How Judges Decide the Amount of Child Support

Using State Guidelines

Every state has a formula for calculating child support, and judges use those formulas to determine how much child support will be paid in each case. The formulas themselves can be quite complicated, but it’s pretty easy to estimate what your child support might be by using free online calculators:

State Child Support Guideline Calculators

Alabama               Alaska                   Arizona                 Arkansas
California              Colorado              Connecticut         Delaware
D.C.                       Florida                   Georgia                 Hawaii
Idaho                     Illinois                    Indiana                  Iowa
Kansas                  Kentucky               Louisiana             Maine
Maryland               Massachusetts    Michigan               Minnesota
Mississippi            Missouri               Montana                Nebraska
Nevada                 New Hampshire  New Jersey           New Mexico
New York              North Carolina    North Dakota        Ohio
Oklahoma             Oregon                 Pennsylvania        Rhode Island
South Carolina    South Dakota      Tennessee            Texas
Utah                       Vermont                Virginia                  Washington
West Virginia        Wisconsin            Wyoming              

The biggest factor in calculating child support is how much the parents earn. Some states consider both parents’ income, but others consider only the income of the noncustodial parent. In most states, the percentage of time that each parent spends with the children is another important factor.

Setting Support Higher or Lower Than the Guidelines

If you think that the guidelines shouldn’t apply for some reason but your spouse doesn’t agree with you, you’ll have to tell it to the judge. Judges are allowed to deviate from the guidelines if there are good reasons.

For example, if you’re the paying parent, you might argue that because you are paying for your kids’ private school and all of their uninsured medical expenses, the support payment should be less than the guideline amount. (But even if you’re providing some extras, the base amount of support has to be enough for the necessities.) Or if you have custody of a disabled child who requires extra care and has unusual medical expenses, you might think the support paid to you should be higher than the guideline amount.

Be prepared to show the judge documentation of your position. A budget showing all of your expenses relating to the kids will impress the judge with your attention to their needs and the seriousness of your position.