170 Old Country Road, Suite 316, Mineola, NY 11501 — across from the Nassau County courthouses Call us today  516-248-7008
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Child Support in New York

What you will actually pay. And what actually changes it.

Child support in New York starts with a formula, and most people find the number before they find a lawyer. What they can’t find is whether it applies to them. Whether you expect to pay support or receive it, the same questions decide the answer: what counts as income, whether shared parenting time changes it, and whether the figure you’ve been handed is the beginning of the conversation or the end of it.

Mitchell A. Greebel has handled child support matters for Long Island families since 1984. The first conversation exists to tell you which number is real.

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Very professional and timely service. Told me exactly what to expect and stuck to it. Did not over promise, or under deliver. — Google Review
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An attorney reviewing financial documents with a client

How child support is decided in New York

New York applies a statutory formula to the combined income of both parents, then divides the result in proportion to what each of them earns. The State publishes the worksheet. Any calculator you find online is running the same arithmetic, and it will give you a number in about ninety seconds.

What the worksheet doesn’t tell you is which figures belong in it. The formula is only as accurate as the income you put into it — and income, in a support case, is rarely the number on a pay stub. A court can also depart from the guideline result where applying it would be unjust, and it can look past a parent’s stated earnings entirely.

What we do about it: we work out what the formula produces on your actual facts, then tell you honestly where your case is likely to move off it, in which direction, and why. Most people find that second half of the conversation more useful than the first.

A partner working through a client’s financial records

What actually counts as income

A salary is simple. Very little else is. Bonuses, commissions, overtime, distributions from a business, rental income, cash-basis work, a year that happened to be unusually good or unusually bad — each of these is arguable, and each of them moves the number.

A parent who has left the workforce raises a different question: not what they earn, but what they could. Courts address that by imputing income rather than accepting a figure at face value. And a parent whose income falls conveniently as a support case approaches presents a pattern courts see often and treat sceptically.

What we do about it: this is the part of a support case that rewards experience over software. We establish what the income actually is, document it properly, and make the argument for where the guideline should give way — in whichever direction the facts point.

Not sure which figures belong in yours?

That’s the most common starting point — and often the first thing a consultation settles.

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Do you still pay with 50/50 custody?

Usually, yes — and it is the single most common misunderstanding we hear. Equal parenting time does not cancel child support. New York’s formula turns on parental income, and in a shared arrangement the higher-earning parent typically still pays support to the other household. The reasoning is that a child’s standard of living shouldn’t swing depending on whose house they woke up in.

There is real nuance here — how time is counted, how income is calculated for a self-employed parent or one with variable pay, and when a court may adjust the formula result. It’s one of the first things worth getting a clear answer on, because assumptions about it drive some of the worst custody decisions parents make.

What we do about it: we work out what a proposed arrangement actually means financially before you agree to it, so the parenting schedule you choose is one you picked on purpose — not one you assumed came with a particular support outcome. How custody is actually decided in Nassau County →

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The mistakes that hurt people in these cases

Treating a support hearing as a place to argue about the other parent. The court is deciding a financial question, and the parent who arrives with a grievance rather than a set of documents makes their own case harder to win.

Going quiet about a change in circumstances is the other one. An obligation doesn’t pause because your situation changed — arrears accrue while you wait, and the longer the gap, the harder it is to fix. The same is true of informal arrangements agreed between parents and never written down.

What we do about it: we tell you before the first appearance what actually carries weight in that room and what does not — and we deal with a change in circumstances when it happens, not after it has compounded.

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Changing an order, and enforcing one

A support order is not permanent. It can be modified where circumstances change substantially — a job loss, a serious illness, a significant change in either parent’s income, or a child reaching the age at which the obligation ends. What matters more than most people realise is how the original agreement was written, because terms that anticipate change prevent the return trip to court that costs far more than getting the language right would have.

Enforcement runs the other way. An obligation contained in a judgment or agreement is enforceable, and there are established mechanisms to collect. The practical question is usually how quickly it can be addressed — which is worth asking about early, rather than after arrears have built up.

What we do about it: we draft for the future you can reasonably foresee, and when circumstances genuinely change later, we handle the modification.

What it looks like when it’s settled.

Most support matters do not end in a courtroom. They end in a written agreement both parents can live with — and the practical difference that makes to a family is larger than the number itself.

A resolved arrangement means you know what arrives or leaves each month, and for how long. It means you can sign a lease, plan for a school year, take the job. It means the two of you stop renegotiating in text messages. And it means your children experience the arrangement as ordinary life rather than as an argument they can overhear.

Getting there is unglamorous work: establish the real income on both sides, run the guideline, identify honestly where the case departs from it, then write it down carefully enough that it doesn’t come back. When the other parent won’t engage, that same preparation is what carries the matter in front of a judge.

People ask what a lawyer costs before they ask anything else, and almost nobody answers it. The honest answer is that a matter resolved by agreement costs a fraction of one that is litigated, and most of them are resolved by agreement. The consultation is free, you won’t be quoted a number before anyone understands your facts, and we will tell you early which kind of matter yours is likely to be.

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Partner-led representation,
across from the courthouse.

Child support in Nassau County is decided in both the Family Court and the Supreme Court — directly across the street from our office at 170 Old Country Road, Suite 316. Mitchell A. Greebel has appeared in those courthouses since 1984, and when you retain this firm you work with him: the attorney you meet at the consultation is the attorney who handles your matter through resolution.

We act for parents on both sides of a support obligation. These cases turn on financial detail and credibility, and both are earned through preparation. Clients consistently describe the same experience: direct access to their attorney, straight answers, and a preference for resolving matters sensibly over litigating them expensively.

Mitchell A. Greebel

Partner — matrimonial & family law since 1984

Meet Mitchell →
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Spousal Maintenance

Maintenance and child support are calculated together

Read more →

Child support questions we hear most

Yes. Many parents assume it turns on one parent’s income alone — it does not. New York’s formula starts with the combined income of both parents and apportions the result between them in proportion to what each earns.

Usually, yes. Equal parenting time does not cancel the obligation. The formula turns on income, and in a shared arrangement the higher-earning parent generally still pays support to the other household.

More than salary. Bonuses, commissions, overtime, self-employment earnings, distributions from a business and certain benefits can all be counted — and a court can impute income to a parent who is not working to capacity.

The consultation is free. Beyond that it depends almost entirely on whether the matter is resolved by agreement or litigated, and most are resolved by agreement. You will get a straight answer about which yours is likely to be before you commit to anything.

Yes, where circumstances change substantially — a job loss, a significant change in either parent’s income, a serious illness, or a child reaching the age at which the obligation ends.

An obligation contained in a judgment or agreement is enforceable, and there are established mechanisms to collect. The practical question is usually how quickly it can be addressed, which is worth asking about early rather than after arrears have built up.

The answers above are general information about New York law, not legal advice about your situation. For advice you can rely on, speak with an attorney.

Find out where you stand.

You don’t need documents, decisions, or a plan to have this conversation — you need an hour. The consultation is free and confidential, and you’ll leave it with a realistic sense of the number, the timeline, and the options in front of you.

516-248-7008

170 Old Country Road, Suite 316, Mineola, NY 11501
Across from the Nassau County courthouses

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