Recommendations To The Washington State Legislature For Washington’s Child Support Schedule

Final Report of 2011 Child Support Schedule Workgroup

Final Recommendations    (excerpts) - September 2011

The Legislature should adopt a new Economic Table, which is based on more current data, is presumptive to $12,000 combined monthly net income, and does not differentiate between age groups of children.

There should be a presumptive adjustment of support, not just a deviation, when a parent has children not before the court.   The adjustment should be calculated using the Whole Family Formula.   The court may not grant the adjustment if doing so would leave “insufficient funds” in the household of the custodial parent. 

There should be a residential schedule credit adjustment, not just a deviation, based on the number of overnights a child spends with each parent.   The residential schedule credit should be available in both the superior courts and the administrative forum, adjusted when the child’s time with the parents varies from that set out in the child support order granting the credit.  The residential schedule credit should not be considered a deviation, should not be available if the adjustment would result in insufficient funds in the custodial parent’s household, not be available if the CP’s net income before receiving the support transfer payment is at or below 125% of the federal poverty level guidelines for one person; or not be available if the child is receiving TANF.

The statute regarding postsecondary educational support should be amended to provide more guidance on when to order postsecondary educational support;  how to set the amounts;  how/when it may be suspended and then reinstated; and when/how it may be terminated.

The statutory references to the self-support reserve should be clarified to provide that the self-support reserve is 125% of the federal poverty level for a one-person family.