What is a Parenting Time Adjustment?

Is it possible to lower your child support amount to take into account the child rearing expenses that occur during your parenting time with the child?

Yes, you can lower your child support amount by using the mandatory Parenting Time Adjustment.

On January 1, 2026, the new Parenting Time Adjustment replaced the old Parenting Time Deviation. The purpose of the new adjustment is to is to decrease, with mathematical precision, the Basic Child Support Obligation amount for the noncustodial parent to account for the child-rearing expenses incurred during that parent's court-ordered parenting time. Unlike discretionary deviations based on extraordinary educational expenses paid by one or both parents or based on life insurance purchased by one or both parents, the new Parenting Time Adjustment is considered a mandatory adjustment to child support and must be included whenever there is court ordered parenting time.

Once both parties have entered their incomes and other information into the Georgia Child Support Calculator, a presumptive amount of child support is created. Just like the previous Parenting Time Deviation, the new Parenting Time Adjustment takes into account the amount of time the parent spends with the child/children. It balances this amount with the presumptive amount of child support. If it is determined that the presumptive amount of child support is too high, given the amount of the time the parent spends with the child, the presumptive amount of child support may be adjusted to reflect this fact.

The Parenting Time Adjustment is a change made to the presumptive child support amount when that amount would either be excessive or inadequate due to the amount of time a particular parent spends with the child or children involved. This adjustment uses a mathematical formula to calculate the amount (if any) that child support should decrease.

Step 1 - Determine the amount of parenting time by calculating the number of court-ordered days each parent spends with the child over a two-year period to find the annual average.

Step 2 - Take the number of court-ordered days each parent spends with the child from Step 1 and raise both numbers to the power of 2.5.

Step 3 - Multiply the noncustodial parent's days from step 2 by the dollar amount of the custodial parent's share of the Basic Child Support Obligation, and vice versa.

Step 4 - Subtract the noncustodial parent's number from Step 3 from the custodial parent's number from Step 3. Divide that number by the sum of the two results from step 2.

Step 5 - Add number from Step 4 to the noncustodial parent's basic child support obligation to determine the final amount.

While this calculation may be difficult to conceptualize at first, take a look at an example below to help clarify how it works.