Georgia Child Support Calculator

Georgia adopted the Income Shares model for child support in 2007, replacing its previous flat percentage approach with a system that accounts for both parents' financial contributions. Georgia child support is governed by O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15, which established the Georgia Child Support Guidelines and the Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations. The Income Shares philosophy holds that children deserve the same proportion of each parent's income they would have received if the household had remained intact. Georgia's schedule was built using economic data from the USDA and reflects what Georgia families at various income levels actually spend on children for basic needs including housing, food, clothing, transportation, and education at different combined income levels.

Georgia calculates child support based on gross income from all sources, which is combined for both parents to produce a Combined Adjusted Income figure. Using the number of children and the Combined Adjusted Income, courts look up the Basic Child Support Obligation from the Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations. This figure represents the total amount both parents together are expected to contribute to the child's financial needs. Each parent's proportional share is then calculated by dividing their individual gross income by the combined income — producing a percentage that reflects each parent's relative financial capacity. The non-custodial parent's share is their child support obligation; the custodial parent's share is presumed to be spent directly on the child.

Georgia's definition of gross income for child support is broad and designed to capture all economic resources available to a parent. Gross income includes wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, overtime, tips, self-employment income after allowable business expenses, rental income, royalties, interest and dividends, trust income, pension and retirement income, Social Security benefits, workers' compensation, unemployment compensation, and gifts received with regularity. Georgia courts can impute income to a parent who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed. Imputation is based on the parent's employment history, education, skills, and the prevailing wages in the local job market for positions consistent with the parent's qualifications and experience level.

Georgia's Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations covers a wide range of combined monthly gross income levels from around $800 per month to over $30,000 per month. The schedule provides basic child support amounts for one through six children at each income level. Beyond $30,000 per month in combined gross income, courts apply the same percentage indicated at the highest schedule increment to the additional income, unless there is a specific basis to deviate from that approach. The amounts in the schedule are expressed in monthly figures and represent total combined spending before each parent's proportional share is calculated. Georgia updates its schedule periodically to ensure the support amounts remain calibrated to actual child-rearing costs in the state.

Self-employed parents in Georgia require additional scrutiny when calculating gross income. Self-employment income is gross business income minus ordinary and necessary business expenses as allowed by the IRS for self-employment tax purposes, subject to the court's review of all claimed deductions. Georgia courts regularly audit business expense claims in child support cases, looking for personal expenses disguised as business costs, depreciation not associated with real income reduction, and other deductions that inflate business costs without reducing actual available income. When courts find excessive or personal expense claims, they adjust the gross income upward to reflect actual earnings. For parents whose business income fluctuates seasonally or from year to year, courts may average income over two or three years to produce a more stable representative figure.

Georgia also provides special rules for income from irregular sources. A parent who receives substantial bonuses, stock options, or commissions that vary significantly from year to year may have income averaged over recent years to produce a more stable income figure for support purposes. Seasonal workers face similar treatment — their annual income is typically annualized rather than using only the income earned during the current season at the time of the proceeding. Military parents' income for Georgia child support purposes includes base pay and special allowances that have the practical effect of cash income, such as Basic Allowance for Housing when not provided with in-kind housing. The broad income definition ensures that parents cannot structure their compensation to artificially minimize the income base available for child support calculations.

Georgia's Income Shares model includes a formal mechanism for adjusting child support based on parenting time — called the Parenting Time Deviation. Unlike some income shares states that have a specific parenting time credit formula built into the standard calculation, Georgia treats substantial parenting time as a deviation ground rather than an automatic adjustment. The court must affirmatively find that the non-custodial parent's parenting time is substantial enough to justify a deviation from the guideline amount and that the deviation is in the best interest of the child. Georgia courts consider a deviation appropriate when the non-custodial parent exercises parenting time significantly above the standard level contemplated by the guidelines.

Georgia's guidelines define standard parenting time as approximately 109 overnights per year — the typical level for a non-custodial parent with every-other-weekend plus one evening per week arrangements. When the non-custodial parent exercises parenting time significantly above this level, courts may reduce the basic obligation to reflect the direct expenditures that parent is making during their substantial time with the child. The deviation is not automatic — the court must make affirmative written findings that the deviation serves the child's best interest and must specify the dollar amount of the deviation in the support order. Georgia courts carefully balance the child's right to adequate financial support from both parents against the financial reality of direct costs the non-custodial parent is bearing.

True joint physical custody arrangements — where parents share time roughly equally — receive special treatment in Georgia. When parents have equal or near-equal custody time with meaningfully different incomes, Georgia courts typically run two calculations: what the lower-earning parent would owe as non-custodial parent, and what the higher-earning parent would owe as non-custodial parent. The difference between these two amounts is then ordered as the net support obligation from the higher-earning parent to the lower-earning parent. This offset approach prevents the higher-earning parent from paying support for time the child is actually in their care and home. Georgia courts document the offset calculation in the order to provide clarity for future modification proceedings and to justify the departure from the standard calculation.

Georgia child support orders include mandatory consideration of health insurance and childcare costs. Under O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15(f), health insurance premiums attributable to the child are added to the Basic Child Support Obligation as a non-discretionary add-on. The court determines which parent has access to the most cost-effective coverage and orders that parent to maintain it. The cost of the coverage — calculated as the additional premium cost attributable to adding the child — is added to the total support calculation and divided between the parents proportionally to their gross incomes. If neither parent has available employer coverage, the court may order private coverage with the cost allocated proportionally, or may address the child's healthcare needs through Georgia Medicaid enrollment.

Work-related childcare expenses are similarly treated as a mandatory add-on in Georgia. The actual cost of childcare required for a parent to maintain employment is added to the basic obligation and divided between the parents in proportion to their gross monthly incomes. Georgia courts require documentation of the childcare costs and evidence that the employment necessity is genuine. As the child grows and childcare needs change — transition from daycare to after-school care to no formal care for older children — Georgia parents are expected to seek modifications of the support order to reflect these changes. Courts are receptive to modification petitions based on changed childcare needs and process these relatively efficiently in the domestic relations calendar of Georgia's superior courts.

Uninsured medical expenses — those not covered by the child's health insurance plan — are addressed in the Georgia support order through a cost-sharing provision. Georgia courts typically order each parent to share uninsured medical, dental, vision, and mental health expenses in the same proportion as their income contribution to combined gross income. When an extraordinary medical expense arises, the parent who incurs it is required to provide documentation to the other parent within a specified number of days, and the other parent must reimburse their share within another specified period. Georgia support orders often include specific language about the notification and reimbursement process to prevent disputes about timing and documentation requirements for uninsured expenses.

Georgia's guidelines include provisions designed to protect extremely low-income parents from support orders that would drive them below subsistence level. The Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations includes a minimum support amount applicable when the non-custodial parent's income is very low. For parents with gross monthly incomes below approximately $1,850, Georgia applies a self-sufficiency reserve adjustment that ensures the obligor retains enough income to meet basic living expenses while still contributing something to child support. This prevents the support system from becoming counterproductive by creating obligations that cannot realistically be met, leading to accumulating arrears and no actual benefit to the child in practice.

Georgia permits deviation from the guideline amount in additional circumstances beyond parenting time. O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15(i) lists deviation factors including special needs of the child that justify additional support, a child's income or independent assets, educational needs of the child above what the basic schedule addresses, a parent providing free housing to the child, in-kind contributions to the child's welfare, the relative income of the parents, and any other factor the court finds relevant and equitable. Each deviation must be supported by written findings explaining why the standard amount would be unjust or inappropriate, and the deviation must be identified as upward or downward with the specific dollar amount documented in the order.

Modification of Georgia child support requires a showing of a substantial change in either parent's income and financial status or in the needs of the child. Under O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15(k), a modification is presumed appropriate when the current order would be more than 15% above or below the amount that would be ordered if the court were recalculating support today using current incomes. This 15% threshold provides a clear benchmark and reduces litigation over minor income fluctuations. Georgia also allows a modification petition two years after a child reaches age three if the court finds changed circumstances since the last order justify reconsideration, even without meeting the 15% threshold. Parents seeking modification should prepare current income documentation and evidence of changed circumstances.