Tools to Estimate Income and Support Amounts Below are tools that you may find helpful when trying to estimate income and child support amounts. Each child support order is unique and only the court can order child support or modify a current child support order. Shared Placement Cases The shared placement calculation is the primary method for calculating a child support amount. This calculation should be used when both parents have court-ordered periods of placement of at least 25% or 92 days a year. The court will order each parent to provide the child's basic support costs in proportion to the time that parent cares for the child. The court must also assign responsibility for payment of the child's variable costs in proportion to each parent's share of placement. Incomes of both parents are used to set the amount of support. The parent's share of placement determines that parent's share of support. Worksheet to estimate support Calculator to estimate support Example: Parents have two children Parent A: Monthly gross income is $2,000. Cares for both children 219 days a year (60% of the time) Parent B: Monthly gross income is $3,000. Cares for both children 146 days a year (40% of the time) (This chart does not include payments for the children's variable costs.) Parent A Parent B Monthly Income for Child Support $2,000 $3,000 Multiply the monthly income by 25% x 25% #1 $500 $750 For each parent, multiply the amount in line #1 by 150% x 150% #2 $750 $1,125 Multiply line #2 by the percent of time spent with the other parent x 40% x 60% #3 $300 $675 Subtract the lower amount from the higher amount in line #3. In this example, Parent B will pay $375/month $675 - 300 = $375 Child Support Designated Percentage Each of the percentages below are applied to the parent's income for child support: 17% of income for 1 child 25% of income for 2 children 29% of income for 3 children 31% of income for 4 children 34% of income for 5 or more children Percent Conversion Table Guidelines for Special Circumstances Serial Family Cases If a parent supports more than one family, the court may adjust the parent's income for later child support amounts. Order of legal obligation The order of legal obligation is based on when the support order began. The legal obligation may include a parent's current, intact family. 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 is established or the child is adopted. For a child born outside of marriage, the duty to support begins at the child's birth. Worksheet to estimate support Calculator to estimate support Example A parent has a support order for two older children and now has a new order for one younger child Monthly Income for Child Support $2,500 Support order for the 2 older children - $625 Adjusted income for younger child = $1,875 Percentage standard for 1 child x 17% Estimated support amount for 1 younger child $318.75 Split Placement Cases Split placement is for families who have two or more children, and each parent has primary placement of one or more but not all the children. If the court orders the placement of one or more children with each parent, the court may use the split-placement guidelines. The court may prorate the Child Support Standard for each child in split-placement based on the total number of children. Prorated percentages: Each of the percentages below are applied to the parent's income for child support Cases with 2 children, 12.5%> of income for each child Cases with 3 children, 9.67% of income for each child Cases with 4 children, 7.75% of income for each child Cases with 5 children, 6.8% of income for each child Worksheet to estimate support Calculator to estimate support Example: Parents have three children Parent A - Monthly income of $3,000 and has placement of 2 children Parent B - Monthly income of $2,800 and has placement of 1 child Parent A Parent B Monthly income for child support $3,000 $2,800 Multiply Multiply monthly income by prorated percentage, based on the number of children with other parent x 9.67% x 19.34% The parent with the highest dollar amount in this line will be the parent who pays support = $290 = $542 Subtract the lower amount from the higher amount. In this example Parent B will pay $252 $542 - $290 = $252 High Income Payer Cases If the paying parent's income for child support is more than $84,000/year, the court may use the high-income payer guidelines. The Child Support Standard will determine support for the first $84,000 of income A second set of guidelines are applied to the income between $84,000 and $150,000/year A third set of guidelines are applied to income of more than $150,000/year Paying Parent's Monthly Income 1 child 2 children 3 children 4 children 5 children First $7,000 of income 17% 25% 29% 31% 34% Income between $7,000 and $12,500 14% 20% 23% 25% 27% Income above $12,500 10% 15% 17% 19% 20% Worksheet to estimate support Calculator to estimate support Example A parent has an income of $14,000/month and supports two children Income portions/month Income amount Percent Support for each portion of income First $7,000 $7,000 x 25% = $1,750 Portion between $7,000 and $12,500 $5,500 x 20% = + $1,100 Portion greater than $12,500 $1,500 x 15% = + $225 Estimated support total = $3,075/month Low Income Cases If the paying parent's income for child support is less than $1,485/month the court may use the low-income payer guidelines. Support amounts vary with parent's monthly income and number of children. Low-income payer guidelines are based on income between 75% and 150% of the federal poverty level. The federal government updates the poverty level each spring. The information in the example below will change yearly. Calculator to estimate support Low-Income Payer Table Combination of Split Placement and Shared Placement Cases Worksheet to estimate support Calculator to estimate support For more information, please see Administrative Rule DCF 150, Appendix B
