Rule 4-201 Introduction.

Both parents are responsible for supporting their children financially, no matter which parent the child lives with most of the time. This rule says that support amounts are based on how much money each parent brings home, not just on one parent paying and the other not.

In practice, this means the court looks at both parents' net income (what they take home after taxes and other deductions) to figure out a fair share for each person to pay. A parent who earns more will typically be expected to contribute more, while a parent who earns less will contribute a smaller share. The goal is to split the financial responsibility fairly based on what each parent can actually afford, rather than splitting costs equally regardless of income.