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Split and Shared Custody Arrangements

By Jerome A. Wisselman and Lloyd C. Rosen

The Child Support Standards Act (CSSA), as we know it and as codified in Domestic Relations Law ' 240 and Family Court Act ' 413, went into effect Sept. 15, 1989, and recently celebrated its 22nd birthday. While the language of the statute has been modified, amended and polished over the course of the past two decades, it has yet to address specifically circumstances involving split or shared custody.

As the legislative notes state, the purpose of the statute and the formula guidelines contained therein was to “establish minimum and meaningful standards of obligations that are based on the premise that both parents share the responsibilities for child support.” In 1989, when the law first went into effect, it could be argued (at the risk of making sweeping generalizations) that the typical custodial/noncustodial relationship was comprised of a post-divorce non-working or part-time employed mother in the role of custodial parent, with the father relegated to the role of a “visiting” parent and support payor. The father would pay child support to the mother, and the father would enjoy periods of visitation with the children, while the children resided primarily with the mother and spent the majority of their time with her. Deviations from this general arrangement were not addressed by the legislature in the statute.

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