Wealthy face new child support calculations

Pa. ruling seeks to protect child’s lifestyle

When parents decide to go their separate ways, one of the most hostile elements of a divorce can be the care of their children in separate households.

Wealthy parents who pay child support are likely to face a different set of headaches in the court system thanks to a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling that will hold them to a different standard than less affluent parents whose support payments are based on set guidelines.

Parents who earn more than $30,000 a month in net income will be required to pay enough monetary support so that the child will be able to maintain whatever lifestyle the child has grown accustomed to — meaning the sky could literally be the limit.

Prior to the court decision handed down last month, child support for parents at all income levels was based on guidelines that predictedthe economic needs of a child.

But the state Supreme Court has decided that for wealthy households, need becomes less easily calculated by a set formula.

Going forward, child support payments will instead be based on how much it will cost to maintain the lifestyle a child is accustomed to without burdening the custodial parent.

“You basically look at the family’s lifestyle and the child’s lifestyle,” said Lisa Turbeville, a divorce financial analyst and owner of Watermark Financial in Mt. Lebanon. “There could be private school, vacations — maybe the family has different properties they travel to and from. The children might all have cars.

“There’s a lot of different activities and things higher income families might do that other people wouldn’t be able to afford,” she said. “All of their expenses — such as clothing — tend to be higher.

“I have a client whose teenage daughter wants a $400 purse for her birthday, and that’s normal to