How Child Support Is Calculated in New Jersey

New Jersey's Child Support Guidelines (Rules of Court, Appendix IX) use the Income Shares approach, which bases support on both parents' incomes. The state child support program offers the QuickCalc estimator, and the courts publish sole-parenting and shared-parenting worksheets.

You can apply for child support online through the New Jersey Child Support Program; there is a one-time $6 fee, and the application takes about 30 minutes. The online application cannot be used if you already have a case with the other parent, either parent lives outside New Jersey, there is a pending or existing court support action, you do not know the other parent's address, the child does not live with you most of the time, or you receive or received WFNJ/TANF or Medicaid for the child. In those situations, print the application and court forms and email them through the Judiciary Electronic Document Submission (JEDS) system or mail them to the Family Division in your county, or call 1-877-NJKiDS1 (655-4371) to have forms mailed to you.

The obligation to pay child support ends automatically when the child marries, dies, enters military service, or turns 19. The parent receiving support can ask for support to continue past 19 if the child is still in high school, attends full-time post-secondary education (college, vocational or graduate school), or has a disability, by filing a Request for Continuation of Support within 45 days of the child's 19th birthday with a proposed end date, which must be before the child's 23rd birthday (except for disability). Support for other reasons must be sought from the Family Court as financial maintenance.

Either party can ask to modify a support order at any time by filing with the court. Parents receive a notice every three years offering the option to request a review of the order, and orders for families on public assistance are reviewed automatically every three years. Orders established or modified after September 1, 1998 also get an automatic cost-of-living adjustment every two years. The court filing fee for an application to modify a Family Part (FD) order is $25.

Enforcement tools include interception of federal and state tax refunds (unpaid support of at least $150 in public assistance cases or $500 in other cases); seizure of bank accounts and other assets; Family Court enforcement hearings that can result in arrest orders, orders to pay arrears immediately, or added payments; failure-to-appear and failure-to-comply warrants, which can lead to jail; passport denial at $2,500 or more (New Jersey generally requires full payment before the restriction is lifted); credit bureau reporting of debts over $1,000; interception of New Jersey lottery prizes of $600 or more and of casino, sports wagering and online gaming winnings of $40,000 or more; interception of lawsuit awards and settlements (after the first $2,000); liens on real and personal property; automatic judgments for unpaid support; and suspension, revocation or denial of driver's, professional, occupational, recreational and sporting licenses when support has not been paid for six months or more.

New Jersey's child support agency is NJ Child Support, part of the Division of Family Development. It sets up child support, locates parents, establishes paternity, helps get health care coverage, collects and distributes payments, adjusts orders when circumstances change and acts when payments stop. Apply online (about 30 minutes) or through a local office. Payment options and a payment coupon are on the website, and parents can check their case through the Customer Case Info login. Customer service: 1-877-NJKiDS1 (655-4371).

New Jersey Child Support's QuickCalc is the state's online NJ Child Support Guidelines calculator (sole or shared parenting worksheet, weekly gross taxable income, prior support orders and filing status). It says it is for informational purposes only and is not a guarantee of the amount that will be ordered; the actual order is affected by other factors, and the court has the final authority to determine the amount. The guidelines are set by Court Rule 5:6A.