Do I pay child support with 50/50 custody in New York?
Usually, yes. New York’s child support formula does not switch off at 50/50. When parenting time is truly equal, the courts treat the parent with the higher income as the paying parent, and the formula applies to that parent’s share of combined income. Parents can agree to a lower figure, or to a different structure such as each paying set expenses, but the agreement must say what the formula amount would have been and why they are departing from it, and a judge has to accept the reason.
How equal time and support fit together
Equal time changes who pays what day to day. It does not change the formula.
- The formula. The Child Support Standards Act takes a percentage of combined parental income, 17% for one child and 25% for two, and splits the result between the parents in proportion to income. It has no line for the parenting schedule.
- Who pays at 50/50. The Court of Appeals decided in 1998 that with equal time, the higher-earning parent is treated as the non-custodial parent for support. That rule still applies.
- What you can agree instead. Parents can opt out of the formula in a written agreement. It has to state the formula amount, the agreed amount, and the reasons, and the court must find it fair. Common reasons are equal time with similar incomes, or one parent carrying most of the direct costs.
- Add-ons. Child care, health insurance and unreimbursed medical costs are shared by income on top of basic support, whatever the schedule.
- In mediation. Run the formula first, with real incomes, so both of you see the number. Then decide together whether your situation justifies something else. The calculator on this site uses the 2026 figures.
Child Support Standards Act: Domestic Relations Law §240(1-b). Equal time: Bast v. Rossoff, 91 N.Y.2d 723 (1998). Opting out: §240(1-b)(h).