How Child Support Is Calculated in Georgia

The guidelines are a rebuttable presumption

The child support guidelines in O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15 are a minimum basis for setting support and apply as a rebuttable presumption in all legal proceedings involving a parent’s child support responsibility, whenever the court enters a temporary or permanent support order, contested or not (§ 19-6-15(c)(1)). The court still makes the final decision on the evidence, taking into account the noncustodial parent’s earnings, income and other evidence of ability to pay, and the basic subsistence needs of the parents and the child (§ 19-6-15(d)).

Parents can agree on an amount different from the guideline amount, and the court can make that agreement its order after reviewing its adequacy. But if the agreement does not comply with the statute and does not contain the findings of fact needed to support a deviation, the court shall reject it (§ 19-6-15(c)(6)).

Who is the custodial parent

The worksheet labels one parent custodial and the other noncustodial. The custodial parent is the parent with whom the child resides more than 50 percent of the time. If the child resides equally with both parents, the custodial parent is the one who earns less gross income, and if neither can be identified as earning less, the court decides (§ 19-6-15(a)(9)). The noncustodial parent is defined the same way in reverse (§ 19-6-15(a)(14)). The parent who actually pays is usually, but not always, the noncustodial parent: if the noncustodial parent’s obligation comes out as a negative number, the custodial parent pays its positive equivalent (§ 19-6-15(a)(17.2) and (b)(9)).

The steps of the calculation

Section 19-6-15(b) sets out the order of the calculation:

1. Find each parent’s monthly gross income and enter it on Child Support Schedule A, Gross Income.
2. Adjust each parent’s gross income on Schedule B, Adjusted Income, by deducting one-half of self-employment taxes, preexisting orders for other children, and a theoretical child support order for other qualified children if the court allows it.
3. Add the two adjusted incomes together and find the basic child support obligation in the table in § 19-6-15(o) for that combined income and the number of children. The table amount is rebuttably presumed appropriate.
4. Divide the basic obligation between the parents by each parent’s percentage of the combined adjusted income.
5. Apply the parenting time adjustment to the noncustodial parent’s share on Schedule C, Parenting Time Adjustment.
6. Add health insurance premiums for the child and work related child care costs on Schedule D, Additional Expenses. This gives the presumptive amount of child support.
7. Apply any deviations, with the required findings, on Schedule E, Deviations.
8. Make a low-income adjustment if one applies. The statute notes that the Georgia Child Support Calculator performs this automatically.
9. Credit Social Security Title II or Veterans Affairs disability benefits the child receives because of the noncustodial parent’s disability, and allocate future uninsured healthcare expenses between the parents, usually pro rata.

Gross income

Gross income includes all income from any source, earned or unearned, before taxes (§ 19-6-15(f)(1)(A)). The statute lists, among other things, salaries; commissions, fees and tips; self-employment income; bonuses; overtime; severance pay; recurring pension and retirement income; interest, dividends, trust income, annuities and capital gains; Social Security disability or retirement benefits under Title II; Veterans’ disability benefits; workers’ compensation; unemployment benefits; personal injury judgments and other civil awards; cash gifts; prizes and lottery winnings; alimony from people who are not parties to the case; assets used to support the family; and other income.

• Self-employment. Gross receipts minus ordinary and reasonable expenses needed to produce the income. Excessive promotional, travel, vehicle or personal living expenses, depreciation on equipment, home office costs, and accelerated depreciation are not deducted, and the figure will generally differ from business income for tax purposes (§ 19-6-15(f)(1)(B)).
• Fringe benefits such as a company car or housing count if they significantly reduce personal living expenses, but standard employee benefits like employer paid health premiums or retirement contributions do not (§ 19-6-15(f)(1)(C)).
• Variable income such as commissions, bonuses and overtime is averaged over a reasonable period (§ 19-6-15(f)(1)(D)).

Excluded from gross income are child support received for a child of another relationship; means-tested public assistance such as TANF, food stamps, PeachCare for Kids and Supplemental Security Income; certain foster care and adoption assistance payments; and a nonparent custodian’s income (§ 19-6-15(f)(2)).

When income is imputed

If a parent fails to produce reliable evidence of income, such as tax returns or check stubs, and the court has no other reliable evidence of income or income potential, gross income may be imputed. The court considers the parent’s specific circumstances, including assets, employment and earnings history, job skills, education, literacy, age, health, criminal record and other employment barriers, record of seeking work, and the local job market. For an incarcerated parent, the court shall not assume an earning capacity based on pre-incarceration wages, but income may be imputed based on the actual income and assets available to that parent (§ 19-6-15(f)(4)(A)).

If the court finds a parent is willfully or voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, support is calculated on earning capacity. That finding is not limited to choices made to avoid support; it can rest on any intentional choice that affects income. The court looks at factors including past and present employment, education and training, whether time out for education is reasonable, ownership of valuable assets that seem inconsistent with the income claimed, health, and a parent’s role as caretaker of a child, or of a disabled or seriously ill child, adult child or other relative, where that role eliminates or substantially reduces the parent’s ability to work outside the home. The finding cannot be made when incarceration prevents employment, or when a parent is activated from the National Guard or another armed forces unit or enlists or is drafted for full-time military service (§ 19-6-15(f)(4)(D)).

The basic child support obligation table

The table in § 19-6-15(o) gives a monthly amount for combined adjusted gross incomes from $800 to $40,000 per month, for one to six children. If the combined income falls between two lines, the amount for the closest bracket is used (§ 19-6-15(b)(4)). Parents whose combined adjusted gross income exceeds $40,000 per month are high-income parents: the court sets the basic obligation at the highest table amount and may consider an upward deviation (§ 19-6-15(i)(2)(A)).

The parenting time adjustment

The table amounts assume an intact family, so they include nothing for parenting time. The parenting time adjustment reduces the noncustodial parent’s share of the basic obligation to account for expenses that parent has during court ordered parenting time. It can reduce that share to zero or, in some cases where the custodial parent earns more, raise the custodial parent’s share above the noncustodial parent’s (§ 19-6-15(g)(1)).

• Only court ordered time counts. If there is no court order awarding parenting time, support is calculated without this adjustment (§ 19-6-15(g)(1)(C)).
• Time is counted in days. Days are the overnights a parent spends with the child or, where a parent has shorter but regular and recurring daytime periods, the total hours divided by 24, measured over a two-year period for an annual average (§ 19-6-15(a)(17.1)).
• The formula. Each parent’s days are raised to the power of 2.5, and those figures are used to weight the parents’ shares of the basic obligation. The steps are written out in § 19-6-15(g)(2)(B), and the result is entered on Schedule C. With several children with different amounts of time, the average number of court ordered days is used (§ 19-6-15(g)(2)(A)).

The parenting time adjustment and the low-income adjustment took effect on January 1, 2026, under the applicability provisions of the 2024 act (Ga. L. 2024, p. 968, SB 454) noted with § 19-6-15, replacing the parenting time deviation and low income deviation used before then. The Georgia Child Support Commission’s note on the calculator changes says the calculator asks for the noncustodial parent’s parenting days, assigns the rest of the 365 days to the custodial parent, and requires the noncustodial parent to have 182.5 days or less.

Health insurance, child care, and uninsured expenses

• Work related child care needed for a parent’s employment, education or vocational training is averaged to a monthly amount and prorated between the parents. Child care a parent provides personally, or care provided free, is not added, and paid care needs proof of actual cost (§ 19-6-15(h)(1)).
• Health insurance premiums for the child are added and prorated. Only the part of a family premium attributable to the child counts, and employer paid amounts not deducted from wages are excluded (§ 19-6-15(h)(2)).
• Future uninsured healthcare expenses are not part of the monthly calculation. The final order provides for them, divided pro rata unless the court orders otherwise (§ 19-6-15(h)(3)).

Deviations

The court or jury may deviate from the presumptive amount, considering the child’s best interest (§ 19-6-15(i)(1)(A)). A deviation requires written findings stating the reasons, the amount that would have been ordered without it, how the presumptive amount would be unjust or inappropriate, and how the deviation serves the child’s best interest (§ 19-6-15(i)(1)(B)). No deviation may seriously impair the custodial parent’s ability to maintain minimally adequate housing, food and clothing for the child (§ 19-6-15(i)(1)(C)).

The specific deviations include high income, vision or dental insurance, life insurance, the child and dependent care tax credit, substantial parenting time travel expenses, alimony actually paid, a mortgage or home provided by the noncustodial parent, permanency or foster care plans, and extraordinary expenses such as private or special needs schooling, special child-rearing expenses like camp, lessons and school activities above 7 percent of the basic obligation, and extraordinary medical expenses (§ 19-6-15(i)(2)). Other nonspecific deviations may be made when the court finds them in the child’s best interest (§ 19-6-15(i)(3)).

The low-income adjustment

When a parent’s monthly adjusted gross income, for the number of children involved, is below the highest income in the low-income adjustment table in § 19-6-15(p), that parent’s obligation is the lesser of the presumptive amount (as changed by any deviations) and the amount from the low-income table. The calculator makes the comparison automatically (§ 19-6-15(b)(8) and (i.1)). The Commission describes the adjustment as a failsafe that keeps an obligation from exceeding 19, 24, 25, 26, 27 or 28 percent of a parent’s adjusted gross income for one to six children.

Worksheets and the online calculator

The worksheet and schedules are promulgated by the Georgia Child Support Commission, and the worksheets and any schedules used are attached to the final order, except orders under the Family Violence Act (§ 19-6-15(m)). In all cases the parties submit their worksheets and schedules to the court (§ 19-6-15(c)(4)). The Commission offers the Georgia Child Support Calculator online, and you create an account to build a worksheet.

Unless an exception applies, every order for child support also needs a separate income withholding order. The exceptions are support enforced by the Georgia Department of Human Services, a court finding of good cause, or a written agreement of both parties for another arrangement (Uniform Superior Court Rule 24.11).

How long support lasts

The duty to support a minor child continues until the child reaches the age of majority, dies, marries or becomes emancipated, whichever comes first (§ 19-6-15(e)). The age of majority in Georgia is 18 (O.C.G.A. § 39-1-1(a)). In temporary, final or modified orders in divorce, separate maintenance, legitimacy or paternity cases entered on or after July 1, 1992, the court may, in its discretion, order support for a child who has not married or become emancipated, is enrolled in and attending secondary school, and reached majority before finishing, but not after the child turns 20 (§ 19-6-15(e)).

Changing a support order

• The standard. A parent may petition to modify only on a substantial change in either parent’s income and financial status or in the child’s needs (§ 19-6-15(k)(1)).
• The two-year limit. A parent may not file another petition to modify within two years of the final order on that same parent’s previous petition to modify, unless the noncustodial parent has not exercised the court ordered parenting time, has exercised more parenting time than ordered, or the request is based on an involuntary loss of income (§ 19-6-15(k)(2)).
• Involuntary loss of income. If a parent loses 25 percent or more of income through involuntary termination, an extended involuntary loss of hours, an organized strike, a loss of health, incarceration or similar adversity, the portion of support attributable to the lost income does not accrue from the date the petition for modification is served on the other parent. Leaving a job without good cause is not an involuntary termination (§ 19-6-15(j)(1)).
• Procedure. A modification petition follows the rules for divorce proceedings, the court may allow a temporary modification on motion, and the written order must state the basis for any change (§ 19-6-15(k)(4)).

Primary sources

Laws, rules and forms change. Check the current version at the source before you file.

• O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15, child support guidelines
• O.C.G.A. § 39-1-1, age of majority
• Uniform Superior Court Rule 24.11, income withholding orders
• Georgia Child Support Commission
• Georgia Child Support Commission, changes to the calculator effective January 1, 2026
• Georgia Child Support Calculator