How Child Support Is Calculated in Pennsylvania

Who owes support

Parents are liable for the support of their children who are unemancipated and 18 years of age or younger, and may be liable for children who are 18 or older (23 Pa.C.S. § 4321). Support is set by a statewide guideline that places primary emphasis on the parties’ net incomes and earning capacities (§ 4322(a)).

In general, the parent with primary custody is the obligee, the one who receives support. When custody is shared equally, the parent with the higher income is the obligor. The court enters an appropriate order based on the evidence without regard to which party started the action (Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.3(b)).

Step 1: monthly net income

Monthly gross income is ordinarily based on at least a six-month average and includes income from any source, such as wages, bonuses, commissions, business income, rents, pensions, Social Security disability and retirement benefits, workers’ compensation, and unemployment compensation (Rule 1910.16-2(a)). Public assistance and Supplemental Security Income are not counted (Rule 1910.16-2(b)(1)).

Only these items are deducted to reach monthly net income, unless the rules provide otherwise: federal, state, and local income taxes; unemployment compensation taxes and Local Services Taxes; F.I.C.A. payments and non-voluntary retirement payments; mandatory union dues; and alimony paid to the other party (Rule 1910.16-2(c)(1)).

Earning capacity

If a party fails to obtain or maintain appropriate employment, the court imputes income equal to that party’s earning capacity (Rule 1910.16-2(d)(4)). It may not impute more than the party could earn from one full-time position, and it must state its reasons. The factors include child care responsibilities, assets, residence, work and earnings history, job skills, education, literacy, age, health, criminal record and other barriers to employment, record of seeking work, the local job market, and local prevailing earnings.

For an existing order, the court does not lower income for a voluntary decrease, such as quitting or taking a lower paying job, but does adjust for a substantial, continuing, involuntary decrease, such as illness, layoff, or job elimination (Rule 1910.16-2(d)(1) and (2)).

Step 2: the schedule and each parent's share

1. Add both parents’ monthly net incomes.
2. Find the basic child support obligation for that combined income and the number of children in the schedule in Rule 1910.16-3.
3. Multiply it by the obligor’s percentage of the combined income. That is the obligor’s preliminary basic child support (Rule 1910.16-4(a)).

• Low incomes. The Self-Support Reserve, the minimum monthly net income reserved to the obligor for basic needs, is $1,255 per month. In a child support only case, if the obligor’s income and the number of children fall in the shaded area of the schedule, the court uses the lesser of two calculations set out in Rule 1910.16-2(e)(1)(ii).
• High incomes. If the parties’ combined monthly net income exceeds $30,000, support is calculated under Rule 1910.16-3.1 instead (Rule 1910.16-2(e)(2)).

Step 3: overnights

If a child spends 40% or more of the annual overnights with the obligor, there is a rebuttable presumption that the obligor is entitled to a reduction in basic child support, calculated with the formula in Rule 1910.16-4 (Rule 1910.16-4(c)(1)). When overnights are equally shared, the court shall not require the party with the lower income to pay basic child support to the party with the higher income, though that party can still be ordered to contribute to additional expenses (Rule 1910.16-4(c)(2)).

Step 4: additional expenses

Some costs are divided between the parents on top of basic support (Rule 1910.16-6):

• Reasonable child care paid by the parties, if necessary to maintain employment or appropriate education in pursuit of income.
• Health insurance premiums for the parties or child to whom a duty of support is owed.
• Reasonable unreimbursed medical expenses over $250 per person per year, including dental, optical, and psychological services. Documentation must reach the other party promptly, and no later than March 31 of the following year.
• Private school tuition or summer camp, if the court finds it reasonable, and other expenses related to the child’s educational, extracurricular, or developmental activities that are reasonable under the parties’ circumstances.

When the court can depart from the guideline

The guideline amount is a rebuttable presumption. It is rebutted if the court concludes, in a written finding or on the record, that the guideline amount is unjust or inappropriate (Rule 1910.16-1(d); 23 Pa.C.S. § 4322(b)). The deviation factors include unusual needs and unusual fixed obligations, a party’s other support obligations, other household income, the child’s age, relative assets and liabilities, uninsured medical expenses, the standard of living, and the child’s best interest (Rule 1910.16-5(b)). If it deviates, the court must state the guideline amount, the reasons, the findings, and the amount of the deviation (Rule 1910.16-5(a)(2)).

Start date and changes

A support order is effective from the date the complaint or modification petition was filed, unless the order specifies otherwise (Rule 1910.17(a)). A petition to modify can be filed at any time and is granted if the requesting party shows a substantial change in circumstances (23 Pa.C.S. § 4352(a)); the petition must state the material and substantial change it relies on (Rule 1910.19(a)). With narrow exceptions, a court cannot modify support for a period before a modification petition was pending; a modification may apply from the date notice of the petition was given (§ 4352(e)). File promptly when something changes.

A support order notifies both parties that they must report material changes, such as a change of income or employment or a new address, within seven days: to the domestic relations section in writing or in person, and to the other parties in writing (Rule 1910.17(b)).

Primary sources

Rules and forms change. Check the current version at the source before you file.

• 23 Pa.C.S. § 4321, liability for support
• 23 Pa.C.S. § 4322, support guideline
• 23 Pa.C.S. § 4352, continuing jurisdiction and modification
• Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.3, parties, obligor and obligee
• Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-1, support guidelines
• Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-2, monthly net income
• Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-3, basic child support schedule
• Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-4, formula and shared custody
• Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-5, deviation
• Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-6, additional expenses
• Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.17, effective date and change of circumstances
• Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.19, modification
• Pennsylvania Child Support Program (Department of Human Services)