcare or health-insurance premiums to the calculation;
those costs or extraordinary expenses may support a deviation.

☐ Combined adjusted gross income exceeds $40,000 per month. The Schedule does
not determine the basic obligation. The court sets an amount meeting the child's reasonable
needs under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-13.4(c).

7. Additional Expenses

Childcare while a custodial parent attends school and actual childcare tax credits may be
considered for deviation rather than automatically added. Extraordinary expenses may include
reasonable and necessary special-school expenses or transportation between parents' homes
when the court finds them reasonable, necessary, and in the child's best interest.

Health-Insurance Check

Use only the amount attributable to the children in this case. If that amount cannot be
verified for a family policy, divide the total premium by all persons covered and multiply
by the number of covered children in this case.

Cost of adding the child, child-only coverage, or difference between self-only and family coverage: $[________]

Providing parent's monthly gross income × 5%: $[________]

☐ The child's coverage cost does not exceed 5% of the providing parent's gross income.

☐ Coverage is not presently available at a reasonable cost; note future-availability issue.

The basic obligation includes the first $250 per child per year of uninsured medical and
dental expenses. The court may separately allocate reasonable uninsured health-care costs
above that amount.

8. Official Worksheet Calculation Notes

Worksheet A

Transfer the information above to AOC-CV-627. The noncustodial parent's recommended
order is that parent's share of the total obligation minus qualifying additional expenses
paid directly by that parent.

Worksheet B

Transfer the information above to AOC-CV-628. The official form:

1. Multiplies the basic obligation by 1.5.
2. Allocates that obligation by each parent's income share and the children's time with the other parent.
3. Accounts for each parent's fair share of qualifying additional expenses and amounts paid above that share.
4. Offsets the parents' adjusted obligations; the parent with the higher obligation pays the difference.

Total child-nights: 365 × [____] children = [________]

Worksheet C

Transfer the information above to AOC-CV-629. The official form allocates the basic
obligation by income share and the number of children primarily living with each parent,
accounts for additional expenses, and offsets the parents' adjusted obligations.

9. Deviation Information

☐ No deviation requested

☐ Deviation requested because the presumptive amount:

• ☐ Would not meet the child's reasonable needs
• ☐ Would exceed the child's reasonable needs
• ☐ Would otherwise be unjust or inappropriate
• ☐ Should account for childcare, health insurance, extraordinary expenses, or childcare tax credits
• ☐ Should account for another relevant circumstance: [________________________________]

Presumptive amount from the official worksheet: $[________] per month

Requested amount: $[________] per month

Facts supporting the request: [________________________________]

If the court deviates, it must make written findings addressing the presumptive amount,
the child's reasonable needs, the parents' relative ability to provide support, why the
presumptive amount is inadequate, excessive, unjust, or inappropriate, and the basis for
the amount ordered.

10. Result and Duration Reminder

Official form used: ☐ AOC-CV-627 ☐ AOC-CV-628 ☐ AOC-CV-629

Recommended monthly amount from official form: $[________]

Payable by: ☐ Parent 1 ☐ Parent 2

Support start date under proposed or entered order: [__/__/____]

Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-13.4(c), support ordinarily terminates at age 18. If the child
is still in primary or secondary school, support may continue until graduation, cessation
of regular attendance, failure to make satisfactory progress, or age 20, whichever occurs
first, subject to the statute's exceptions and the court's discretion. Earlier emancipation
also terminates support. Existing arrears and fees remain payable after the current support
obligation terminates.

11. Sources and Official Forms

• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-13.4
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-13.11
• North Carolina Child Support Guidelines, AOC-A-162
• Worksheet A, AOC-CV-627
• Worksheet B, AOC-CV-628
• Worksheet C, AOC-CV-629