Florida child support guidelines: how child support is calculated

How is child support determined in Florida?

Florida child support is set by a formula in section 61.30 of the Florida Statutes, known as the Florida child support guidelines. Judges, mediators and the Florida Department of Revenue (DOR) all start from the same calculation. The guidelines amount is presumed to be correct, and the judge can only move away from it within limits explained below.

Florida uses the income shares model. The idea is simple: the child should receive the share of income the parents would have spent on the child if they lived together, and each parent pays in proportion to what they earn. The calculation has five steps:

1. Work out each parent's net income.
2. Add the two net incomes to get the combined net income.
3. Look up the basic support obligation in the guidelines schedule for that combined income and the number of children.
4. Add the children's health insurance and child care costs.
5. Split the total between the parents by their percentage of combined income, and adjust for time-sharing if both parents have substantial time.

Step 1: Each parent's income

The calculation starts with each parent's gross income from almost any source, including:

• wages, salary, overtime, commissions, bonuses and tips
• self-employment and business income
• disability, workers' compensation and unemployment benefits
• pensions, retirement and Social Security benefits
• spousal support received from a prior marriage, or ordered in the current case
• interest, dividends, rental income, royalties and trust income
• reimbursed expenses or in-kind payments, such as a free car or housing, to the extent they reduce living expenses

Public assistance (such as food assistance or cash welfare) is not counted.

From gross income, the guidelines subtract the deductions the law allows to reach net income: income taxes, Social Security and Medicare taxes, mandatory union dues, mandatory retirement contributions, the parent's own health insurance (not counting the children's coverage, which is handled separately), child support actually paid for other children under a court order, and court-ordered spousal support paid.

Imputed income

If a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, the judge can impute income: assign the income that parent could earn based on work history, education, skills and the jobs available in the area. Quitting a job or hiding income does not lower child support.

Step 2: Combined net income and each parent's share

Next, the two net incomes are added together. Each parent's percentage of the combined net income is their share of the obligation.

In this example, Parent A is responsible for 60% of the child support obligation and Parent B for 40%. The parent with the children most of the time pays their share directly by caring for the children; the other parent pays their share as child support.

Step 3: The guidelines schedule

Section 61.30 contains a guidelines schedule: a table that gives the basic monthly support obligation for each level of combined net income and for one to six children. The amount grows with income and with the number of children, but not in a straight line: the percentage of income goes down as income goes up.

A few rules at the edges of the schedule:

• High incomes. When combined net income is above the top of the schedule, the statute applies a percentage formula to the income above that level.
• Low incomes. When combined income is below the bottom of the schedule, the judge sets an amount case by case, to establish the obligation to pay and allow it to increase later.

We don't reprint the dollar figures here because they must be read straight from the statute for your exact income. The estimator on this page does that lookup for you.

Step 4: Health insurance, medical costs and child care

The basic obligation from the schedule covers the child's ordinary living costs. Some costs are added on top and shared in the same percentages:

• Health insurance for the children. The cost of the children's health and dental insurance premiums is added to the obligation. The parent who pays the premium gets credit for it.
• Uncovered medical costs. Reasonable medical, dental, vision and prescription costs not paid by insurance are usually shared by percentage, as they come up.
• Child care. Child care needed so a parent can work, look for work or attend school that leads to a job is added to the obligation. The parent who pays it gets credit for it.

What does child support cover in Florida?

Child support is meant for the child's day-to-day needs: housing, food, clothing, transportation, school supplies and similar everyday costs, plus health insurance, uncovered medical costs and work-related child care as described above. Extras such as private school, tutoring, extracurricular activities, summer camp or a car are not automatically included. Parents can agree to share them, or a judge can consider them as a reason to deviate from the guidelines.

Step 5: The substantial time-sharing adjustment

Time-sharing changes the result. When each parent has the children for at least 20% of the overnights in the year (73 nights), Florida uses the substantial time-sharing formula instead of the standard one:

1. The basic obligation from the schedule is multiplied by 1.5, because two homes cost more than one.
2. Each parent's share of that amount is multiplied by the percentage of overnights the children spend with the other parent.
3. Health insurance, uncovered medical costs and child care are divided by percentage and credited to whoever pays them.
4. The two amounts are netted: the parent who owes more pays the difference.

The result is that more overnights generally mean less child support paid, or more received, at the same incomes. Below 73 overnights the standard formula applies, although the judge can consider the time the children spend with each parent as a reason to deviate.

This is also why the parenting plan and the overnight count matter so much. Since a 2023 change to section 61.13, Florida law presumes that equal time-sharing is in the child's best interests unless a parent proves otherwise, which puts many more families into the substantial time-sharing formula. Read more about child custody and time-sharing in Florida.

Can the judge order a different amount? The 5% rule

The guidelines amount is presumed correct. The judge can order an amount that is up to 5% higher or lower after considering all relevant factors. To go beyond 5%, the judge must make written findings explaining why the guidelines amount would be unjust or inappropriate.

Factors that can justify a deviation include:

• extraordinary medical, psychological, educational or dental expenses
• special needs of a child, such as costs related to a disability
• the child's own independent income (other than SSI)
• the age of the child, since older children often cost more
• seasonal changes in a parent's income or expenses
• the total assets of the parents and the child
• a parenting plan where the child spends significant time with the other parent, but less than 73 overnights
• any other adjustment needed to reach a fair result

Parents can agree to an amount different from the guidelines, but the judge must still approve it as being in the children's interest. Child support belongs to the child, so a parent cannot simply waive it.

The Florida child support worksheet

Every case with children includes the Child Support Guidelines Worksheet, Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.902(e). It walks through the same steps described above, line by line: each parent's net income, combined income, the schedule amount, health insurance and child care, and the time-sharing adjustment.

The child support guidelines worksheet in Florida is filled out using the numbers in each parent's financial affidavit: Form 12.902(b) (short form) or 12.902(c) (long form), depending on income. Errors in the affidavits, such as missing overtime, wrong tax deductions or the wrong overnight count, carry straight into the worksheet and the final number.

Average child support in Florida

People often ask what the average child support payment in Florida is. There is no official average that would tell you what you will pay or receive, and an average would not mean much: two families with the same number of children can get very different amounts depending on combined income, each parent's share, insurance, child care and overnights. The judge does not look at averages. The amount comes from your numbers run through the guidelines.

The fastest way to get a realistic figure is to run your own numbers. Use the estimator below this guide, then have a lawyer check the income and overnight figures before you rely on it.

What is the new child support law in Florida?

If you are looking for new child support laws for 2026 in FL, here is what matters:

• The formula. The method described in this guide (income shares, the guidelines schedule, the 20% substantial time-sharing threshold and the 5% deviation rule) is the one in section 61.30 as of the date at the top of this page. The Legislature reviews the guidelines periodically, so always check the current statute.
• Equal time-sharing presumption. The change most people mean is the 2023 amendment to section 61.13 that created a rebuttable presumption in favor of equal time-sharing. It does not change the child support formula itself, but more equal schedules mean more cases use the time-sharing formula.
• Alimony reform. Also in 2023, Florida ended permanent alimony. That changed spousal support, not child support, but court-ordered alimony still counts as income for the parent who receives it and as a deduction for the parent who pays it.

Changing a child support order: the 15% or $50 rule

A child support order can be modified when there is a substantial, permanent and unanticipated change in circumstances, such as a job loss, a significant raise, a change in time-sharing or a change in the children's needs.

The guidelines give a concrete test: if the amount under the guidelines today differs from the current order by at least 15% or $50 a month, whichever is greater, that difference can be the basis for a modification. A change usually only counts from the date the petition is filed, so don't wait, and don't stop paying while you wait. Unpaid support does not go away. See our page on child support in Florida for modification and enforcement.

Child support vs. spousal support

Child support and spousal support (alimony) are separate. Child support is for the children and follows the guidelines formula. Alimony is between spouses, has its own rules, and since 2023 can no longer be permanent. In a divorce both can be decided in the same case; see our guide to divorce in Florida. If you need an Orlando spousal support lawyer to ask for, defend against or modify alimony, we handle that too. Modifying or ending alimony costs $3,500.

How we can help

You can ask for child support in a divorce, in a paternity case if the parents were never married, in a stand-alone petition, or through the Department of Revenue. DOR attorneys represent the Department, not either parent. We represent you.

Court and third-party costs are separate. We confirm the fee in writing before starting.

Luis A. Morales has been a lawyer since 2001 and is admitted to practice in Florida and Puerto Rico. He is a U.S. Army veteran who served as a military legal officer. He handles each case personally, in English or Spanish, from our office at 390 N Orange Ave, Suite 2300, in downtown Orlando. If you need a paternity and child support lawyer near downtown Orlando, we handle cases in the family courts of Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Lake, Polk, Volusia, Brevard, Marion and Sumter counties.

Looking for a Florida child support attorney with a free consultation? Start with a free 15-minute phone call. An in-person or longer consultation costs $150.

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