Additional Child Support Resources
- In Depth - How is Child Support Calculated?
- What is a Child Support Worksheet?
- Step by Step - How do I use a Child Support Worksheet?
- Can you Raise or Lower the Amount of Child Support?
- When do Child Support Payments Stop?
How do I calculate Child Support?
You might be wondering "how is child support calculated in Georgia?" Child support in Georgia is calculated using the income shares model, which was adopted by the Georgia legislature in 2007. Prior to January 1, 2007, Georgia calculated child support based on the income of the non-custodial parent solely. Now that Georgia follows the income shares model, child support is calculated by taking into account each parent's income to ultimately determine how much child support the noncustodial parent will be ordered to pay.
The first step in calculating child support in Georgia is to determine each parent's presumptive child support obligation. In doing so, the gross income of each parent must be determined. For the purposes of child support calculation, gross income includes salary, wages, commissions, self-employment income, bonuses, overtime pay, severance pay, pension and retirement income, interest income, dividend income, trust income, capital gains, Social Security disability payments, worker's compensation benefits, unemployment benefits, judgments from personal injury claims or other civil cases, gifts, prizes, and any other sources of income.
Once each parent's gross income is determined, both parent's monthly income is added together to determine the combined monthly income earned by both parents. Georgia's basic obligation table must then be consulted to determine the combined basic support obligation. The basic obligation table is a chart that corresponds basic child support obligations with combined monthly incomes. After consulting the basic obligation table and determine the combined basic child support obligation, that amount must be divided proportionally between the parents, depending on the percentage of each parent's contribution to the combined income amount. For example:
Father makes $2,500 per month. Mother earns $7,500 per month. Father is the custodial parent. The couple's combined monthly income is $10,000. According to the basic obligation table, the couple's combined monthly child support obligation is $1,259.00 for one child. Because Mother makes 75% of the combined gross income and she is the non-custodial parent, she is obligated to pay to Father 75% of the combined child support obligation or $944.25.
After the basic child support obligation is determined for each parent, there are adjustments and deviations that may be made to the presumptive child support amount to account for certain special situations or other payments a parent is making on behalf of the minor child or children who will benefit from the child support obligation. For the convenience of both practitioners and litigants, the Georgia Child Support Commission offers a free online child support calculator, commonly referred to as Georgia's Child Support Worksheet or Georgia Child Support Calculator, which will automatically calculate the non-custodial parent's child support obligation once each parent's gross income is imputed. This online calculator may be found at the Georgia Child Support Commission's website.
Georgia Child Support Calculator
It is important to only use the Georgia child support calculator when determining the presumptive child support amount or calculating the final child support amount in a Georgia divorce or family law matter. In fact, the Georgia Child Support Commission has a warning on its website concerning the use of unauthorized child support calculators commonly available on the internet.
"It has come to our attention that several websites are hosting "calculators" to estimate Georgia child support. Please be cautious if using these calculators. In a simple test, one calculator's monthly support was off by $100, and another was off by $990!We do wish to thank those whose web sites provide accurate information about Georgia child support and provide a link to the official calculators."
- The Staff of the Georgia Child Support Commission