You may wonder if remarrying will affect your child custody arrangement in Indiana. Although remarriage will not impact custody provisions unless it compromises your child’s wellbeing, it may have other consequences.
For example, your new marriage may lead a judge to modify your child support agreement.
What determines child support payments?
Judges consider various factors when determining child support payments, including:
- Each parent’s employment status
- Income from all sources
- Alimony obligations
- Reasonable expenses for a child’s food, clothing, shelter, education and healthcare
Can a new marriage affect child support?
Each parent’s household income determines child support payments. The Indiana court system provides an online child support calculator to help parents estimate their weekly financial contributions. Calculating child support involves dividing the sum of both biological parents’ adjusted weekly gross income by the amount of each parent’s separate gross income.
However, judges consider the substantial and continuing changes of circumstances that impact a parent’s income, including remarriage, as grounds for modifying child support payments.
How does remarriage impact child support?
Spouses who remarry must alert the court about increases in their household income. Although new spouses are not directly responsible for child support payments, their contributions can free resources that biological parents must apply toward their children’s needs.
However, remarriage may lead to a change of circumstances that reduces the resources available for child support. For example, although a new family including step-children does not affect the child support calculation, parents with biological children from a new marriage may petition the court to modify their weekly payments to children from a prior marriage.
Raising children after divorce is complicated and understanding the laws governing their financial support is part of ensuring your children’s healthy adjustment to their new circumstances.
