Child Support Formula

By Staff Writer

What child support formula is used to calculate the amount a parent must pay? Each state will have a different formula, and a different minimum for each child. However, here is an example of an average child support formula.

California Child Support Formula
This example uses California as the home state of this sample divorce and separation. The judge will consider the amount of time your children will be living with each of you after the divorce. California is a state that encourages joint custody, so the likelihood is that the child will be spending equal time in both homes.

According to California state divorce laws, each spouse is expected to contribute 25% of their net income to the support of their child. Net income is defined as wages, all miscellaneous income, and Social Security and disability payments minus federal and state income tax, Social Security tax, and the cost of health insurance. If you have two children, the percent rises to 40% of your individual net income, and so on.

If you want your child to have extras, such as summer camp, athletics, special education or even child care, the judge may deem these as outside the realm of child support law. You and your spouse will have to come to a separate agreement on how to pay for these things, unless you expressly ask the judge to include them in the child support court order. Also, the judge will demand that either you or your spouse provide full health insurance for your child, depending on which one of you is covered more fully through employment.