>>>>>Not true, at least NOT in North Carolina. The goal of child support is so the child can enjoy the same standard of living as he/she did before the divorce. That means that even if both parents earn equal salaries (or even if the one without custody earns less), the one who is not the primary custodian contributes monies to the custodial parent so the child can enjoy the same standard of living as he/she did while living in a home with both parents (2 incomes).
>>>>>
>>>>>I don't know of any cases of alimony. I don't think anyone gets it here anymore unless they didn't work the entire time they were married and are mentally or physically incapable of employment. Even then, it normally doesn't last longer than 6 months or a year at most. Every state has different laws though.
>>>>
>>>>Shows that I'm out of the legal app I was working on last summer :). I completely failed to remember that there's a distinction between "child support" and "alimony". Back home, the latter term covered both meanings.
>>>
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>>>One important difference between them is alimony is tax deductible to the party paying it and taxable income to the party receiving it. Child support is not.
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>>Here child support is deductible by the payor and considered income to the receiver.
>>We also can't deduct mortgage interest on the primary residence either.
>>
>>But then my kidney transplant cost me $12.00 total.
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>Kidney transplant? That's serious business. I hope all is well now.
>
>My dad has diabetes his kidneys are one of the big problem areas. He was just told by his doctor he will probably need to go on dialysis within two years. He is too old to have much chance of getting a transplant.

The transplant was in 1998, Mike, and life's been great ever since.

Dialysis isn't a whole lot of fun, but it does beat the alternative.
And here there are now home units that do it while you sleep, which has gotta be a great benefit over the regular way. I'm sure they have those there too, but couldn't hazard a guess at the cost.

I wish your Dad the best.