Deviation from NC Guidelines
While the North Carolina Child Support Guidelines will apply to the majority of the child support cases, there are times when the Court will deviate from the guidelines. In the case of high income earners, that is, parents with a combined income that exceeds $25,000 per month, the Court will consider the reasonable needs of the child considering the income of parents, expenses of the parents, and the accustomed standard of living of the family in determining the appropriate amount of support to order.
In other scenarios, the court will look at the child’s reasonable needs and the ability of each parent to provide support and will need to make findings regarding the reasonable needs of the child considering the estates, earnings, conditions, accustomed standard of living of both the child and the parents. The court would need to assess why the guideline amount of support would not meet or would exceed the reasonable needs of the child, or why the application of the guideline amount would otherwise be unjust or inappropriate in the particular case.
