How Child Support Is Calculated in North Carolina

The legal standard

Support must meet the reasonable needs of the child for health, education, and maintenance, having due regard to the estates, earnings, conditions, and accustomed standard of living of the child and the parties, the child care and homemaker contributions of each party, and other facts of the case (G.S. 50-13.4(c)). The court determines the amount by applying the presumptive guidelines. Upon request of any party, the court hears evidence on the child’s needs and each parent’s ability to pay, and it may vary from the guidelines if it finds by the greater weight of the evidence that they would not meet or would exceed the child’s reasonable needs or would be otherwise unjust or inappropriate. If it varies, it must make findings explaining why and how it set the amount.

Income

• Gross income from any source. The guidelines use actual gross income, including wages, self-employment and business income, rental income, retirement, Social Security, unemployment, disability, gifts, prizes, and alimony from someone other than the other parent. Means-tested public assistance such as TANF, SSI, and food and nutrition benefits is excluded, as is child support received for other children.
• Self-employment. Income is gross receipts minus ordinary and necessary business expenses, which do not include accelerated depreciation or other expenses the court finds inappropriate.
• Potential income. If the court finds a parent’s voluntary unemployment or underemployment results from bad faith or deliberate suppression of income to avoid or minimize support, it may use the parent’s potential income instead. It may not impute income to a parent who is physically or mentally incapacitated, and incarceration may not be treated as voluntary unemployment.
• Deductions. Child support a parent actually pays under an existing order or agreement for other children is deducted, as is a responsibility amount for other natural or adopted children living with the parent. Payments on arrearages and alimony are not deducted.

The three worksheets

A parent’s presumptive obligation must be computed on one of three statewide worksheets, using both parents’ incomes:

• AOC-CV-627, Worksheet A, Child Support Obligation, Primary Custody (Rev. 1/23), when one parent or a third party has primary physical custody of all the children, meaning the child lives there 243 nights or more during the year.
• AOC-CV-628, Worksheet B, Child Support Obligation, Joint or Shared Physical Custody (Rev. 1/23), when the parents share custody, meaning the child lives with each parent at least 123 nights a year and each parent assumes financial responsibility for the child’s expenses during that time. The combined basic obligation is multiplied by 1.5 and allocated by income and by time with the other parent.
• AOC-CV-629, Worksheet C, Child Support Obligation, Split Custody (Rev. 1/23), when each parent has primary custody of at least one of the children.

Custody for these purposes is counted in nights and is determined without regard to who has legal custody.

Costs added to the basic obligation

• Child care. Reasonable child care costs paid because of a parent’s employment or job search are added and prorated by income.
• Health insurance. The premium attributable to the children is added and prorated. The court must order health insurance when it is available at a reasonable cost, which means no more than 5% of the parent’s gross income (G.S. 50-13.11(a1)).
• Uninsured health costs. The basic obligation includes $250 per child per year. The court may order uninsured costs above that amount paid by either parent or both, in the proportion it deems appropriate.
• Extraordinary expenses, such as special educational needs or transportation between homes, may be added if the court finds them reasonable, necessary, and in the child’s best interest.

Low and high incomes

The guidelines build in a self-support reserve based on the 2022 federal poverty level for one person. For an obligor with adjusted gross income under $1,150 a month, they require a minimum order of $50 per month, absent a deviation. When combined adjusted gross income is more than $40,000 a month, the schedule does not set the amount and the court sets support case by case under G.S. 50-13.4(c).

Payment and how long support lasts

• Support is ordered on a monthly basis, due on the first day of each month (G.S. 50-13.4(c)). For orders initially entered on or after January 1, 1994, immediate income withholding applies (G.S. 50-13.4(d1)).
• Support ends when the child turns 18 or is otherwise emancipated. If the child is still in primary or secondary school at 18, it continues until the child graduates, stops attending regularly, fails to make satisfactory academic progress, or turns 20, whichever comes first, unless the court orders otherwise (G.S. 50-13.4(c)).
• Each past due payment is vested when it accrues and generally cannot be reduced afterward, so file a motion to modify promptly if your circumstances change (G.S. 50-13.10).

Changing support

A support order may be modified upon motion and a showing of changed circumstances (G.S. 50-13.7(a)). Under the guidelines, if the existing order was entered at least three years before the motion was filed, a difference of 15% or more between the existing amount and the amount under the guidelines based on current incomes is presumed to be a substantial change of circumstances. The statewide form is the AOC-CV-600, Motion and Notice of Hearing for Modification of Child Support Order (Rev. 1/22).

Getting help from the child support agency

The Judicial Branch explains that you can arrange support through the county child support enforcement agency, which can also represent the party seeking support, or file a civil complaint in district court. You do not need a custody order before asking for support for a child who lives with you.

Primary sources

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

• North Carolina Child Support Guidelines, AOC-A-162
• G.S. 50-13.4, action for support of minor child
• G.S. 50-13.7, modification of order
• G.S. 50-13.10, past due child support vested
• G.S. 50-13.11, medical support and health insurance
• AOC-CV-627, Worksheet A (primary custody)
• AOC-CV-628, Worksheet B (joint or shared physical custody)
• AOC-CV-629, Worksheet C (split custody)
• AOC-CV-600, Motion and Notice of Hearing for Modification of Child Support Order
• North Carolina Judicial Branch, Child Support help topic
• NC Department of Health and Human Services, Child Support Enforcement