VA Financial Penalty for Shared Custody

[gemini3]

We live in VA.  My husband and I were looking at the "shared support guidelines" for VA, and noticed something interesting.  In VA, when calculating shared support obligation, they take the support obligation based on the parents combined monthly income and then multiply that number by 1.4! 

So, in the eyes of VA, a child who lives with both parents has a "need" 40% higher than other children?  Why is that???

In the state of VA there is a financial penalty for sharing custody of your children.  UGH!!

I'm so disturbed by this...

Not to mention that support is based on your gross monthly income, not your net.  They should at least consider the federal and state tax burdens.  Some other pre-tax deductions are discretionary - like 401K, FSA, etc.  Fed and state taxes aren't - AND the NCP (in most cases) isn't able to claim a deduction for the children they are providing financial support for.

What a racket!!