Law Offices of Joseph H. Nivin, P.C.

Oct 23, 2016

On Behalf of The Law Offices of Joseph H. Nivin, P.C. 

Nia Guzman is suing Chris Brown for more child support.

“Nia is absurd. She’s been living in California for months and has established residency there just so she could take Chris to court in LA for more child support! The case is already in effect and Nia wants more than what they agreed upon in Houston. She wants more — way more — because Royalty deserves every opportunity that life has to offer. Chris continues to flash his gold and diamonds around on Instagram, and him buying a new Ferrari every day infuriates Nia. She’s trying to secure Royalty’s future and she wishes Chris would understand that,” a source close to Chris tells HollywoodLife.com exclusively.


Attorney Joseph Nivin says:

Where do I start?

When you have someone who wants more child support from you, it is a terrible idea to: (1) flash your gold around on Instagram, (2) add your diamonds to your Instagram, (3) buy a new Ferrari (at all, and doing this in multiple is icing on the cake), and (4) publicizing your new Ferraris.

Chris Brown needs legal advice, but that’s the least of his problems.  He desperately needs common sense.

Now, let’s talk about what Chris is paying.

According to the article, Chris Brown is ordered to pay $2,500.00 per month, plus 100% of his daughter’s medical care, education, and child care.

The $2,500.00 per month is known as “basic support.”  That is supposed to cover the payor’s contributions to daily expenses: food, shelter, clothing, school supplies, utilities, etc.  This number is a percentage of the payor’s income (after deductions, including Social Security and Medicare taxes, and NYC or Yonkers taxes).  That percentage is 17% for one child, 25% for two children, 29% for three children, 31% for four children, and 35% and up for five or more children.

Where a parent is paying $2,500.00 per month in basic support for one child, that generally means that the parent has a solidly upper-middle class income.  However, there are a lot of people out there paying this amount who could only dream of affording one Ferrari.

The “add-on” expenses, medical care, education, and child care, are determined by what percentage of the combined parental income is earned by the non-custodial parent.  For example, if the non-custodial parent earns $60,000.00 per year, and the custodial parent earns $40,000.00 per year, then the non-custodial parent earns 60% of the combined parental income.  Therefore, the court will order that parent to pay 60% of the child’s unreimbursed medical expenses, and 60% of the child care expenses.  The court can, but does not have to, order the parent to also pay 60% of the child’s educational expenses.

The court will usually expect the custodial parent to work and earn an income.  Therefore, the non-custodial parent usually does not have to pay 100% of the add-on expenses like Chris Brown does.  However, there are many non-custodial parents who earn much less than Chris Brown who have to pay for close to all of the add-ons, often because the custodial parent’s earning capacity decreased because of child-rearing responsibilities.

For these reasons, there are many men who pay as much in child support as Chris Brown, but cannot afford to enjoy the lifestyle that he brags about on Instagram.

If you have a child support case, don’t be like Chris Brown.  If you’re going to brag about your riches, you better be ready to turn them over to your child’s mother. Visit our family law page for more help. http://nivinlaw.com/practice-area/family-law/