What Does Child Support Cover?

Child support is a legal obligation to ensure that both parents contribute financially to their children’s needs. Child support is paid by one parent to the other parent to cover primarily the children’s food, clothing, and shelter. The parent who has the children residing with them most of the time will be the recipient of the child support. In instances where the children spend an equal amount of time with both parents, the higher income parent will pay child support to the lower income parent, unless the parties agree to waive child support and instead share the children’s expenses as mutually determined.

Child support typically does not cover the children’s health insurance costs not covered by insurance; childcare, the children’s extracurricular activities; and education. These are expenses that are in addition to child support and parents can decide to split these expenses equally or pay in proportion to their respective incomes or other agreed upon percentage.

How is Child Support Calculated in New York?

The Child Support Standards Act in the law in New York that sets forth a 3-step formula to calculate what will result in the basic child support obligation.

First Step

The first step is to determine each parents’ respective gross incomes. Income includes employment income, self-employment income, pensions, disability payments, unemployment payments and investment income. Income can also be imputed to a parent who is either not working or voluntarily decides to take a lower paying job that does not reflect their prior experience and work history.

There are certain deductions from the gross income allowed under the law. Deductions include social security and Medicare payments, child support paid for other children and NYC taxes. Once the deductions are subtracted from the gross incomes of each parent, what is left is the adjusted gross income for child support purposes.

Second Step

The child support law applies a percentage to be paid depending on the number of children you have:

• 1 child – 17%
• 2 children – 25%
• 3 children – 29%
• 4 children – 31%
• 5 or more children – 35%

Third Step

The last step is to add the adjusted gross income of each parent. The basic child support obligation sets child support law sets a cap on combined incomes. Currently the cap is $183,000. The cap changes every few years. The percentage based on the number of children is multiplied by the parents’ combined incomes up to the statutory cap. For example, if one parent has income of $100,000 and the other parent has income of $60,000, the combined incomes of the parents is $160,000. If they have two children, you multiply the combined income by 25%: $160,000 x .25% = $40,000. Each parent pays their proportionate share. The proportionate share of the parent who earns $100,000 is 62.5% and the proportionate share of the parent who earns $60,000 is 37.5%. If the children live primarily with the parent who earns $60,000, the higher income parent will pay 62.5% of $40,000 or $25,000 annually.

This amount is considered the basic child support obligation. However, in child mediation or the collaborative process, parents can agree to go below this amount, above this amount, or agree to waive child support if the parents agree to split equally or in whatever amount is the parents mutually agree to. The amount of child support can vary depending on the financial needs of each parent and the children.

How Long Does Child Support Have to Be Paid?

In New York, child support is typically paid until a child turns 21 years of age. Parents can agree that child support can continue until a child is 22 years of age and is attending college full time. Child support can also end sooner, if a child marries, joins the military, or obtains a job that allows the child to be self-supporting.

We look forward to answering any of your questions confidentially.

Please call us at 516-749-5017 or e-mail us.

Divorce can be a challenging time for parents and children alike, but parental mediation offers a peaceful, cost-effective solution that benefits everyone involved. Here’s why mediation between parents is the best choice for your children.

1. Less Stress for Everyone

Divorce mediation is known for its calming, private environment—far removed from the confrontational atmosphere of a courtroom. Parents, rather than battling for a “win,” work together to make decisions that are best for their children. Mediation for co-parenting helps ease stress, which ultimately helps children feel more secure during such a difficult transition.

2. Lower Costs

Divorce mediation is typically far more affordable than litigation. By avoiding costly attorney fees and lengthy court battles, parents can allocate their resources towards what matters most—supporting their children’s needs. What is parental mediation? Simply put, it’s a more budget-friendly process that ensures both parents can prioritize their children’s futures.

3. More Control in the Mediation Process

One of the greatest advantages of parental mediation is that it allows you, the parents, to retain control over decisions that affect your children’s lives. Issues like custody arrangements, child support, extracurricular costs, and even health expenses can be discussed in a collaborative, supportive setting. You know your children best, and mediation empowers you to make the right decisions together.

4. Better Communication

Clear, open communication is crucial for successful co-parenting mediation. In divorce mediation, trained professionals guide you through the process of improving communication and understanding each other’s needs. By enhancing how parents talk and listen to each other, children are more likely to witness healthy interactions, setting the stage for a positive, ongoing relationship between both parents.

5. Emotionally Protective of Children

The emotional impact of divorce on children can be profound. Mediation encourages parents to consider how their behavior during this time will affect their children in the long run. Rather than engaging in combative, stressful exchanges, mediation helps ensure a supportive environment where your children feel protected and loved, even through challenging moments.

6. Future Cooperation and Flexibility

A divorce is just the beginning of a long-term co-parenting relationship. Mediation between parents lays the foundation for continued cooperation. If changes need to be made to the parenting plan down the road, you can always return to mediation for a resolution. This adaptability makes co-parenting mediation a sustainable choice for long-term success, allowing both parents to stay aligned with their children’s evolving needs.

Conclusion: Divorce Mediation in Long Island

If you are a parent in Long Island seeking a peaceful resolution to your divorce, consider choosing the New York Divorce Mediation Group. With extensive experience in handling co-parenting mediation, they offer compassionate divorce mediation services in Long Island to help you and your children transition smoothly. Their team, led by professional mediators, ensures that you maintain control, save costs, and prioritize your children’s well-being throughout the entire process.

Visit New York Divorce Mediation Group today to learn more about their services and start your journey towards a peaceful, cooperative future for you and your family.

When parents go through a separation or divorce, one of the biggest challenges is learning how to manage parenting after divorce. Different parenting styles, emotional stress, and lifestyle changes can create tension—not just between parents, but also for children adjusting to a new reality.

At the New York Divorce Mediation Group, our Long Island divorce mediators have worked with countless families facing these struggles. Through divorce mediation in New York, we help parents navigate differences, improve communication, and focus on what matters most: the well-being of their children.

Common Differences in Parenting Styles After Divorce

Every parent has their own way of raising children. These differences often become more visible during parenting after separation.

• Cultural influences: Parents may come from different backgrounds and traditions.
• Upbringing: Each parent’s family history affects how they approach discipline, affection, or responsibility.
• Personality and values: A “stricter” parent may focus on structure and discipline, while another may lean toward a more relaxed, fun style.

In mediation, these differences can be discussed openly. For example, one parent may feel burdened by always enforcing rules, while the other feels guilty for being more permissive. Mediation helps balance these perspectives, fostering cooperation rather than conflict.

The Impact of Parenting Styles on Children

The way parents handle co-parenting after divorce has lasting effects on children’s emotional health.

• Children may feel confused when rules differ drastically between households.
• They may struggle with loyalty conflicts or pressure to “choose sides.”
• Emotional challenges such as anxiety or depression can arise when conflict remains unresolved.

Research shows that children whose parents maintain cooperative co-parenting arrangements experience better emotional stability than those exposed to ongoing disputes. Mediation creates a safe, structured environment where both parents can address concerns and agree on consistent parenting strategies.

How Divorce Mediation Supports Families

Choosing mediation instead of litigation offers significant divorce mediation benefits for parents and children:

1. Improved Communication

Mediation encourages respectful dialogue. Parents can voice concerns without fear of judgment, while trained mediators help keep discussions child-focused.

2. Reduced Conflict

Unlike litigation, which often feels adversarial, mediation promotes cooperation. Parents work toward solutions that prioritize their children’s best interests.

3. Financial and Practical Guidance

Mediators also address financial concerns—such as child-related expenses or budgeting—so that one parent doesn’t feel overburdened.

4. Personalized Parenting Plans

Every family is unique. Mediation allows parents to create customized parenting plans for weekdays, weekends, holidays, and vacations, all tailored to their children’s needs.

Whether you’re in Suffolk County, Nassau County, or working with a divorce mediator in NYC, the goal remains the same: building a healthier foundation for co-parenting.

Co-Parenting Challenges and Solutions

Even with the best intentions, co-parenting isn’t always easy. Some common challenges include:

• Inconsistent rules: Different bedtimes, curfews, or expectations between homes.
• Communication barriers: Struggling to discuss sensitive topics without conflict.
• Financial disagreements: One parent feeling pressured to say “no” while the other appears more lenient.

Mediation helps parents create strategies to avoid these pitfalls, such as agreeing on core household rules and maintaining open communication through shared calendars or parenting apps.

Supporting Children of Different Ages

Children of various ages respond to divorce differently:

• Younger children may not fully understand what’s happening and need reassurance.
• Teens may struggle with divided loyalties or resentment.
• Young adults may face pressure to mediate between parents.

By working with experienced mediators—some of whom have mental health expertise—families receive support tailored to their children’s developmental stage.

Conclusion: Building a Positive Future Through Mediation

Parenting after divorce is never simple, but with compassion, communication, and the right support, families can create a stable, nurturing environment for children.

At the New York Divorce Mediation Group, we believe mediation offers parents a healthier alternative to courtroom battles. Whether you’re seeking a divorce mediator on Long Island, or exploring divorce mediation in NYC, we’re here to help you move forward with peace, clarity, and a stronger co-parenting foundation.

Many couples contemplating divorce are under the false impression that they must get along and be “amicable” to mediate their divorce or separation. This is a common misconception. The truth is that the vast majority of mediation clients will, at some point during the mediation, express anger, hurt or resentment towards their spouse.  This is normal given the high emotional stakes and the history between them. They will not always feel “amicable” given all that has occurred to bring them to this point. A trained divorce mediator offers a safe space for clients to express themselves despite their feelings of discomfort, but at the same time, makes sure that the clients stay on track to work through the issues that prove to be the most difficult and contentious. A trained mediator will help their clients focus on the common goals of achieving a resolution without undue costs and without further adding emotional stress to themselves or especially their children.

A mediation atmosphere that is as comfortable

In mediation, we help provide an atmosphere that is as comfortable as possible given the circumstances to negotiate with one another and to achieve compromises. As with all negotiations, both parties have to be willing to compromise. If one person is excessively rigid –it’s my way or the highway- compromise will be difficult. If one parent uses their children as leverage, and does not consider the harm to the children that a prolonged court battle will likely incur, mediation will likely be tougher. We typically find in mediation that even when parents are not amicable with one another regarding issues between them, most parents, who know their children best, will work together in mediation for the benefit of the children they love and have raised together.

Advice for an Amicable Divorce

In our practice, we work with patience and understanding to help clients communicate their concerns to one another about themselves or their children, so that a resolution can be achieved that can address each of their needs. We have much experience helping clients express themselves effectively in the here and now and as calmly as possible when there have been communication difficulties of long-standing. This way, they can focus on what needs to be accomplished when separating assets and when determining issues related to the children.

Well over ninety percent of our clients have completed their mediation successfully. That’s because we help them identify what their most important concerns are and assist them in putting the interests of their children first rather than focusing on the negative emotions that arise during this difficult period in their lives. Divorcing amicably or not, our clients usually recognize that they would rather divide their assets between themselves rather than give it to their lawyers and that it would be better for them emotionally if they can reach an agreement that they have tailored for themselves and that will work best for both of them in the future.

With the best interests of your children in mind, at New York Divorce Mediation Group we often bring the opportunity and benefits of Co-parenting into the divorce mediation conversation. When any family breaks apart there will be changes in every family member’s daily life. Adults are better emotionally equipped to deal with the day-to-day changes this separation brings about. Children, especially young children, need more help. Co-parenting enables the children of a dissolving marriage to experience a more stable life than in a typical court ordered child custody arrangement.

In fact co-parenting during divorce is the exact opposite of a typical court-ordered child custody arrangement where one parent is exclusively responsible for the children and the other becomes an occasional visitor. This “shared parenting” agreement allows the children to continue to receive regular time, attention and love from both parents.

How to Co-Parent When Going Through a Divorce

Making this co-parenting joint custody agreement work is not always easy. The parents challenge in this arrangement is to keep their personal feeling of anger, hurt and distrust at bay and put the focus on the welfare of the children. Doing so ensures that the children’s needs are met and that they are able to retain close personal relationships with both parents regularly.
For co-parenting to work when going through a divorce, open communication between both parents is essential. Both parents need to be of a similar mind regarding the care and upbringing of the children when in either parent’s allocated time together. Respecting the other parent’s wishes regarding the children’s welfare when the children are in one parent’s care is paramount for co-parenting to work.

For example, if a mother’s concern is healthy eating, it would violate the co-parenting spirit of the agreement if the father continually fed the children fast food and soda when they are in his household. If the co-parenting agreement calls for a set bedtime for the children, both parents must respect this decision when the children are in the household. This brings the consistency to the children’s life that co-parenting affords.

Those couples in mediation are emotionally ideally positioned for a co-parenting arrangement as they are predisposed to a more amicable divorce. Co-parenting during divorce eases the life changing situation for the most vulnerable in the family – the children.

At New York Divorce Mediation Group we have a trained psychotherapist who works with families in transition as part of the mediation process. We are trained to help guide you through the process and ease your separation thereby lessening one of the key concerns of divorcing couples at any stage in their married life – how to best deal with the children’s needs.

Call us today to schedule your free consultation.

In our Divorce Mediation practice, we often come upon situations where one spouse will need to provide financial support to the other spouse for a period of time and, far less often, permanently. This type of spousal support is called “Maintenance.”

Spousal support is meant to help the non-working spouse or the lower income spouse become self supporting and to live as close as possible to their pre-separation standard of living. Among the factors that judges consider when calculating spousal support are the age, health, education, work history and length of marriage.

A few scenarios where Maintenance would be appropriate:

a) young, stay at home parent with small children
b) a stay at home parent who is re-entering the work force after many years of child rearing
c) a spouse with permanent health issues
d) a spouse who is nearing retirement age and has never worked
e) a spouse who is seeking to upgrade career credentials
f) a spouse, who because of a lack of education, is in a minimum wage job

In situations where the spouses have agreed to Spousal Support/Maintenance for a specified number of years,they can also agree that Maintenance will be reduced as the recipient’s income increases or terminate when the recipient’s income reaches a certain level. Maintenance will also typically end when the recipient remarries.

While this article offers an overview of the many factors that go into determining the calculated amount and duration of Spousal Support/Maintenance, the mediation process will look at your particular circumstances to determine whether Maintenance is appropriate. At New York Divorce Mediation Group we will provide guidance in a non-adversarial environment, and answer all your questions on Maintenance.

There will be many decisions affecting the family that will be negotiated amicably during divorce mediation. For spouses with children in divorce mediation one area that is important to address is how to deal with future college tuition costs. Regardless of the age of your children at the time of separating or divorcing, the hope and expectation for many is that the children will attend college when they graduate high school. So to properly prepare for this we include future college cost discussions in our divorce mediation sessions.

Under the NYS Child Support Standards Act, there is no requirement that a parent pay college tuition or other related college costs. To ensure the children’s education is properly arranged for we urge those in divorce mediation to consider what is referred to as the “SUNY CAP”.

The “SUNY CAP” limits what each parent will contribute towards college tuition and related expenses up to the cost of a State University of New York “SUNY” college. Typically, parents will split the costs either in proportion to their respective incomes at the tme their child is entering college, some other percentage, or one parent will be solely responsible for the costs, if that is economically feasible.

Obviously there are benefits to the children’s future as well as to the separating parents in making these arrangements a part of the final settlement agreement. And as with most legal matters there are other college costs to discuss as well as different ways of financing college education while going through divorce. At the New York Divorce Mediation Group, we provide options so each parent can make informed decisions.

If you have children and are considering separation or divorce, then be sure to ask about how best to prepare for your children’s college years. We will be happy to discuss this with you during your sessions or as a introduction to our practice during your initial free consultation.

When married couples have decided to separate or divorce, we are often asked about the financial benefits of divorce mediation over a traditional divorce. One of the most frequent topics of discussion – on both the husband’s AND the wife’s side – is the cost differences between the two options. After all the family financial situation will be changing, both parties want to preserve their financial resources and limit expenses as much as possible.

When we talk about the costs involved in mediation vs. divorce and how much less expensive those fees are when compared to a typical divorce using two lawyers and incurring the other fees associated with litigation, many inclined towards mediation see the savings as a motivating factor to choose the less costly path. While there is no “one size fits all” in these types of proceedings especially when talking about the divorce court route, here are a few guidelines for your consideration:

• In New York, and especially on Long Island, a typical divorce will include the costs of hiring two attorneys, pre-trial motions, expert fees and the costs of a trial.  Even if the case settles prior to trial, and most do, the costs can range from $20,000 to $75,000 or more.
• Divorce mediation is a fraction of this cost because the spouses are working directly with the mediator in anywhere between 2-6 hourly sessions plus the costs of writing the agreement and preparing and filing the divorce papers.
• Divorce mediation is not only less expensive but it is also a speedier process, and if as many say “time is money”, then being able to amicably legally divorce at far less cost is a winning situation financially and emotionally.

Again these are guidelines only and are not to be considered the actual rates or fees you will experience if you choose either the divorce court route or divorce mediation. We will be happy to discuss your marriage situation, either with or without your spouse present, and disclose actual costs of our Long Island divorce mediation services during our initial free consultation.

When you and your spouse are separating, or about to divorce, how you communicate and what you actually say about this situation to your children will have a direct impact on how they perceive their future family relationships. As parents you want to protect your children and build their sense of security while not disrupting their daily routines during this stressful transition.

Chances are your children may already be aware of uncomfortable or tense family interactions between their parents. Depending upon their ages your children may even express their thoughts. So to ensure as little stress as possible on your children during this time, we recommend telling them about your intention to separate or divorce only after you have a clear picture where you both will live, who the children will live with primarily and what the parenting schedule will be.  Having a plan in place before you speak with the children about divorce or separation will give them a sense of continuity during this time of transition.

Here are a few guidelines to help make your conversations with your children as painless as possible.

• Both parents and all children should be present at the time of breaking the news
• The parents should establish a consistent and coherent parental age-appropriate narrative explaining in simple terms the reason for the break-up.  There is no need to tell “the whole truth”; do not include the personal details or assign blame
• Be assuring, empathetic to your children, trying to see and  comprehend the impact of this news from their perspective
• Surprisingly this is a good learning opportunity to talk with  young children about relationships, family transitions, joys of unions and  sorrows of parting
• Always maintain parental dignity
• Acknowledge your children’s emotions, minimizing children’s stress, helping them work through this transition
• Be open to continual discussions on this topics with kids, speaking from a unified perspective about the restructuring of the family life.