§ ii — Use of the Guidelines

Arkansas § ii

• Jurisdiction: Arkansas
• Title: 9

Text

There is a rebuttable presumption that the amount of child support calculated pursuant to the most recent revision of the Family Support Chart and these Guidelines is the amount to be awarded in any judicial proceeding for divorce, separation, paternity, guardianship, or child support. In addition to an initial award for child support or the modification of an existing obligation, these Guidelines should be used to assess the adequacy of agreements for child support and to encourage parties to settle support-related disputes in a comprehensive manner. These Guidelines provide calculated amounts of child support for a combined parental gross income of up to $30,000.00 per month, or $360,000.00 per year. The child-support obligation for incomes above $30,000.00 per month shall be determined by using the highest amount in these Guidelines. The court may then use its discretion in setting an amount above that to meets the needs of the child and the parent's ability to provide support. These Guidelines assume that the payor parent has the minor child(ren) overnight in his or her residence less than 141 overnights per calendar year. This Administrative Order presumes that a traditional visitation schedule will be less than 141 nights while a liberal visitation schedule is usually more than 141 nights. 1. Modification of Existing Child-Support Obligation: Pursuant to Act 904 of 2019, codified at Arkansas Code Annotated § 9-14-107(c)(2) , "an inconsistency between the existing child-support award and the amount of child support that results from application of the Family Support Chart shall constitute a material change of circumstances sufficient to petition the court for modification of child support according to the Family Support Chart after appropriate deductions unless: a. The inconsistency does not meet a reasonable quantitative standard established by the State of Arkansas in accordance with subsection (a) of this section; b. The inconsistency is due to the fact that the amount of the current child support award resulted from a rebuttal of the guideline amount and there has not been a change of circumstances that resulted in the rebuttal of the guidelines amount; or c. The inconsistency is due solely to a promulgation to a revision of the Family Support Chart." 2. Deviation from the Chart: All orders granting or modifying child support shall contain the court's determination of the payor's income, payee's income, recite the amount of support required under these Guidelines, and state whether the court deviated from the presumptive child-support calculation set by the Worksheet and these Guidelines. If an order deviates from the Guidelines amount, then the order must explain the reason(s) for the deviation. When deciding whether the Worksheet-based amount is unjust or inappropriate, the court must consider all the relevant factors, including what is in the child's or children's best interest. A deviation from these Guidelines should be the exception rather than the rule. If a court chooses to deviate from the Guidelines amount, then it must make written findings and explain the deviation. It shall be sufficient in a particular case to rebut the presumption that the amount of child support calculated pursuant to the Worksheet is correct if the court provides in the order a specific written finding that the Worksheet-based amount is unjust or inappropriate. When determining whether to deviate from the Guidelines' amount, a court should consider the following: a. Educational expenses for the child(ren) (i.e., those incurred for private or parochial schools, or other schools where there are tuition or related costs) and/or the provision or payment of special education needs or expenses for the child(ren); b. The procurement and/or maintenance of life insurance, dental insurance, and/or other insurance for the children's benefit (for health insurance premiums, see Section II.2 infra); c. Extraordinary travel expenses for court-ordered visitation; d. Significant available income of the child(ren); e. The creation or maintenance of a trust fund for the children; f. The support given by a parent for minor children in the absence of a court order; g. Extraordinary time spent with the payor parent; h. Additional expenses incurred because of natural or adopted children living in the home, including stepchildren if the court finds there is a court-ordered responsibility to a stepchild; i. The provision for payment of work-related childcare, extraordinary medical expenses for the child in excess of $250.00 per year per child, and/or health insurance premiums. Ordinarily, these expenses will be divided pro rata between the parents and added to the base child support of the payor parent on the Worksheet. In that scenario, it shall not support a deviation. However, if the court chooses not to add them in the total child-support obligation, they could support a deviation; and j. Any other factors that warrant a deviation. 3. Self-Support Reserve, Minimum Order, and Deviation from the Minimum Order: In cases where the payor parent's monthly gross income is less than $900.00, the Chart applies a self-support reserve (SSR). The SSR considers the basic subsistence needs of the payor parent and is based on the Federal Poverty Guidelines multiplied by Arkansas's price parity. Arkansas's price parity is the index used to adjust the Chart to reflect Arkansas prices. If the payor parent's child-support amount pursuant to the chart is based solely on the payor parent's gross income and corresponding number of children falls within the shaded area of the Chart, then the basic child-support obligation and the payor parent's total child-support obligation are computed using only the payor parent's income. In these cases, health insurance premiums, extraordinary medical expenses, and childcare expenses shall not be used to calculate the total child-support obligation. However, payment of these costs by either parent may be used as a reason to deviate from these Guidelines.When the payor parent's monthly gross income is less than $900.00, a presumptive minimum award of $125.00 per month must issue unless a party can rebut the presumptive amount by a preponderance of the evidence. Some factors that a court may consider when deciding whether a party has rebutted the minimum order amount include but are not limited to the following: a. There is a large adjustment due to parenting time; b. The payor is incarcerated (see Section II.4 below); c. The payor is institutionalized due to a mental illness or other impairment; d. The payor has a verified physical disability that precludes work; e. The payor's only income is Supplemental Security Income (SSI); f. The payor's ability or inability to work; or g. Any other deviation factor listed above in Subsection II.2 or any income imputation factor listed below in Section III.7. 4. Incarcerated Individuals Pursuant to Act 904 of 2019, codified at Arkansas Code Annotated § 9-12-312(a) , § 9-14-106(a) , and § 9-14-107(a) , the incarceration of a parent shall be treated as involuntary unemployment for the purpose of establishing or modifying an award of child support. "Incarceration" means a conviction that results in a sentence of confinement to a local jail, state or federal correctional facility, or state psychiatric hospital for at least 180 days and excludes credit for time served before sentencing.