CHILD SUPPORT GUIDELINES WORKSHEET

(VLSH version 7.01)

Instruction Sheet

This is the instruction sheet for the Child Support Guidelines Worksheet (version 7.01) created by H. Doug Matsuoka of Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii for the use of attorneys who provide pro bono services.

REQUIREMENTS:

Since the worksheet is a Microsoft Excel template, it requires a fairly new version of Excel.  The current version was created using Excel 2001 for the Macintosh, but will also run on Windows platforms.  It will also yield correct computations on earlier versions of Excel but may not format correctly.

INSTRUCTIONS:

ENTER ALL INFORMATION IN THE INPUT SCREEN.  The worksheet opens in two windows: (1) The Input Screen, and (2) the Guidelines Worksheet.  Enter all information into the Input Screen.  The Worksheet pulls the information you enter and puts that information in the proper places in the worksheet.  Using the information you enter, the worksheet calculates the amounts using the methods and tables required by the Court.

 CALCULATED FIGURES:  There is no need to look at the Worksheet screen to view the child support amount.   The worksheet calculates the figures automatically every time you enter a value into a field.

 The calculated child support figures are presented at the bottom of the Input Screen in the section labeled “Calculated Figures.”  The first line in this section displays the figure that will appear on the printed Worksheet.  The second line, “With health/child care expenses:” shows the sum of Worksheet child support AND whatever child care and health care amounts the payor is ordered to pay.

 A note on the method of calculation:  The worksheet rounds all figures to the nearest dollar, and nearest whole percentage, and calculates using those rounded figures.  This approximates the method used when computing the figures manually.  Because of this, the resulting calculations should be identical to results obtained by manually filling in the worksheet. 

PRINTING THE WORKSHEET: 

Printing the worksheet will output two pages, the Child Support Guidelines Worksheet, and a Net Income Calculation Worksheet. 

 If the worksheet prints on more than two pages, go to your page setup screen and reduce the size of the printout to less than 100%.

 In most cases, you will only need to print out the first page.  The second page is for calculating child support for income amounts above the table amounts provided by the Court, and for calculating child support for parents with self employed income.

 NOTE:  The purpose of the worksheet is to provide an aid to the calculation and preparation of the Child Support Guidelines with the aim of reducing time, inaccuracy, and dispute.  There may be unusual circumstances in which the worksheet will compute inaccurate figures.  Please report these bugs to me by email at doug@vlsh.org.  Regardless of the amount computed by the Worksheet, the accurate calculation of child support is solely your responsibility.