Alimony & Child Support FAQs

You can apply for child support services in Massachusetts via the MA.Gov site’s DOR (Department of Revenue) section on child support. You can also call them at 1-800-332-2733. In order to fill out the application you will need all parties’ names, Social Security numbers and any safety information if necessary

An application with the MA Department of Revenue is needed for the following reasons:

• To determine a child’s paternity
• If you need to change or enforce an order for child support
• If the parent who is being asked to pay child support will be having the money deducted directly out of their paycheck and you need full enforcement services
• If either you or your ex-spouse have another child post-divorce settlement and will will need additional services
• If you already have a child support case opened, but you now have a child with a different parent and need new services
• If you want to open a previously closed case

If alimony is also a part of your divorce case there are some tax-related factors to consider.
Child support is non-deductible for the payer and is non-taxable for the recipient. However, alimony payments are tax-deductible for the payer and count as taxable income for the recipient.

As of November 2017, the Internal Revenue Service does not legally recognize same-sex marriages performed in Massachusetts. Therefore, in same-sex divorce cases where alimony is involved, alimony is considered NON-deductible for the payer and NON-taxable for the recipient. In Massachusetts, same-sex couples filing for a divorce can ask a probate judge to label child support payments as alimony if the after-tax support received by the recipient will not be diminished.

A probate judge must determine which party can claim personal exemptions for dependent minors due to the fact that the income tax obligation will be reduced for the party claiming the exemption.

Massachusetts law stipulates that alimony should not be more than the recipient needs OR 30%-35% of the difference in income between the spouses.

There is no legal reason that you can’t ask for both. In real life, most middle-class families don’t have the money to cover both an alimony payment and a child support payment. In cases where the parent without custody earns a significant amount more than the parent with custody, the custodial parent may be awarded some alimony to cover living expenses as well as some to go directly to the raising of the children.

It definitely matters when you consider the impact on your taxes. Alimony payments are tax deductible (except in cases of same-sex divorce). Child support payments are not tax deductible. So, terming a payment as alimony can reduce a couple’s tax burden as alimony is considered taxable income for the recipient (again, except for same-sex divorce cases). So, if the alimony recipient has a low income, the alimony payment won’t incur much in additional income tax. And since the higher earning payer can then deduct the alimony, terming a payment as alimony will same more on their higher tax rate.

Basic child support guidelines assume that the parent with primary custody will spend about 2/3 of the week with the child and the non-custodial parent will spend about 1/3. In cases where the split will be 50-50, child support is determined by computing a child support payment for each spouse as a recipient. Then, the difference in those calculations goes to the parent with the lower weekly support amount. Many factors go into deciding what the amount should be. Full child support guidelines and worksheets can be downloaded here.