This is owed in addition to child support. It includes one-half of any work-related or education-related daycare expenses, and one-half of any uncovered medical expenses.

The amount of past due child support or spousal support owed.

Child support that is “assigned” is money owed to the county for reimbursement of state aide given to a parent to help support a child, usually in the form of AFDC.

Child support is money ordered for the benefit of the child, but paid to a parent to help financially support the children of the relationship. Child support is calculated by a mathematical formula.  The number obtained at the end of the calculation is called “guideline child support.

Continuing jurisdiction refers to the court’s power to change an existing order.  The court always has the power to change a child support order.

The act of attempting to collect past due child support or spousal support.  Child support is due until paid in full, even decades later.

Family support refers to monthly, unallocated payments for child support and spousal support. The main difference between an order for child support and spousal support versus an order for family support are the tax ramifications.  The entire portion of a family support order is deductible to the paying spouse, whereas only the spousal support portion of an order for child support and spousal support is deductible in a standard child support and spousal support order.

Guideline child support is the amount of child support one parent must pay to the other. This order will be based upon how much each parent sees the children, and how much each parent earns.

A court will sometimes impute income to one of the parties if the court finds that a party is unemployed or underemployed.  The court will normally find an unemployed party has the ability to at least earn minimum wage and will base any child support or spousal support calculations as if he or was actually earning that amount of money.

A lengthy marriage is any marriage that lasts more than ten years.

This term only applies to spousal support.  The parties can agree that the number of months a spousal support order will be paid can never be changed.  The court cannot order spousal support payments to stop earlier than the scheduled termination date, and the court cannot order the support payment to continue for a period of time longer than the scheduled termination date.

This term only applies to spousal support.  The parties can agree that the dollar amount of spousal support payments can never be changed until the obligation to pay support stops.

In some situations the court has the power to order child support or spousal support for a period of time before the actual court date.   This is called making a “retroactive order.”

A short-term marriage is any marriage that lasts for less than ten years.

Spousal support is money owed by one spouse to the other to help the lower wage earner become self-supporting.

When a spousal support order is scheduled to end.

The amount of time each parent spends with the children.

Unassigned child support is money that is owed directly to the parent.

This is the appointment of an expert witness who examines the education and work experience of a spouse to help the court determine how much money that person has the potential to make.