How Child Support is Calculated

Child Support Calculator

Child support payments in Georgia are calculated using a child support worksheet. The total income for each parent produces a base rate of child support depending on how many children the parties have. The total base rate of child support becomes the adjusted child rate after any work-related child care and or health insurance costs are backed out. Each party shall pay toward the adjusted child support obligation based upon the percentages of their income. For example, if one party earns $50,000 per year and the other party earns $100,000 per year the base child support is determined to be $1,466.00 per month. If the parent earning $100,000 has primary custody, they would receive $489.99 in child support. If the parent earning $50,000 has primary custody, they would receive $977.00 in child support. There are many factors that can change the base rate of child support which are discussed in more detail below. If the healthcare and work-related child care costs totaled $1,000.00 in the above example, each party would be responsible to pay those costs at their percentage of the total parent income. In that case the $100,000 earner would pay $667.00 and the $50,000 earner would pay $333.00. In some cases, the parties agree to split the these costs 50/50. Uncovered medical expenses such as co-pays and deductibles are generally split by percentage of income.

Because child support payments are driven by income percentages, a great deal of effort is placed upon determining a parent’s exact income. The question becomes how is the income determined for a party. This seems like a fairly straight forward issue but in some cases, it is very complex. Some parties have in-kind income such as car allowances or a company vehicle, expense accounts, cash payments and other issues that can count as income for child support purposes but do not show up on a pay stub or tax return. These issues must be examined to determine the proper child support calculation. Other deviation factors could cause child support numbers to increase or decrease. See the child support deviations section of this site for more information. Other issues that can create problems for determining the proper income to place in the worksheet are when a party sometimes get overtime pay or bonuses, but they are not guaranteed to occur. How do you state an income for a parent that might be temporarily unemployed or under employed? There are almost endless possible situations that may affect the figure listed as party’s income on the worksheet. Our attorneys will provide the legal advice you need to ensure that the child support calculations are done correctly and fairly.