Details emerge about Holmes-Cruise child support arrangement

Some of our Maryland readers may have read a previous post detailing the Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes divorce. The news coverage of the couple’s split was extensive but without many details. The divorce process was over for the star couple almost as soon as it began, with the parties quickly agreeing to terms. Since then, only a few details have slipped out, and recent reports came across the terms of the couple’s child support agreement.

According to the reports, Holmes will receive approximately $33,000 per month in child support for the couple’s 6-year-old daughter, Suri. And, other than custody of their daughter, Holmes will reportedly not receive much else. Why is that? Well, it’s because the couple had a pre-nuptial agreement.

Determining the correct amount of child support that should be ordered can be one of the most difficult parts of a divorce. The financial needs a newly-single parent will have in raising a child can be part guesswork, part budget. Parties who cannot agree on the proper amount will have to rely on the child support guidelines the state of Maryland has laid out in order to come to a determination.

Holmes and Cruise avoided many of the problems that can come up in a child support dispute, but many other couples in the same type of situation aren’t so lucky. When it comes to child support, if both parties remember that the most important thing is the best interests of the child, then a reasonable agreement could be within reach.

Source: Fox News, “Katie Holmes to receive $400G annually in divorce settlement from Tom Cruise, reports say,” Aug. 24, 2012