Child Support & Spousal Maintenance 2025 Comparisons

To establish parentage, either the child must be deemed the child of a marriage, or if the parties are not married, parentage must be established by court order (eg, Order of Filiation) or an Acknowledgment of Parentage, prior to the court’s determination as to child support.

In New York proceedings to establish parentage, certain prenatal costs may be recovered, although child support will not be awarded until after birth.

A custodial parent, as well as a third-party guardian of a child under the age of 21 years, is entitled to seek child support from a non-custodial parent.

Ordinarily, at a minimum, one of the parties to the proceeding must reside in New York. If one party resides outside of New York, the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) (New York Family Court Act §580) contains a long-arm jurisdiction provision that provides for personal jurisdiction bases other than residence, including the following (Family Court Act §580-201):

• the individual is personally served with a summons and petition within this state;
• the individual submits to the jurisdiction of this state by consent, by entering a general appearance, or by filing a responsive document or other action having the effect of waiving any contest to personal jurisdiction;
• the individual resided with the child in this state;
• the individual resided in this state and provided prenatal expenses or support for the child;
• the child resides in this state as a result of the acts or directives of the individual;
• the individual engaged in sexual intercourse in this state and the child may have been conceived by that act of intercourse;
• the individual asserted parentage of a child in the putative father registry maintained in this state by the office of children and family services; or
• there is any other basis consistent with the constitutions of this state and the United States for the exercise of personal jurisdiction.

If there is no personal jurisdiction over the respondent, the custodial party must seek relief in the jurisdiction where the respondent is located.

Child support may be sought in the New York Supreme Court, a court of general jurisdiction which is empowered to hear divorce actions that include requests for child support, as well as separate child support proceedings, or the Family Court, a court of more limited jurisdiction under the Family Court Act, which may not hear divorce proceedings but may hear separate proceedings for child support.

To comply with due process, child support would not be awarded in the absence of court proceedings.

Child support in New York is effectively composed of two material components, set forth in the mirror statutes contained in the New York Domestic Relations Law §240 and the Family Court Act §413 (the “Child Support Standards Act”, or CSSA).

Basic child support, which is the periodic payment for housing and other day-to-day expenses, is calculated pursuant to a formula. Currently, the non-custodial parent would pay a percentage (17% – 1 child, 25% – 2 children, 29% – 3 children, 31% – 4 children) of combined parental gross income, up to USD183,000, then pro-rated at that parent’s percentage share of total combined parental gross income.

If application of the formula would be unjust and inappropriate, child support is further adjusted in consideration of factors set forth in the CSSA. These factors include:

• the financial resources of the custodial and non-custodial parent, and those of the child;
• the physical and emotional health of the child and his or her special needs and aptitudes;
• the standard of living the child would have enjoyed had the marriage or household not been dissolved;
• the tax consequences to the parties;
• the non-monetary contributions that the parents will make toward the care and well-being of the child;
• the educational needs of either parent;
• a determination that the gross income of one parent is substantially less than the other parent’s gross income;
• the needs of the children of the non-custodial parent for whom the non-custodial parent is providing support who are not subject to the instant action and whose support has not been deducted from income pursuant to DRL §240(1-b)(b)(5)(vii)(D), and the financial resources of any person obligated to support such children, provided, however, that this factor may apply only if the resources available to support such children are less than the resources available to support the children who are subject to the instant action;
• provided that the child is not on public assistance, (i) extraordinary expenses incurred by the non-custodial parent in exercising visitation, or (ii) expenses incurred by the non-custodial parent in extended visitation provided that the custodial parent’s expenses are substantially reduced as a result thereof; and
• any other factors the court determines are relevant in each case.

In addition to basic child support, the parents might each be directed to pay a percentage share, pro-rated to their share of the total combined parental gross income, for additional expenses (commonly referred to as “add-ons”) such as education expenses, extracurricular and enrichment expenses, childcare to allow the custodial parent to work, and unreimbursed health expenses.

It is possible for the court to award interim, a.k.a. temporary, child support, as well as final child support. Although interim and final calculations are generally similar, if the interim child support calculations were performed on limited information (eg, pre-discovery) and prove inaccurate or unjust, the court may reallocate or credit a portion of the temporary payments in the final order. Conversely, if there has been an underpayment of child support pursuant to an interim order, the court may order retroactive child support which provides for the final payment to apply from the date of filing the initial application, with a “catch up” payment in a lump sum or instalments.

Allocation of parenting time generally does not affect child support payments; however, where there are extraordinary visitation expenses (eg, international travel to exercise parenting time) or other fact-specific circumstances which make consideration of the parenting time appropriate, the court may consider the costs associated with such parenting time as a factor.

Emancipation in New York is age 21; however, the parties may agree to extend the age of emancipation beyond age 21 in an agreement. In the case of a child’s developmental disability, child support may be extended until age 26.

A parent may also be ordered to provide health insurance for the child(ren), life insurance to secure child support obligations and/or, less commonly, disability insurance.

There are no other material forms of child support provided for under the Domestic Relations Law or the Family Court Act.

Child support in New York is not taxed, nor is it tax deductible.

The statutory definition of “income” for child support and spousal support purposes is identical and is not limited to earned income. The Domestic Relations Law §240 and the Family Court Act §413 set forth that:

“‘Income’ shall mean, but shall not be limited to…:

(i) gross (total) income as should have been or should be reported in the most recent federal income tax return. If an individual files his/her federal income tax return as a married person filing jointly, such person shall be required to prepare a form, sworn to under penalty of law, disclosing his/her gross income individually;

(ii) to the extent not already included in gross income in clause (i) of this subparagraph, investment income reduced by sums expended in connection with such investment;

(iii) to the extent not already included in gross income in clauses (i) and (ii) of this subparagraph, the amount of income or compensation voluntarily deferred and income received, if any, from the following sources:

(A) workers’ compensation,

(B) disability benefits,

(C) unemployment insurance benefits,

(D) social security benefits,

(E) veterans benefits,

(F) pensions and retirement benefits,

(G) fellowships and stipends,

(H) annuity payments, and

(I) alimony or maintenance actually paid or to be paid to a spouse who is a party to the instant action pursuant to an existing court order or contained in the order to be entered by the court, or pursuant to a validly executed written agreement, in which event the order or agreement shall provide for a specific adjustment, in accordance with this subdivision, in the amount of child support payable upon the termination of alimony or maintenance to such spouse; provided, however, that the specific adjustment in the amount of child support is without prejudice to either party’s right to seek a modification in accordance with two of paragraph b of subdivision nine of part B of section two hundred thirty-six of this article…

(iv) at the discretion of the court, the court may attribute or impute income from such other resources as may be available to the parent, including, but not limited to:

(A) non-income producing assets,

(B) meals, lodging, memberships, automobiles or other perquisites that are provided as part of compensation for employment to the extent that such perquisites constitute expenditures for personal use, or which expenditures directly or indirectly confer personal economic benefits,

(C) fringe benefits provided as part of compensation for employment, and

(D) money, goods, or services provided by relatives and friends;

(v) an amount imputed as income based upon the parent’s former resources or income, if the court determines that a parent has reduced resources or income in order to reduce or avoid the parent’s obligation for child support; provided that incarceration shall not be considered voluntary unemployment…”

Disclosure is required. At a minimum, the parties are required to file a Statement of Net Worth or Financial Disclosure Affidavit, as well as recent tax returns and pay records. Further discovery may be requested by serving a discovery notice for bank statements, information about investments or other assets and all sources of income, substantiation of expenses listed on the Statement of Net Worth or Financial Disclosure Affidavit, employment prospects and the like. The parties may also hold depositions and issue subpoenas to obtain certified financial records.

Where both parties are residents, or at least one party is a resident and there is long-arm jurisdiction over the other, spousal support may be sought in the Family Court under the Family Court Act. However, this court can only order temporary support and not final support. Only the New York Supreme Court, in a divorce action, may award final spousal support, thus setting the duration of the support.

Similar to child support, spousal support would not be ordered absent a court proceeding.

There are no other forms of partner support in New York.

New York has adopted both temporary and post-divorce maintenance guidelines, in the Domestic Relations Law §236B, which provide for a presumptive amount of spousal support and deviations from the presumptive amount in circumstances where the presumptive amount would be unjust or inappropriate; in that case, the court will consider various factors contained within the statute. In the case of post-divorce maintenance, the statute provides duration guideposts, which are percentage ranges applied to the length of the marriage. The durational guidelines are 15-30% of the length of the marriage (0-15 years), 30-40% of the length of the marriage (15-20 years) and 35-50% of the length of the marriage (20+ years). Lifetime spousal support is possible, but only in certain circumstances.

One of several factors that the court may consider in determining final spousal support is the amount of property distribution that a spouse receives, as well as the income generated from that distribution.

Under New York’s automatic orders, a spouse is required to carry the other on an ongoing health insurance plan pending the parties’ divorce; post-divorce, both parties are expected to co-operate so that the non-employee participant spouse can acquire COBRA coverage for 36 months post-divorce.

The court will typically order security for the payment of spousal support, in the form of life insurance.

Payments are made in tax-free monthly cash instalments and are not deductible by the payor.

The definition of income for spousal maintenance purposes is identical to that contained in the CSSA.

Discovery with respect to spousal maintenance proceedings is similar to that required in child support proceedings.

Spousal support terminates upon either party’s death, the recipient’s remarriage, or cohabitation that meets a specific statutory standard.

If a party is in default of a child support order, the non-defaulting party may seek to enforce the order by filing a violation/contempt proceeding. Depending on the procedural posture of the matter, and the court being accessed, this may be done by petition, by motion in an ongoing proceeding or by post-judgment application.

If a party fails to pay child support pursuant to a lawful court order, the non-defaulting party may bring a violation petition seeking enforcement of the child support order. Procedural due process requires that the defaulting party receive notice and an opportunity to be heard (Matter of Cty. of Chemung v Shah, 28 N.Y.3d 244, 264, 44 N.Y.S.3d 326, 334, 66 N.E.3d 1044, 1052 (2016)).

After a hearing, the court will issue a “finding”, determining whether the non-paying party wilfully violated the child support order by failing to pay child support in a timely and consistent fashion. Notably, a party’s failure to pay child support pursuant to a lawful court order constitutes prima facie evidence of a wilful violation (Matter of Bea v Winslow, 162 A.D.3d 763, 764, 79 N.Y.S.3d 79, 81 (2nd Dept. 2018)). If the court found that the defaulting party wilfully violated a lawful child support order, there are various remedies available to it pursuant to Family Court Act §454. These remedies include:

• entering a money judgment against the defaulting party;
• making an income deduction order for support enforcement;
• requiring the defaulting party to post an undertaking;
• making an order of sequestration;
• suspending the defaulting party’s driving privileges;
• suspending the defaulting party’s state professional or business licence;
• suspending the recreational licence or licences of the defaulting party;
• requiring the defaulting party to participate in work activities if the recipient of the support is an applicant for or recipient of public assistance; and
• requiring the respondent to participate in job training, employment counselling or other programmes designed to lead to employment.

Additionally, upon finding that a party wilfully failed to pay child support pursuant to a lawful child support order, the court shall order the non-paying party to pay the counsel fees of the other party pursuant to the Family Court Act §438 and may, in addition to or in lieu of any or all of the remedies listed above:

• imprison the defaulting party;
• require the defaulting party to participate in a rehabilitative programme; or
• place the defaulting party on probation (Family Court Act §454).

Pursuant to the Family Court Act §451, a court may not reduce or annul child support arrears accrued prior to the making of an application to reduce or vacate a child support order.

Pursuant to the Family Court Act §413-a, a child support order may be reviewed by a Support Collection Unit (SCU) to determine whether a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) should be applied. This review can be requested by a party receiving support enforcement services or by a party to an order issued on behalf of a child receiving public assistance. The review is allowed only if at least two years have passed since the order was issued, or last modified or adjusted. For recipients of public assistance, this adjustment is made automatically.

The SCU will adjust a support order to include a COLA if the sum of the annual average changes of the consumer price index for all urban consumers (“CPI-U”) is 10% or greater. Family Court Act §413-a(2)(a). The SCU issues an adjusted support order reflecting the COLA, calculated pursuant to the statutory formula, which remains the new child support order if neither party objects.

Pursuant to the Family Court Act §440 (1)(b)(2), there is a presumption that child support shall be paid through an income deduction order processed by the SCU. The SCU automatically deducts a portion of the child support payor’s wages to cover child support payments. The parties may elect to, and frequently do, opt out of utilising the SCU. The SCU also maintains broad authority to administratively effectuate enforcement remedies such as revocation of licences, withholding of tax refunds and other such measures, when a payor is in violation of a child support order.

Courts have continuing, exclusive jurisdiction over spousal support orders. An enforcement proceeding for the non-payment of spousal support is not considered a “new” action but a continuation of the underlying divorce proceeding (Haskell v Haskell, 6 N.Y.2d 79, 81, 188 N.Y.S.2d 475, 476, 160 N.E.2d 33, 34 (1959)).

The Domestic Relations Law §244 provides for the enforcement of spousal support orders. It states, in pertinent part:

“Where a spouse in an action for divorce… defaults in paying any sum of money as required by the judgment or order directing the payment thereof, or as required by the terms of an agreement or stipulation incorporated by reference in a judgment, such direction shall be enforceable pursuant to section fifty-two hundred forty-one or fifty-two hundred forty-two of the civil practice law and rules.”

Pursuant to the Domestic Relations Law §244, in the event of non-payment of a lawful spousal support order, the court shall make an order directing the entry of a judgment for the amount of spousal support arrears, together with any applicable costs and disbursements. The judgment may then be enforced by execution or by any other method authorised by law for the collection of money judgments. If the court determines that the non-payment of spousal support was wilful, the judgment shall also include interest on the arrears.

Section 5201 of the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR) sets forth the procedures for enforcing money judgments, including actions against debts, assignable or transferable property, and through garnishment.

The Domestic Relations Law §244 allows for a defaulting party to be relieved of their spousal support arrears if the defaulting party “shows good cause for failure to make application for relief from the judgment or order directing such payment prior to the accrual of such arrears” and the court sets forth the facts and circumstances constituting good cause in a written memorandum of decision.

There is no statute governing COLAs to spousal support orders, unlike for child support.

Pursuant to the Family Court Act §451 (3), a court may modify a child support order “upon a showing of a substantial change in circumstance”. Additionally, a court may modify a child support order if: (i) three years have passed since the child support order was entered or modified or (ii) either party’s income increased or decreased by 15% or more since the child support order was entered or modified.

Parties may opt out of the right to seek a modification of child support based on the passage of three years or more or a 15% change in income by expressly waiving those rights in a settlement agreement. However, parties cannot waive the right to modify child support based on a substantial change in circumstance.

Pursuant to the Domestic Relations Law §236, a court may modify a spousal maintenance order or judgment upon the application of either party if the maintenance payee demonstrates an inability to be self-supporting or upon a showing of “a substantial change in circumstance”, such as financial hardship or the retirement of the maintenance payor, provided that retirement results in a substantial change in the maintenance payor’s financial situation.

While parties cannot entirely opt out of the ability to seek modification of support, they may agree to waive the right to modification based on the “substantial change in circumstance” standard. Additionally, a spouse may not relieve the other of support if that spouse may become a public charge (Kessler v Kessler, 33 A.D.3d 42, 46, 818 N.Y.S.2d 571, 575 (2nd Dept. 2006)).

Although parties may enter into a stipulation or settlement agreement providing for child support or spousal maintenance, the courts are not bound by the child support provisions (see Brescia v Fitts, 56 N.Y.2d 132, 138, 451 N.Y.S.2d 68, 70, 436 N.E.2d 518, 520 (1982)). The needs of the child take precedence over the terms of the agreement (Gravlin v Ruppert, 98 N.Y.2d 1, 5, 743 N.Y.S.2d 773, 775, 770 N.E.2d 561, 563 (2002S; see also 4.1 Modification of Child Support Orders).

When a maintenance provision is incorporated but not merged into a judgment of divorce, it retains the force of a contract. As such, courts generally uphold those provisions. The standard for modification is therefore significantly higher than the standard for modifying child support. A party seeking modification of spousal maintenance under a stipulation or settlement agreement must show “extreme hardship” to obtain a modification (see, eg, Sheila C. v Donald C., 5 A.D.3d 123 (1st Dept. 2004): “To obtain modification of the maintenance aspect of a stipulation that has been incorporated but not merged into a divorce judgment, a party must show extreme hardship, not merely a substantial change in circumstances.”).

New York courts will typically recognise a foreign child support order, provided that there is a reciprocal agreement with that jurisdiction or the order was made under substantially similar laws involving due process for the parties. The foreign order is registered under UIFSA, in the Family Court, with the Court then issuing a notice of the registration to all parties involved. In order to proceed with an enforcement or modification proceeding, the registration is a mandatory prerequisite to be met before, or simultaneous with, an application for enforcement or modification.

New York courts will not uphold foreign orders that violate public policy.

The spousal support order may be registered in a similar fashion to child support orders.

Foreign child support and spousal support orders that are recognised in New York are afforded the same enforcement remedies as domestic orders.

New York’s UIFSA statute honours reciprocal agreements and the Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance.

The New York courts frequently recognise foreign orders via principles of comity, and the CPLR includes statutory provisions that recognise foreign money judgments obtained with due process in the initiating jurisdiction.

The New York court may modify a foreign child support order where neither the parties, nor the child, remain in the jurisdiction where the initial child support order was entered. If the parties have not relocated to the same locale, this is typically the place where the respondent resides.

The foreign order would be registered as set forth in 5.1 Recognition of Foreign Child Support Orders and a petition filed in either the Family or Supreme Court, setting forth the legal basis for the modification. The New York court would then apply the substantive law of New York with respect to the modification, unless a different choice of law or standard is required by the initial order.

New York courts cannot alter the duration of the initial order.

The Family Court Act §580-211 makes clear that: “b) A tribunal of this state may not modify a spousal-support order issued by a tribunal of another state or a foreign country having continuing, exclusive jurisdiction over that order under the law of that state or foreign country.” Even if possible, unless the foreign order sets forth a standard for modification, the applicant would need to meet New York’s high standard for modification and other jurisdictional bases.

The statute of limitations on child support judgments is 20 years.

The statute of limitations on spousal support judgments is 20 years.

The court may order counsel fees to be paid to the party seeking child support, as part of a standalone action or a divorce action, especially to the extent this is the non-monied party. Additionally, if a party is in violation of their child support obligations (see 3.1 Enforcement of Child Support Orders), the court may order counsel fees as a remedial measure.

If, for example, a lifestyle analysis requires expert services, the court may also award financial expert fees.

See 7.1 Counsel Fees and Costs – Child Support.