Prospective child support is the support ordered to be paid for the support of the child in the future. However, the court of appeals has held that all orders for prospective support must be effective as of the date the complaint seeking support was filed unless the trial court makes specific finding of fact to support ‘deviating’ from the general rule. Ex. rel. Miller v. Hinton, 147 NC App 700 (2001). This means that prospective support generally includes amounts ordered for a period of time before the support order is entered, but only that time period between the date of the filing of the complaint and the time of the entry of the child support order. And of course, GS 50-13.4 provides that the amount of prospective support generally is determined by application of the child support guidelines.
But what about orders for support for a period of time before a complaint or motion for support is filed?