South Carolina Child Support Calculator

South Carolina calculates child support using the Income Shares model codified in Rule 26(d) of the South Carolina Family Court Rules. The guidelines are designed to ensure that children benefit from the combined financial resources of both parents in proportion to what would have been spent on the child had the family remained intact. Both parents' monthly gross incomes are combined, and the resulting combined figure is cross-referenced with the state's basic child support schedule to determine the total monthly obligation for the applicable number of children. The schedule is derived from economic data on child-rearing expenditures at various income levels.

South Carolina's guidelines carry a rebuttable presumption — courts are required to apply the guideline amount unless a party presents evidence that the standard amount would be unjust or inappropriate given the specific facts of the case. The guidelines apply to both initial support orders and modifications, ensuring that the same methodology is used throughout the life of the order. South Carolina courts are also required to consider the guidelines in any consent agreement submitted for approval, and they may reject below-guideline agreed amounts if they do not adequately provide for the child.

The South Carolina Department of Social Services publishes worksheets that parties and attorneys use to calculate the guideline amount before appearing in court. While these worksheets simplify the process, they require accurate income disclosure from both parents to produce a reliable result. Attorneys and court-connected mediators routinely use the published worksheets to help parties understand the likely support amount before formal proceedings, which facilitates settlement in many cases. Disputes about income figures are the most common reason guideline calculations produce different results for the two parties.

South Carolina defines gross income for child support purposes broadly to include all earned and unearned income from any source. Wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, overtime, tips, and self-employment net income are all included. Investment income such as dividends, interest, capital gains, and rental income is included as well. Social Security benefits except SSI, disability benefits, unemployment compensation, workers' compensation, pension distributions, and alimony received from a different relationship are also counted as gross income. This comprehensive definition prevents parents from artificially reducing their apparent income by routing funds through investments or business structures.

For self-employed parents, gross income is calculated by taking gross business receipts and subtracting ordinary and necessary business expenses. South Carolina courts scrutinize claimed business expenses carefully, particularly when the self-employed parent controls what expenses are categorized as business-related. Deductions that serve both business and personal purposes — vehicle expenses, meals, home office costs — are examined closely, and courts may allow only the portion clearly attributable to business operations. Non-cash deductions such as depreciation, while legitimate for tax purposes, may be added back to the extent they reduce reported income without reflecting reduced cash flow.

When a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed relative to their education, training, and work history, South Carolina courts may impute income to that parent at the level they could reasonably earn. Imputation prevents a parent from quitting a high-paying job or deliberately working fewer hours to reduce their child support obligation. Courts consider the local job market, the parent's skills and prior earnings history, and any legitimate reasons for reduced earnings — such as caring for a child with special needs — when deciding whether to impute and at what amount. A parent who voluntarily reduces their income bears the burden of proving that the reduction was made in good faith.

The basic child support schedule in South Carolina is a table that converts the combined monthly gross income of both parents and the number of children into a monthly dollar obligation. The schedule covers incomes from the lowest documented levels up to combined monthly incomes of approximately $30,000, above which courts exercise discretion based on the child's demonstrated needs and the parents' financial resources. The obligation increases with both combined income and number of children, reflecting the economic reality that more resources should produce more support while additional children also increase the total obligation.

Once the basic obligation is identified from the schedule, it is apportioned between the parents based on each parent's gross income as a percentage of the combined gross income. The non-custodial parent pays their proportional share of the basic obligation as a transfer payment to the custodial parent. For example, if the combined monthly gross income is $6,000 and the non-custodial parent earns $4,000 of that, they are responsible for approximately two-thirds of the basic obligation. The custodial parent's share of the basic obligation is presumed to be spent directly on the child through the household they maintain.

South Carolina's schedule is the starting point, not the ending point, of the child support calculation. After identifying the basic obligation and each parent's proportional share, the parties add supplemental costs — primarily work-related childcare and health insurance premiums — and divide those proportionally as well. The final support order reflects the basic obligation plus any supplemental costs owed by the non-custodial parent, net of any costs already being paid by the non-custodial parent directly. This additive approach ensures that the schedule captures routine child-rearing costs while allowing the order to be tailored to each family's specific supplemental expenses.

Health insurance for the child is a mandatory component of every South Carolina child support order. Courts must determine which parent will provide health insurance coverage and specify that obligation explicitly in the order. When employer-sponsored coverage is available to a parent at a reasonable cost, the court typically orders that parent to maintain coverage for the child. The cost of the child's health insurance premium is added to the basic child support obligation before apportionment, so both parents effectively share that cost in proportion to their incomes rather than the obligation falling entirely on the parent who carries the policy.

Work-related childcare costs — expenses paid to allow a parent to maintain employment, seek employment, or pursue job training — are also added to the basic obligation and shared proportionally. South Carolina courts require that childcare costs be reasonable and actually work-related; costs for childcare during vacations or purely personal activities are not included. When the federal childcare tax credit is available to the custodial parent, South Carolina reduces the gross childcare cost by the amount of the credit before adding it to the support calculation, so parents are not double-counted for a tax benefit the custodial parent actually receives.

Extraordinary expenses for a child with special needs — ongoing medical treatments, specialized educational programs, therapeutic services, or adaptive equipment — may be addressed in the support order either as a fixed additional monthly amount or through a cost-sharing arrangement where each parent contributes proportionally as costs arise. South Carolina courts have broad discretion to craft support orders that address a particular child's needs, and the guideline schedule is treated as a floor rather than a ceiling when a child's circumstances call for additional financial support. Documenting extraordinary expenses with receipts and professional evaluations is essential when seeking above-guideline support.

South Carolina courts may deviate from the guideline amount when the standard result would be unjust or inappropriate. The Rule 26(d) guidelines list specific factors that courts may consider when evaluating whether deviation is warranted: the educational expenses of the child or parents, extraordinary medical expenses not already factored into the calculation, a significant disparity in the non-working parent's assets, the child's extended parenting time with the non-custodial parent resulting in substantially increased direct expenses, and other equitable factors that make the standard amount inappropriate. Deviation must be supported by written findings.

Custody and parenting time significantly affect whether deviation is appropriate in South Carolina. While the state does not prescribe a rigid formula for reducing support in shared custody cases, courts frequently deviate downward when the non-custodial parent has the child for a substantial portion of time and is demonstrably incurring significant direct expenses. The deviation should reflect the actual financial impact of the parenting time on both parties rather than serving as an informal adjustment to the schedule. When negotiating parenting arrangements, parents should understand how the proposed schedule will affect both the guideline calculation and any deviation argument.

Child support in South Carolina may be modified upon a showing of a substantial and material change in circumstances since the last order. Common grounds include a significant change in either parent's income, a change in the custody or visitation arrangement, a material change in the child's needs or healthcare costs, or the emancipation of one child covered by the order. South Carolina also permits a review and modification based solely on the passage of time — generally three years — without requiring the moving party to prove a changed circumstance beyond the passage of time and a recalculated guideline amount that differs from the existing order by a threshold amount.