Child Support

Because child support is based on multiple factors, including parental income, it’s possible that one parent might still be ordered to pay child support even if both parents spend roughly equal time with the child. However, state guidelines to establish child support do consider the shared responsibility of joint custody when establishing support.¹ “Shared responsibility” is defined as when your child spends at least 35% of the year in each parent’s home.² The worksheet to determine child support obligations includes a calculation of how many “24-hour days” the child spends with each parent, a number that must total 365. This means that technically one parent will always have at least one additional day with the child in every non-leap year.³

¹ N.M. Stat. § 40-4-11.1(I)
² N.M. Stat. § 40-4-11.1(F)(4)
³ N.M. Stat. § 40-4-11.1, WORKSHEET B