Maryland Child Support Calculator

Maryland child support is calculated under the Maryland Child Support Guidelines found in Family Law Article §12-204 of the Maryland Annotated Code. Maryland uses the Income Shares model, which is premised on the principle that a child should receive the same level of financial support they would have received had their parents remained together. The model combines both parents' monthly incomes to determine a total obligation from the state's guidelines schedule, then divides that obligation proportionally based on each parent's share of combined income. Maryland's guidelines apply to all child support proceedings in the state and carry a rebuttable presumption of correctness.

Maryland's guidelines are administered through a straightforward set of worksheets that walk parents and attorneys through the calculation step by step. Worksheet A is used in sole-custody situations, and Worksheet B is used when parents share physical custody. The worksheets require income figures, health insurance costs, work-related childcare costs, and the number of overnights each parent has with the child. Completed worksheets are submitted to the court as part of the support proceeding and serve as the evidentiary basis for the court's order. Disagreements about income figures or expense amounts are the most common source of disputed calculations.

Maryland periodically reviews and updates its guidelines to reflect current economic data on child-rearing costs. The state is required under federal law to review its guidelines every four years to ensure they remain appropriate. Recent revisions have addressed low-income provisions, the treatment of self-employment income, and the threshold for shared custody adjustments. Parents who have existing orders from several years ago may find that their order does not reflect the current guideline amounts, which is one reason that three-year review petitions are available under Maryland law.

Maryland uses a unique income concept called 'adjusted actual income' rather than gross income or net income. A parent's adjusted actual income is their actual monthly gross income minus any pre-existing child support obligations they are currently paying pursuant to a court order for children from a different relationship. The deduction for pre-existing support obligations is specifically limited to amounts actually being paid under court order — voluntary payments for other children or for current family members are not deductible. The adjustment prevents a parent from being overburdened financially when they already have court-ordered support obligations for other children.

Gross income for Maryland child support purposes includes all income from all sources before deductions. Wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, overtime, tips, and net self-employment income are included. Rental income, dividends, interest, capital gains, pension and annuity distributions, Social Security benefits, workers' compensation, unemployment compensation, and alimony received from the other parent are also included. Maryland courts may impute income when a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, basing the imputation on the parent's employment history, education, physical condition, and prevailing wages in the local job market.

When a parent receives income that is irregular, seasonal, or highly variable — such as commission-based sales, contract work, or seasonal construction — Maryland courts typically calculate an average monthly income based on recent tax returns or a multi-month pay history. Using an average prevents artificially high or low snapshots from distorting the support obligation. Courts may also consider trends in the parent's income when an average would not accurately reflect expected future earning capacity. A parent whose income has recently increased significantly may find that the court uses the higher current income rather than a historical average that understates their actual capacity.

Maryland's basic child support schedule is a table that converts combined adjusted actual income and the number of children into a monthly dollar obligation. The schedule covers combined monthly incomes from $850 up through $30,000, with obligations increasing as combined income increases and as the number of children increases. For combined incomes above the schedule's maximum, courts determine an appropriate amount based on the child's demonstrated needs and the parents' financial resources, guided by the schedule's highest values as a reference point. The schedule represents average expenditures on children at each income level as documented by economic research.

The schedule's basic obligation covers the child's routine needs including food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and other ordinary living expenses. It does not automatically include health insurance premiums, work-related childcare costs, or extraordinary expenses. These supplemental costs are added separately after the basic obligation is determined from the schedule. Each parent's proportional share of the basic obligation — plus their proportional share of supplemental costs — determines the actual transfer payment that the non-custodial parent makes to the custodial parent each month.

For very low-income parents, Maryland has a minimum order provision that requires even the lowest-income parent to make some contribution to the child's support, typically $40 per month as a minimum. However, Maryland also has a low-income formula that limits the support obligation when the paying parent's income is at or near the poverty level, recognizing that requiring too large a percentage of very low income would leave the paying parent unable to meet their own subsistence needs. This self-support reserve prevents support orders that would make it impossible for a parent to maintain housing and basic necessities.

Maryland adds three categories of costs to the basic obligation: health insurance premiums for the child, work-related childcare costs, and extraordinary medical expenses. The child's health insurance premium is calculated as the difference between the parent's individual coverage cost and the cost of family coverage, attributing only the child-specific increment to the support calculation. Work-related childcare costs are actual, reasonable expenses paid to allow a parent to work, seek work, or attend job training or school. Both of these supplemental costs are allocated between the parents in proportion to their adjusted actual income shares, ensuring that the higher-earning parent contributes more toward these shared expenses.

Extraordinary medical expenses — unreimbursed and uninsured medical costs exceeding $100 per year per child — are divided proportionally between the parents. Maryland courts typically specify in the support order how extraordinary medical costs will be shared and what process the parents must follow when such expenses arise. The most common arrangement is for the parent who incurs the expense to provide notice to the other parent along with documentation, with reimbursement due within a specified time period. Preventive dental and vision care is often treated similarly to extraordinary medical expenses when the costs are not covered by insurance.

Maryland's shared custody adjustment applies when the non-custodial parent has at least 128 overnights per year — approximately 35% of the year. In these cases, Worksheet B is used instead of Worksheet A. The shared custody worksheet calculates each parent's obligation as if they were the non-custodial parent, using the combined income and the basic obligation schedule, then adjusts based on the proportion of time each parent has the child. The result is a net transfer payment that is lower than what the sole-custody worksheet would produce, reflecting the fact that the non-custodial parent is directly spending on the child during their custody time.

Maryland's low-income provisions ensure that parents with very limited financial resources are not required to pay support amounts that leave them unable to meet their own basic needs. When the paying parent's income is below a certain threshold relative to the federal poverty level, the court may apply a reduced percentage or a flat minimum order rather than the standard guideline calculation. The low-income provisions reflect Maryland's recognition that an unenforceable support order — one that the parent simply cannot pay — does not serve the child's interests, because a realistic order is more likely to be complied with and to provide actual financial support.

Maryland also has a provision preventing the obligor from being required to pay child support that would reduce their income below the federal poverty level. This self-support reserve ensures that the paying parent retains enough income to maintain housing and basic necessities, preventing an outcome where compliance with the support order makes the paying parent homeless or unable to function economically. When the calculated obligation would violate the self-support reserve, courts typically set the order at a flat minimum amount rather than the full guideline obligation, with the expectation that the order will be reviewed when the parent's financial circumstances improve.

Maryland allows child support orders to be modified when there is a material change in circumstances. A change of 25% or more in the monthly support amount that would result from a recalculation using current income is presumed to constitute a material change. Maryland also provides for a three-year review — either parent may petition for recalculation after three years without having to independently prove a change in circumstances, and if the recalculated amount differs from the existing order by more than 25%, the order will typically be modified. Changes in custody, the child's needs, or healthcare costs can also support a modification regardless of the three-year cycle.