Georgia child support calculator: estimate guideline support under the 2026 rules
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- Georgia child support starts from both parents’ monthly gross income, before taxes. After a few allowed deductions, the two adjusted incomes are added together and looked up on the basic child support obligation table in O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15(o).
- Each parent owes a share of that table amount in proportion to their share of the combined adjusted income. Work-related child care and the children’s health insurance premiums are added and split the same way.
- Since January 1, 2026, court-ordered parenting time reduces the noncustodial parent’s share through a parenting time adjustment, worked out with a formula that raises each parent’s days to the power of 2.5.
- Also since January 1, 2026, a low-income adjustment caps a parent’s obligation using a table in the statute. At the lowest incomes the cap is 19% of adjusted income for one child, rising to 28% for six.
- The guideline amount is a rebuttable presumption. A court or jury can deviate from it, up or down, with written findings, for reasons such as high income, travel costs, alimony or extraordinary expenses.
- Georgia child support calculator
- How is child support calculated in Georgia?
- What changed in Georgia child support in 2026?
- What income counts for Georgia child support?
- How does the basic child support obligation table work?
- How does parenting time change the amount?
- Are health insurance and child care added?
- How does the low-income adjustment work?
- When can a court order a different amount?
- Worked examples, line by line
- How close is this to the official Georgia calculator?
- How long does Georgia child support last, and can it change?
- What should you keep for a support case?
- What this guide does not cover
- Frequently asked questions
Georgia child support calculator
Enter both parents’ monthly gross income, the number of children, which parent is the noncustodial parent and that parent’s court-ordered days, and the calculator works through the lines of the Georgia child support worksheet. It follows the rules in force from January 1, 2026, including the new parenting time adjustment and low-income adjustment.
Use gross income, before taxes. If income is paid weekly or every two weeks, convert it to a monthly figure first: multiply weekly pay by 52, or pay every two weeks by 26, and divide by 12.
- Combined adjusted income
- $8,000.00
- Basic obligation (line 4)
- $1,723.00
- Parent A share of income
- 62.50%
- Parent B share of income
- 37.50%
- Parenting time adjustment (line 6)
- $138.60
- Low-income adjustment
- Does not apply
Nothing you type here is saved or sent anywhere. The numbers live in this page while it is open and disappear when you close it. This is an estimate of the guideline amount only, using O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15 as in force from January 1, 2026, with its basic child support obligation table and low-income adjustment table. Each worksheet line is rounded to the cent. The court sets the actual order.
How is child support calculated in Georgia?
Georgia adds both parents’ adjusted incomes together, finds one basic obligation for the children on a table, and splits it between the parents by income. Subsection (b) of O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15 sets the steps in order, and each step has its own schedule on the worksheet:
- Work out each parent’s monthly gross income (Schedule A).
- Deduct half of any self-employment tax, earlier support orders being paid and, if the court allows it, a theoretical order for other children living in the home (Schedule B).
- Add the two adjusted incomes together and find the basic child support obligation on the table for that combined income and number of children.
- Divide each parent’s adjusted income by the combined income to get each parent’s pro rata share of the obligation.
- Reduce the noncustodial parent’s share for court-ordered parenting time (Schedule C).
- Add the children’s health insurance premiums and work-related child care, split by the same shares (Schedule D).
- Apply any deviations the court finds (Schedule E), then the low-income adjustment if it applies.
If the noncustodial parent’s figure is positive at the end, that parent pays it. If it is negative, subsection (b)(9)(B) makes the custodial parent the payer of the positive equivalent. The statute’s definitions in subsection (a) make the custodial parent the one the child lives with more than 50% of the time. When the time is exactly equal, it is the parent with the lower gross income.
The result is presumed correct. Subsection (c)(1) calls the guidelines “a minimum basis” for setting support and applies them as a rebuttable presumption in every case involving a parent’s child support responsibility.
What changed in Georgia child support in 2026?
Two deviations became automatic adjustments on January 1, 2026. According to the Georgia Child Support Commission’s note on the calculator changes, the parenting time deviation was removed and replaced with a parenting time adjustment, and the low-income deviation was removed and replaced with a low-income adjustment.
| Change | Before 2026 | From January 1, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Parenting time | A deviation | An adjustment on the new Schedule C, line 6 of the worksheet |
| Low income | A deviation | An adjustment from a table, line 11 of the worksheet |
| How it is applied | Requested and found by the court | Worked out by the calculator from the entries |
The Commission’s page on the parenting time and low-income adjustments collects its guidance on both. In the official calculator, the user picks which parent is noncustodial and enters that parent’s days, and the remaining days go to the custodial parent. The days must add up to 365, and the noncustodial parent can have no more than 182.5. The calculator on this page follows the same rules.
An order entered before 2026 does not change by itself because the rules did. Changing an existing order needs a petition for modification, covered below.
What income counts for Georgia child support?
Georgia counts gross income from almost every source, before taxes. Subsection (f) of the statute includes “all income from any source,” earned or unearned, and lists salaries; commissions, fees and tips; income from self-employment; bonuses; overtime payments; severance pay; and a longer list of other items.
Three deductions turn gross income into adjusted income:
- Half of self-employment tax. A self-employed parent deducts one-half of the self-employment taxes actually being paid.
- Earlier support orders. Current support a parent pays under an earlier order for other children is deducted. The statute’s rule on preexisting orders allows the credit only to the extent the payments are actually being made, shown by payment history or other written proof, and caps it at the average actually paid over the 12 months before the hearing. Payments toward arrears do not count.
- Other children at home. If failing to consider them would cause substantial hardship, the court may allow a theoretical order for a parent’s other qualified children living in that parent’s home. It is 75% of the table amount for those children, based on that parent’s income alone.
Alimony a parent pays is not deducted from gross income. The court may consider it as a deviation instead. This calculator handles the first two deductions through the earlier-order fields. It does not work out self-employment tax or theoretical orders, so enter income after those if they apply.
How does the basic child support obligation table work?
The table gives one monthly figure for each combined adjusted income from $800 to $40,000, in steps of $50, for one to six children. The court uses the row closest to the parents’ combined income. The basic child support obligation table in subsection (o) is printed in full in the statute, and the calculator on this page carries all 785 rows.
| Combined adjusted income | 1 child | 2 children | 3 children | 4 children |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $2,000 | $390 | $594 | $719 | $802 |
| $4,000 | $733 | $1,116 | $1,349 | $1,507 |
| $6,000 | $1,009 | $1,523 | $1,826 | $2,039 |
| $8,000 | $1,150 | $1,723 | $2,050 | $2,290 |
| $10,000 | $1,285 | $1,906 | $2,242 | $2,505 |
| $20,000 | $2,053 | $2,998 | $3,470 | $3,876 |
| $40,000 | $3,222 | $4,736 | $5,522 | $6,168 |
The figure rises with income but more slowly than income does. Two children at $8,000 combined come to $1,723, about 22% of that income. At $20,000 the table gives $2,998, about 15%.
When combined income sits exactly halfway between two rows, both rows are equally close, and the statute does not say which to use. The calculator shows a range using both. Above $40,000, subsection (i)(2)(A) has the court use the highest amount in the table, and the court or jury may consider an upward deviation for high-income parents.
How does parenting time change the amount?
The parenting time adjustment reduces the noncustodial parent’s share of the basic obligation, and the reduction grows quickly as that parent’s days approach half the year. Subsection (g) of the statute explains why: the table assumes the child lives in one household, so expenses the noncustodial parent pays during their own time are not counted anywhere else.
The formula raises each parent’s court-ordered days to the power of 2.5. The adjustment equals the basic obligation multiplied by the noncustodial parent’s result, divided by the two results added together. That amount comes off the noncustodial parent’s share only.
| Noncustodial parent’s days | Custodial parent’s days | Adjustment |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 365 | $0.00 |
| 50 | 315 | $17.12 |
| 100 | 265 | $138.60 |
| 146 | 219 | $458.77 |
| 182.5 | 182.5 | $861.50 |
Some limits matter in practice:
- Only court-ordered time counts. The statute says that if there is no court order awarding parenting time, support is set without the adjustment.
- Days are an annual average. Under subsection (a)(17.1), days are counted over a two-year period. A day is an overnight, or for regular daytime periods, the total hours divided by 24.
- Several children, several schedules. If the children have different amounts of court-ordered time, the average number of days is used.
- It can reach zero, or below. The statute says the adjustment “could reduce the noncustodial parent’s share” to zero. Where the custodial parent earns more, the result can turn negative, and the custodial parent then pays.
Our guide to working out your parenting time percentage covers how to count days from a schedule.
Are health insurance and child care added?
Yes. The table does not include them, so subsection (h) on additional expenses adds the children’s health insurance premiums and work-related child care, splits the total by each parent’s income share, and credits each parent for what they already pay.
Child care counts when it is needed for a parent’s employment, education or vocational training and the court finds it appropriate. It is averaged to a monthly amount and entered under the parent who pays it. Care a parent gives the child themselves, or care given free, is not counted. If someone is paid to provide care, proof of the actual cost or payment has to be shown to the court first. Where costs vary, the court may take child care out of the calculation and have the parents split it pro rata as it comes.
Health insurance counts only for the part of the premium attributable to the children in the case. Premiums an employer pays that are not deducted from the parent’s wages are left out. If the children’s share of a family policy cannot be verified, the premium is divided by the number of people covered and multiplied by the number of children in the case who are covered.
Uninsured medical costs, such as copays, deductibles, dental and counseling, are not part of the monthly figure. The order provides for them separately, divided pro rata unless the court orders otherwise.
Our guides to documenting child care costs and documenting a child’s medical expenses cover what to keep for each.
How does the low-income adjustment work?
The low-income adjustment limits what a lower-income parent can be ordered to pay. Subsection (i.1) of the statute sets the parent’s obligation at the lesser of the presumptive amount or the amount from the low-income adjustment table, and says the calculator makes the comparison automatically.
The Commission describes it as a failsafe that keeps an obligation from exceeding 19%, 24%, 25%, 26%, 27% and 28% of a parent’s adjusted gross income for one to six children. At $1,500 of adjusted income or less, the table works as those percentages. Above that, it lists dollar amounts in $50 steps up to a top income that depends on the number of children.
| Children | Cap at $1,500 or less | Table ends at adjusted income of |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19% | $2,450 |
| 2 | 24% | $2,950 |
| 3 | 25% | $3,350 |
| 4 | 26% | $3,550 |
| 5 | 27% | $3,750 |
| 6 | 28% | $3,950 |
Above the end of the table, the adjustment does not apply. Where income falls between two of its rows, the statute does not say which to use, and this calculator uses the nearest row. That is our own approach, not the Commission’s.
Below $800 of combined adjusted income, the basic obligation table has no row at all. The calculator gives no figure there, and the court decides.
When can a court order a different amount?
A court or jury can deviate from the presumptive amount when applying it would be unjust or inappropriate and a different amount serves the child’s best interest. Subsection (i) on deviations requires written findings that state the reasons, the amount the guidelines would have produced, and how the deviation serves the child.
The statute names these specific deviations:
- High income, above $40,000 combined a month
- Vision or dental insurance for the child
- Life insurance for the child’s benefit
- The child and dependent care tax credit
- Substantial travel costs for court-ordered parenting time
- Alimony actually paid
- A mortgage or home the noncustodial parent provides
- A permanency or foster care plan
- Extraordinary educational, medical and child-rearing expenses
It also allows nonspecific deviations in the child’s best interest. Special expenses such as camp, lessons and school activities are partly built into the table, and the excess over 7% of the basic obligation can be considered as a deviation. One limit applies to all of them: no deviation may be made that “seriously impairs” the custodial parent’s ability to provide minimally adequate housing, food, clothing and other basic necessities for the child.
Parents can agree to an amount that differs from the guidelines, but the court reviews it. Under subsection (c)(6), an agreement that does not comply with the statute and lacks the findings a deviation needs is rejected.
Worked examples, line by line
We worked each example through the worksheet lines, rounding each line to the cent. Every figure below is what the calculator on this page returns for the same entries. Parent A is the noncustodial parent in each one.
| Family | Basic obligation | Shares, A and B | Parenting time adjustment | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 children. A earns $5,000 and has 100 days, B earns $3,000 | $1,723 | 62.5% and 37.5% | $138.60 | A pays $938.28 |
| 1 child. Each earns $4,000, A has 182 days | $1,150 | 50% and 50% | $571.06 | A pays $3.94 |
| 3 children. A earns $9,000 and has 80 days, B earns $3,000. B pays $500 child care, A pays $250 health insurance | $2,566 | 75% and 25% | $102.83 | A pays $2,134.17 |
| 2 children. A earns $1,800 and has no court-ordered days, B earns $1,200 | $857 | 60% and 40% | $0.00 | A pays $456.00, capped by the low-income table |
| 1 child. A earns $6,000 and pays $500 under an earlier order, has 60 days. B earns $2,500 | $1,150 | 68.75% and 31.25% | $19.41 | A pays $771.22 |
| 2 children. A earns $3,000 and has 180 days, B earns $6,000 | $1,807 | 33.33% and 66.67% | $872.57 | B pays A $270.30 |
The added costs in the third example. The $750 of child care and insurance is split 75% and 25%, so A’s share is $562.50. A already pays $250 of it, so $312.50 is added to A’s $1,821.67 after the parenting time adjustment, for $2,134.17.
The cap in the fourth example. A’s share of the basic obligation is $514.20. On the low-income table, $1,800 of adjusted income with two children gives $456, the lesser figure, so it becomes the presumptive amount.
The negative result in the sixth example. After the adjustment, A’s figure is $270.30 below zero, because A has nearly half the days and B earns twice as much. Under subsection (b)(9)(B), B becomes the payer of the positive equivalent.
How close is this to the official Georgia calculator?
For the cases it covers, it follows the same worksheet lines. Before publishing, we ran three worked examples the Commission published for the 2026 adjustments through the calculator on this page, and each figure we compared matched to the cent: two parenting time examples and one low-income example.
The official tool is the Georgia Child Support Calculator, which the statute names, and the Commission’s user guide for the online calculator shows its schedules, including the new Schedule C for parenting time. Users set up their own accounts to use it. The worksheet filed with the court comes from that tool, not from this page.
This page leaves out several things the official worksheet handles:
- Self-employment tax and theoretical orders for other children at home
- Deviations of any kind
- Social Security or VA benefits paid to the child because of the noncustodial parent’s disability, which subsection (b)(10) credits against that parent’s final amount
- Nonparent custodians, split custody and separate worksheets for a child about to age out
For Georgia’s neighbours in our state series, the Florida child support calculator works from net income and a 73-overnight threshold instead.
How long does Georgia child support last, and can it change?
Support runs until the child reaches the age of majority, dies, marries or is emancipated, whichever comes first. Subsection (e) on duration also lets the court order support for a child still in secondary school past the age of majority, but not after the child turns 20.
A change needs a petition and a substantial change in either parent’s income and financial status, or in the child’s needs. The statute’s modification rules in subsection (k) bar the same parent from filing again within two years of the final order on that parent’s last petition to modify, with three exceptions:
- The noncustodial parent has not used the court-ordered parenting time.
- The noncustodial parent has used more parenting time than the order provides.
- The petition is based on an involuntary loss of income.
For an involuntary loss of 25% or more of income, such as a job loss or a loss of health, subsection (j) stops the portion of support tied to the lost income from accruing from the date the other parent is served with the petition. The first two exceptions turn on the actual days, which is one reason a dated record of parenting time helps.
Our guide to changing a custody order covers the custody side of the same question.
What should you keep for a support case?
Keep what proves each number on the worksheet. The statute asks for proof at several points: payment history for an earlier order, the actual cost of paid child care, and the children’s part of a health insurance premium.
- Income. Pay stubs, tax returns and records of bonuses, overtime and tips.
- Earlier orders. The order and twelve months of payment history, from the court clerk or child support services, or cancelled checks.
- Child care. Invoices and receipts from the provider, with the dates of care.
- Health insurance. A statement showing the premium and who it covers.
- Parenting time. A calendar of the days and overnights the children actually spent with you, kept as the year goes, since only court-ordered time counts but the actual days decide two of the modification exceptions.
Our guide to keeping receipts for child expenses covers what to save and how to file it.
Documented keeps a private, dated record of the ordinary days of care, with receipts and notes sealed when you save each entry, so the detail is there when your attorney asks. Learn how it works →
What this guide does not cover
- Working out gross income for a self-employed parent, including business expenses and the self-employment tax deduction.
- Imputed income, where a court assigns income to a parent who does not provide reliable evidence of it or who is found to be underemployed.
- Enforcement and arrears, which run through the courts and child support services rather than the worksheet.
- Deviations, which depend on evidence and findings the calculator cannot weigh.
Frequently asked questions
How is child support calculated in Georgia?
Both parents’ monthly gross incomes are adjusted and added together, and the combined figure is looked up on the basic child support obligation table for the number of children. Each parent owes a share in proportion to income, the noncustodial parent’s share is reduced for court-ordered parenting time, and health insurance and work-related child care are added.
How many days of parenting time affect child support in Georgia?
Any court-ordered days do. Since January 1, 2026, the parenting time adjustment applies from the first day, and it grows quickly as the noncustodial parent’s days approach 182.5, half the year. Time that is not in a court order does not count.
What is the minimum child support in Georgia?
There is no fixed minimum. The table starts at $800 of combined adjusted income, and the low-income adjustment keeps a lower-income parent’s obligation at or below the amount in its own table, which at $1,500 of adjusted income or less is 19% for one child.
Does a parent with 50/50 custody pay child support in Georgia?
Often, yes. With exactly equal time, the parent with the higher gross income is treated as the noncustodial parent. The parenting time adjustment reduces that parent’s share a great deal at 182.5 days, but income differences can still leave an amount to pay.
When does child support end in Georgia?
At the age of majority, or earlier on the child’s death, marriage or emancipation. The court may extend it for a child still in secondary school, but not past the child’s 20th birthday.
Is daycare included in child support in Georgia?
Yes, when it is needed for a parent’s work, education or vocational training and the court finds it appropriate. It is averaged to a monthly figure, split between the parents by income, and the parent who pays the provider gets credit for it.
How we researched this
We read 13 sources for this guide: ten provisions of O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15 as published by the Georgia Child Support Commission for January 1, 2026, including the basic child support obligation table and the low-income adjustment with its table, plus the Commission’s user guide for the online calculator, its note on the 2026 calculator changes and its web page on the new adjustments. We copied both tables from the statute, built the worksheet lines in a separate script, and ran the Commission’s published worked examples through it, matching every compared figure to the cent before publishing the calculator on this page. Every factual claim was checked against the passage it comes from, and a claim we could not trace to a source was cut. How our guides are written.
References
All sources are official publications of the Georgia Child Support Commission.
- Georgia Child Support Commission. (2026). O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15, Child support guidelines, definitions. Retrieved from https://csc.georgiacourts.gov/ PDF
- Georgia Child Support Commission. (2026). O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15, Child support guidelines, process of calculating child support. Retrieved from https://csc.georgiacourts.gov/ PDF
- Georgia Child Support Commission. (2026). O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15, Child support guidelines, duration and gross income. Retrieved from https://csc.georgiacourts.gov/ PDF
- Georgia Child Support Commission. (2026). O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15, Child support guidelines, preexisting and theoretical orders. Retrieved from https://csc.georgiacourts.gov/ PDF
- Georgia Child Support Commission. (2026). O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15, Child support guidelines, parenting time adjustment. Retrieved from https://csc.georgiacourts.gov/ PDF
- Georgia Child Support Commission. (2026). O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15, Child support guidelines, additional expenses. Retrieved from https://csc.georgiacourts.gov/ PDF
- Georgia Child Support Commission. (2026). O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15, Child support guidelines, deviations. Retrieved from https://csc.georgiacourts.gov/ PDF
- Georgia Child Support Commission. (2026). O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15, Child support guidelines, low-income adjustment. Retrieved from https://csc.georgiacourts.gov/ PDF
- Georgia Child Support Commission. (2026). O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15, Child support guidelines, modification. Retrieved from https://csc.georgiacourts.gov/ PDF
- Georgia Child Support Commission. (2026). O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15, Child support guidelines, basic child support obligation table. Retrieved from https://csc.georgiacourts.gov/ PDF
- Georgia Child Support Commission. (2026). Georgia Child Support Calculator User Guide, Schedule C. Retrieved from https://csconlinecalc.georgiacourts.gov/ PDF
- Georgia Child Support Commission. (2025). Using the Parenting Time Adjustment and Low-Income Adjustment. Retrieved from https://csc.georgiacourts.gov/ PDF
- Georgia Child Support Commission. (n.d.). Parenting Time Adjustment and Low-Income Adjustment. Retrieved from https://csc.georgiacourts.gov/
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