Legal Question in Family Law in New York

Re: Support

New York has a law called the Child Support Standards Act ("CSSA") which provides guidelines from which attorneys either negotiate child support or upon which judges base awards of child support. The CSSA guidelines offer a baseline percentage of income to be paid as child support that varies depending upon the number of children involved.

Note: the CSSA guidelines are almost always exceeded in cases in which the parents have high income.

Spousal support - what used to be called alimony - is more subjective, and is, again, either negotiated or imposed by a judge in cases where it is appropriate. Depending upon the facts and circumstances of the case, it can be for a limited or quite extended period, and can vary tremendously in amount.