Does Health Insurance Lower Child Support in Maryland?

A family judge can order either parent to provide health insurance for a child.

Child support

under Maryland family law places a financial obligation on parents to cover the care of their children. Generally speaking, parents will divide child support obligations according to their respective income. In addition, parents are often required to also provide health insurance coverage for their children, if such coverage is available and accessible at a reasonable cost.

It's important to note that when reviewing a child support order, the court considers the current income and other factors of both parents that have occurred since the initial child support order was issued. As a result, an increase in health insurance expenses alone may not result in a decrease in child support. In addition, under certain circumstances, the amount of child support established by the court may be greater than that reflected in the Maryland Child Support Guidelines. Child support is always modifiable in Maryland, which means the amount can increase or decrease.

However, the party seeking the modification has the burden of establishing that there has been a material change in the circumstances that justifies the modification of alimony. This may mean that a parent has lost a job, that a parent earns less money, that a parent earns more money, or other changes in circumstances. You may want to talk to an attorney or someone from the Office of Child Support Control about any other information you may need to calculate the right amount of child support. If health insurance coverage for the child ends, the employer will notify the other parent and, if a support agency intervenes in the case, the maintenance oversight agency within 15 days of the termination of the insurance.

The guidelines take into account the income of both parents, the number of minor children in the family, the cost of health insurance for children, each parent's access schedule, and the costs of child care and extraordinary medical expenses. In general, the parent who has primary physical custody of the children (the parent who has custody) is the person who will receive child support. If you need legal assistance for child support under Maryland family law, it can be very helpful to consult with a reliable Maryland child support lawyer. The court shall include a provision requiring one or both parents to provide medical support in cash in an amount not to exceed 5% of the real income of the parent who has been ordered to provide medical support in cash.

Consequently, if a parent experiences a significant change in circumstances, including a significant increase in health insurance premiums, it may be appropriate to request an amendment to the child support order to reflect the change. In the case of child support orders under Title IV of the Federal Social Security Act, the cost is considered reasonable if it does not exceed five percent of the parents' actual income. In addition, the cash medical benefit is added to the general child support obligation and parents divide it in proportion to their adjusted real income. If the employee's child does not currently qualify for health insurance coverage, but will be, he will withhold from the employee's income, as soon as he is eligible, the amount of the employee contribution required to enroll the employee's child; or if the employer determines that, for reasons related to the employee's employment situation, the employee's child is not eligible for health insurance coverage, complete the appropriate part of the medical support notice and return it to the child support agency that issued it; enrolling the child in health insurance coverage regardless of enrollment season restrictions; and if the court finds that a parent who owes child support has been “voluntarily impoverished”,the court can “impute income to father”.