At times, parents may have an actual shared custody judgment. Shared custody means a joint custody order in which each parent has physical custody of the child for an approximately equal amount of time.1 In that event, Obligation Worksheet B at 9:315.20 is the form to use.2 The calculation is based on a formula that first requires that the basic child support obligation be multiplied by 1.5 to approximate the duplication of costs, such as housing, food, and transportation, incurred by both parents who have physical custody for approximately one-half of the year.3 Then, the adjusted basic child support obligation is divided between the parents in proportion to their respective adjusted gross incomes to obtain each parent’s theoretical child support obligation.4 Next, each parent’s obligation is cross-multiplied by the actual percentage of time the child spends with the other parent.5 The parent owing the greater amount pays the difference to the other parent as support,6 after deducting each parent’s proportionate share of any direct payments made to third parties for the child.7
It may happen that the domiciliary parent in a shared custody order makes more than the non-domiciliary parent. Greene v. Greene states that there is nothing preventing a higher-earning parent who is also named domiciliary parent from paying support to the other parent.8 The court found that La. R.S. 9:315.9 does not preclude payment to a non-domiciliary parent in a shared custody situation.9