New York Child Support and Unreimbursed Business Employee Expenses in Divorce and Child Support Cases

Issues of family law are always complex, particularly when children are involved. The courts of New York must make decisions according to the “best interests” of the children, which involves looking at matters of child custody, visitation, and maintenance. If a non-custodial parent is asked to provide child support to help the other spouse to successfully raise the child, the courts of New York must then determine exactly how much support should be awarded. A range of different factors come into play when determining maintenance amounts, including the total earning potential of the payor, and his or her existing commitments. While there are guidelines in place to help courts make decisions regarding support, there are many reasons why the court may deviate from those reasons too.

As a divorce lawyer, Mr. Darren M. Shapiro has worked alongside several diverse clients, helping them to understand and navigate the complex parts of New York child support. For instance, while working as a divorce attorney alongside a payor spouse, Mr. Shapiro can support his client in ensuring the amount they’re asked to pay is no greater than it should be. To do this, Mr Shapiro and his client can look at the various deductions that they can remove from the total earnings of the parent, before the income is used to calculate support payments.

Child Support Payments and Deductions

The job of the New York Court is to ensure that adequate support is provided to a child to support their healthy growth and development. On the other hand, the courts can be persuaded, at times, to avoid putting payment strategies in place that would make it difficult for the paying parent to continue paying their bills or making ends meet. While the New York Child Support Standards Act does offer a formula to determine how much support should be paid, there’s always an opportunity to deviate from that guideline amount or negotiate it with the support of a child custody lawyer like Mr. Shapiro.

Before the right amount of support can be calculated, the courts must consider the deductible factors that can be removed from a person’s income. Mr. Shapiro can work alongside clients in divorce cases to help ensure that all the right deductibles are removed, including:

• Maintenance payments ordered for the current/latest spouse
• Alimony or maintenance ordered for a previous spouse
• Child support determined by a written agreement or court order for a child the parent already has a duty of care towards
• FICA contributions
• Income taxes for New York City, Yonkers or local taxes
• Public assistance payments
• Unreimbursed employee business expenses.

What are Unreimbursed Employee Business Expenses?

In general, unreimbursed employee business expenses are often one of the expenses that professionals will examine when preparing a tax return for the IRS. Using these expenses, it’s possible for today’s working men and women to reduce their tax liability by claiming deductions according to the guidelines provided by the IRS. Unreimbursed business expenses are located on the “schedule A” section within a tax return, and they’re intended to provide support for employees who use their own money for business costs.

As a divorce attorney, Mr. Shapiro strives to stay up to date with the latest laws and regulations around IRS payments and deductions. This is because the nature of a person’s deductible income can affect the amount of child support or maintenance an individual is expected to pay. In 2018, the unreimbursed business expenses tax deductions are beginning to change. Due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs act, many of the itemized deductions supported on previous tax bills are being eliminated – including the unreimbursed expenses of employees.

While the tax situation may be changing, Mr. Shapiro reminds his clients that unreimbursed business expenses are still examined by the courts from a child support payment perspective – at least at this time. This means that the courts will still take these expenses into consideration when calculating the amount of money an individual must contribute towards the raising of a child. Some of the expenses that apply to the unreimbursed business expenses element include the legal fees related to a job, dues for professional memberships, educational costs, home office fees, union expenses, occupational taxes, transportations or travel fees, passport costs for business trips, uniform expenses, and more.

Calculating Payments for Child Support

In the courts of New York, there are many expenses that the legal team must consider when determining how much a payor should be asked to pay for support. Aside from business employee expenses, there are also various other deductions that can be considered to ensure that both the child in question, and the parent continue to get the support they need. For Mr. Darren Shapiro’s clients, it can be incredibly difficult to determine which items should be considered an allowable deduction when it comes to child support obligations. That’s why he’s on hand to help to offer guidance and insights into the types of deductions available.

Whether you’re in the process of starting a divorce procedure, or you’re in the midst of a case for child support, it’s important to make sure that you have the guidance of a lawyer that can specialize in divorce law and child custody issues. Mr. Darren Shapiro is on-hand from his mediation and family law office, off the Jericho Turnpike. For support in understanding your child support payments, or help addressing the various complexities of child support, reach out to Mr. Shapiro today to book your free initial consultation, or discuss your concerns on (516) 333-6555.