If I have joint custody, do I still have to pay child support?

The short answer is, yes. Although you may have joint custody of your child, child support is an obligation that one parent will inevitably have to pay, specifically so, if one parent makes a higher income than the other or if the child is one with one parent more than with the other. This is because North Carolina’s child support guidelines calculate each parent’s income as well as the time spent with each parent to determine whether child support is applicable.