How is child support calculated in Georgia?

Income

Gross income includes all income from any source, before taxes, such as salaries, commissions, self-employment income, bonuses, overtime, and many benefits (§ 19-6-15(f)(1)). Means-tested public assistance, such as TANF, food stamps, and Supplemental Security Income, is excluded (§ 19-6-15(f)(2)). Adjusted income deducts one-half of self-employment taxes, preexisting support orders actually being paid, and, if the court allows it, a theoretical order for other qualified children (§ 19-6-15(a)(2) and (b)(2)).

If a parent fails to produce reliable evidence of income and the court has no other reliable evidence of the parent’s income or income potential, income may be imputed, taking into account the parent’s specific circumstances (§ 19-6-15(f)(4)(A)).

The table and parenting time

The basic child support obligation table in § 19-6-15(o) runs from $800 to $40,000 of combined monthly adjusted gross income. Since January 1, 2026, a parenting time adjustment reduces the noncustodial parent’s share to account for court-ordered parenting time, using a formula in § 19-6-15(g) that is entered on Schedule C of the worksheet. It applies only to court-ordered parenting time.

Additional expenses and deviations

The cost of the child’s health insurance premium and work related child care costs are prorated between the parents and added to the basic obligation (§ 19-6-15(h)). The court or jury may deviate from the presumptive amount for reasons such as high income, travel expenses, alimony, or extraordinary expenses, but only with the written findings § 19-6-15(i) requires. Parents whose combined adjusted gross income exceeds $40,000 a month are high-income parents for the deviation in § 19-6-15(i)(2)(A).

A low-income adjustment, also effective January 1, 2026, limits a parent’s obligation to the lesser of the presumptive amount or the amount from the low-income adjustment table, when that parent’s adjusted income is below the table’s highest figure (§ 19-6-15(i.1)). The Georgia Child Support Commission’s online calculator performs this comparison automatically.