Court orders

Child support guidelines

Serial family parents

If a parent supports more than one family, the court may adjust the parent’s income for later child support orders.

Order of the legal obligation

The order of the legal obligation (duty to support) is based on when the support obligation began. The legal obligation may include a parent’s current, intact family (the family the parent lives with and supports). A support obligation begins on the date when:

• the child is born if the child was conceived or born during the parent’s marriage
• the child is adopted into an intact family
• legal fatherhood (paternity) is established or the child is adopted if the child was born outside of marriage - for the mother of a child born outside of marriage, the obligation (duty) to support begins at the child’s birth

Example

A parent has a support order for two older children and now has a new order for one younger child.

Monthly income	$2,500
Support order for the 2 older children	- $625
Adjusted income for younger child	= $1,875
Percentage Standard for the 1 child	x 17%
Estimated support amount for the 1 younger child	$318.75

Tools to estimate support

Worksheets & calculators

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