Sign the petition to fix the Massachusetts child support guidelines

To the Chief Justice of the Trial Court, the Governor of Massachusetts, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Massachusetts charges the highest child support in the nation for joint custody, and the second highest for primary custody. We do not believe the Massachusetts guidelines comply with federal law, which requires every child support order to rest on the parent’s ability to pay. No court or federal agency has ruled on whether the guidelines meet this standard. Federal approval of the state’s plan has not addressed it. We ask that they be corrected now, and that every parent whose order was set under them be allowed to apply for immediate relief. We also ask that support for a child over 18 go to the child or the college instead of the other parent, even while the child is away at college.

Why this matters

Massachusetts charges more for joint custody than 47 states charge when the recipient has primary custody. See the comparison →
With $100 a week of child care claimed per child, 40 percent of three-child, primary-custody income pairs on a model grid have an order that takes more than half of take-home pay, and 10.6 percent cross 60 percent, the actual federal limit on what can be withheld from wages. All of those also trip Massachusetts's own 40 percent hardship presumption, which helps only if the parent raises it and a judge agrees. See the finding →
The Worksheet never computes what a parent keeps after tax. See the finding →
After a child turns 18, support can run to 23 and goes to the other parent, even while the child is at college and a parent is paying for it. See the finding →

Sign the petition to fix the Massachusetts child support guidelines

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