Carson City February 05, 2020
The Nevada Division of Welfare and Supportive Services announces new regulations outlining the guidelines a court uses when calculating child support. The guidelines go into effect February 1, 2020.
“In order to get as many parents contributing to their children’s well-being, the new guidelines allow for more flexibility in considering both parents’ financial circumstances when setting child support levels,” said Deputy Administrator Elisa Cafferata of the Division of Welfare and Supportive Services.
The new guidelines eliminate the minimum flat rate, which some noncustodial parents could not provide, and eliminates the presumptive maximum to allow high-income earners to be more involved in their children’s support.
New child support cases, as of February 1, 2020, will be decided using the new guidelines.
For existing cases, the child support amounts do not change automatically. Parents may request a review or modification once every 3 years. Parents may also request a review or modification if there has been a change of 20% or more in one of the parents’ financial circumstances.
The Committee to Review Child Support Guidelines has gone through an extensive, two-year process to work with parents, attorneys and the courts to update the guidelines in a way that takes into consideration the actual costs of raising a child. The Committee also worked to strike a balance of the interests of parents maintaining themselves and their children.
In 2018-19, Nevada supported over 106,000 children involved in 88,872 active cases. That year, child support collected $226,263,168 of which more than 95% were distributed directly to families. In Nevada, over 90% of all children in public benefits programs have an order for child support established.