Child custody is the most emotionally charged area of the practice of family law which means that it can be the most expensive to litigate.  There are two aspects of child custody to consider, “legal custody,” which signifies which parent has authority to make decisions for a child as to the child’s education, living arrangement and medical needs.  There also is “physical custody,” which refers to the amount of time each parent spends with the child in their care.

Child support in North Carolina is calculated based on certain variables as determined by the North Carolina Child Support Guidelines, established by the Conference of Chief District Court Judges.  The variables include:  each parent’s income, work-related childcare expenses, medical insurance costs for the child, number of children between the parties, number of other children either party is legally obligated to support and does support, each parent’s custodial time with the child, and extraordinary expenses for the child.  A good resource to help calculate child support is located at www.ncchildsupport.com.  At Parker Law, PA, we can help determine how other factors affect the amount of child support paid and how to determine the percentages paid by each parent when dealing with unreimbursed medical, dental, vision, and extracurricular expenses.