Child support, alimony, divorce, probate and workers’ comp calculators by state

Federal law makes every state write a child support guideline, apply it as a rebuttable presumption in every case and review it at least every four years (42 U.S.C. § 667; 45 CFR § 302.56). It does not say what the guideline must contain, so the states went three ways.

Income shares is the most common model, used in 33 of the jurisdictions on this site. The court adds both parents' incomes, reads the amount that parents at that combined income are presumed to spend on their children in a published table, and splits it in proportion to income. A parent who earns two thirds of the combined income owes two thirds of the table amount, then the parent with less time pays that share to the other.

Percentage of income states (Alaska, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin) take a fixed share of the paying parent's income: in Texas, 20%, 25%, 30% and so on of monthly net resources for one, two and three children, up to a cap of $11,700 of net resources a month. New York uses a variant that applies the percentage to both parents' combined income before sharing it.

Formulas cover the rest: California's statewide equation, which builds parenting time into a K factor, and the Melson formula used in Delaware, Hawaii and Montana, which first reserves a minimum for each parent's own needs before computing what the child receives.

Run one family through every guideline and the answers spread widely: $566 a month in Oklahoma against $1,250 in California, for a paying parent at $5,000 a month, the other at $3,000, one child, no shared time. Three things explain most of the gap. First, the income definition: a gross-income state applies its table to pay before taxes, a net-income state to pay after them, so the same $5,000 is a bigger number in one than in the other. Second, the cost data behind each table: states update their schedules from different economic studies and in different years. Third, the shape of the formula: a flat percentage ignores the other parent's income altogether, while income shares give it full weight.

Parenting time adds another layer. Most income-shares states switch to a shared-parenting formula once the paying parent has the children for a set number of overnights a year, and that number differs from one state to the next. Enter the overnights in the calculator and it applies the threshold and the multiplier of the state you selected.

Spousal support is the opposite of child support: most states have no formula at all, and the judge weighs a list of factors (the length of the marriage, each spouse's earning capacity, the standard of living). The alimony calculator covers the 13 states where a statute, a court rule or an official guideline does set a number, a cap or a duration: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Virginia. Some apply only to temporary support while the case is pending, others to the final judgment; each state page says which.

Federal taxes changed in 2019: for divorce or separation agreements signed after 2018, alimony is no longer deductible by the payer nor taxable to the recipient (IRS Topic 452). Older agreements keep the old treatment unless they are modified to adopt the new one.

The only cost every divorce shares is the court's filing fee, and even that varies: $60 in Virginia against $435 in California, among the states that set one fee statewide or in their largest county. Every state lets a person with a low income ask the court to waive its fees. The rest of the bill depends on the spouses: an uncontested case where both sign a settlement may cost little more than the fee, while a case that goes through discovery, motions and a trial can cost far more. The divorce cost calculator keeps the two apart: the official fees of your state, then the attorney rate and hours you enter.

Timing is set by statute too. Many states impose a waiting period between filing and the final decree, and most require a period of residence before you can file at all; the state pages give both, with the section of the code.

“How long does probate take” has a legal floor in every state: the period creditors have to file their claims after the estate is opened or notice is published. Among the states on this site it runs from 2 to 8 months, and an estate rarely closes before it ends. Selling a house, filing the final tax returns and a will contest come on top. Small estates can skip most of it: each state sets a value below which heirs collect assets by affidavit or through a summary procedure.

A handful of states also write the price of probate into law, as a percentage of the estate for the executor and the attorney. California and Florida are the best known; in most others the fee must simply be “reasonable” and is approved by the court. The probate calculator applies the statutory schedules where they exist.

When an injury at work keeps you off the job, temporary total disability benefits replace part of the wage, tax-free (IRS Publication 525). Most states pay two thirds of the average weekly wage; Alaska, Connecticut, Iowa and Michigan use a share of take-home pay instead. Every state caps the weekly check, from $654.63 in Mississippi to $2,431 in Iowa, and the cap is usually indexed to the state's average wage each year. A waiting period of a few days goes unpaid unless the disability lasts long enough. The workers’ comp calculator applies the 2026 figures of each state.

They apply published rules to the numbers you type. They do not decide which income a court will count (bonuses, overtime, income imputed to a parent who could earn more), they do not apply deviations a judge may grant, and they do not handle children from several relationships unless the state page says so. A probate estimate leaves out bond, appraisal and extraordinary services; a workers' comp estimate leaves out permanent disability ratings and settlements. For anything you will sign or file, use the court's own worksheet, the agency's calculator where one exists, or a licensed attorney in your state. Every state page links its official sources, and the method page lists what each engine does and the tests it passes.