NATIONAL PARENTS ORGANIZATION
PRESS RELEASE
CHILD SUPPORT PANEL TO DISCUSS MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH VIRGINIA GUIDELINES
October 3, 2016
On Wednesday, Oct. 5, the Virginia Child Support Guidelines Review Panel will be discussing two big problems with the state’s child support guidelines: the 90-day “cliff” between sole custody and shared custody calculation, and the 1.4 “multiplier” applied to those divorced couples who choose to have shared custody of their kids.
The vast majority of parents (especially those in low-income brackets) are unaware of the “90-day cliff,” which can ultimately result in as much as a 60 to 70 percent difference in monthly child support owed, just for a few days’ difference in visitation. Instead of addressing the root cause of this “cliff,” Virginia lawmakers created an additional policy that charges parents who agree to share custody of their children an additional 40 percent of child support.
“This ‘cliff’ and the 40 percent multiplier drive additional litigation, legal expenses, and stress for Virginian families, who are already stretched to the limit as it is,” said Christian Paasch, a member of National Parents Organization of Virginia who was appointed to the state’s Child Support Guidelines Review Panel by Gov. McAuliffe. “Instead, we believe families should be able to spend their energy on their children and rebuilding their own lives. Ultimately, both of these policies are unnecessary and overly burdensome, when much simpler, less stressful, and more effective options are available.”