Child support · FL
Florida child support calculator
Fla. Stat. § 61.30 worked through: the net income table, the 20% time-sharing switch and what happens above the table.
Rules read on official Florida pages on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Model
- Income shares
- Income counted
- Net income
- Shared parenting
- From 73 overnights
- 1 child, $5,000 / $3,000
- $806
- a month
A Florida parent with $4,000 of monthly net income, whose co-parent nets $2,000 and keeps the two children nearly all year, owes $1,158 a month under Fla. Stat. § 61.30, before day care and health insurance. The figure starts from the statutory table of minimum child support need: $1,737 for two children at $6,000 of combined net income, split by each parent's slice of that income. What makes Florida different is the time-sharing switch. As soon as each parent has the children for at least 20% of the overnights, which is 73 nights a year, the court must use a cross-credit formula that inflates the table amount by 1.5. In this family the payment is $695 at 146 nights, but it first climbs to $1,216 at exactly 73. Above $10,000 combined, the statute adds a fixed percentage of the excess.
Guideline child support in Florida, per month
$806
$9,675 a year
| Combined income | $8,000 |
| Basic obligation in the FL schedule, 1 child | $1,290 |
| Paying parent’s share of income | 62.5% |
Estimate under the Florida guideline as published, from the incomes you enter. Deviations, imputed income, other children and the judge's findings can change the order. How this is calculated.
The 73-overnight cliff that runs the wrong way
Section 61.30(11)(b) says "substantial amount of time" means at least 20% of the overnights of the year. Once a parenting plan reaches that line, the judge has no choice: the support must be recomputed with the time-sharing formula. Each parent's share of the table amount, without day care and insurance, is multiplied by 1.5, then by the other parent's percentage of overnights, and the two results are netted.
The 1.5 factor is meant to cover the cost of running two homes, and at the low end of shared time it outweighs the credit for nights. Our family shows it. At 72 overnights the paying parent owes $1,158. One more night, 73, and the formula kicks in: $1,216. The payment only falls under the ordinary figure as the schedule grows, to $695 at 146 nights and $438 at 182. Parents negotiating a plan around the 20% mark should look at both numbers. The court can still deviate under § 61.30(11)(b)7., for instance when a parent is unlikely to use the time on paper, and a parent who stops exercising the schedule can see the adjustment undone back to the date the visits stopped.
How the calculator reads a table built in $50 steps
The table in § 61.30(6) runs from $800 to $10,000 of combined monthly net income in rows $50 apart. The statute never says what to do with an income that falls between two rows. We read the row at or below the income: $6,025 combined uses the $6,000 row, so the paying parent's amount moves only with his or her share, to $1,160.40. Some practitioners interpolate instead; the gap is at most one step of the table.
Above $10,000 and below $800
Past the last row, § 61.30(6)(b) takes the $10,000 amount and adds 5% for 1, 7.5% for 2, 9.5% for 3, 11% for 4, 12% for 5 and 12.5% for 6 children of the income above it. With $14,000 and $4,000 of net income and one child, the need becomes $1,837 and the higher earner pays $1,429. At the bottom, a parent whose net income sits under the table is ordered an amount set case by case, capped at 90% of the gap between that income and the federal poverty guideline for one person. The calculator does not apply that cap, because the guideline figure is not in the statute; enter the case with care.
The judge may move the result up or down by 5% after looking at the family as a whole, and further only with written reasons. For the neighboring state's very different custody adjustment, see Georgia, and for spousal support in Florida, the alimony page.
The Florida guideline this calculator applies
| Rule | Florida |
|---|---|
| Model | Income shares, combined net monthly income schedule |
| Income counted | Net income: after income taxes and mandatory deductions, as the state defines it. |
| Official schedule | $800 to $10,000 of combined income a month, 185 rows |
| Shared parenting | Cross-credit formula from 73 overnights a year, basic amount × 1.5 |
Monthly support for one paying parent, the other parent without income
| Paying parent’s monthly income | 1 child | 2 children | 3 children | 4 children |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $2,000 | $442 | $686 | $859 | $968 |
| $3,000 | $644 | $1,001 | $1,252 | $1,412 |
| $4,000 | $828 | $1,288 | $1,603 | $1,816 |
| $5,000 | $1,000 | $1,551 | $1,939 | $2,188 |
| $6,000 | $1,121 | $1,737 | $2,175 | $2,451 |
| $8,000 | $1,290 | $2,004 | $2,513 | $2,827 |
| $10,000 | $1,437 | $2,228 | $2,795 | $3,148 |
| $12,500 | $1,562 | $2,416 | $3,033 | $3,423 |
| $15,000 | $1,687 | $2,603 | $3,270 | $3,698 |
| $20,000 | $1,937 | $2,978 | $3,745 | $4,248 |
How the amount is set. § 61.30(6) gives the schedule in $50 steps but does not say how to treat an income between two rows; the statute is silent, so the choice (floor, nearest or interpolation) is the calculator's and should be disclosed. source
Income. Gross income (salary, bonuses, business income, disability, workers' compensation, unemployment, pensions, social security, spousal support received, interest, rental income, etc.) per § 61.30(2)(a), excluding public assistance (§ 61.30(2)(e)); minus allowable deductions of § 61.30(3): federal, state and local income tax, FICA or self-employment tax, mandatory union dues, mandatory retirement payments, health insurance excluding the child's coverage, court-ordered support for other children actually paid, and spousal support paid.
Above the table. § 61.30(6)(b): for combined monthly net income above $10,000, the obligation is the schedule amount at $10,000 plus 5.0% (1 child), 7.5% (2), 9.5% (3), 11.0% (4), 12.0% (5) or 12.5% (6) of the income over $10,000.
Parenting time. § 61.30(11)(b): when each child spends at least 20% of overnights with each parent, take each parent's share of the schedule amount (without child care and health insurance), multiply by 1.5, multiply each parent's result by the other parent's percentage of overnights, and the difference is the transfer; then credit or debit each parent's share of child care and health insurance (§ 61.30(7), (8)). The court may deviate under § 61.30(11)(b)7.
Child care and health care. added to basic obligation and shared by income added to basic obligation and shared by income § 61.30(7): work-, job-search- or education-related child care costs are added to the basic obligation, capped at the cost of quality licensed care; amounts prepaid by a parent are deducted from that parent's obligation. § 61.30(8): health insurance for the child and noncovered medical, dental and prescription costs are added to the basic obligation unless ordered paid separately by percentage. Shares follow each parent's percentage of combined net income (§ 61.30(9), (10)).
Low incomes. No fixed self-support reserve: under § 61.30(6)(a)2. the obligor's payment is capped at 90% of the gap between the obligor's net monthly income and the HHS poverty guideline for one person (42 U.S.C. § 9902(2)); the dollar value of that guideline is not stated in the statute.
When support ends. Guideline support covers a minor child, or a dependent child aged 18 to 19 who is still in high school, performing in good faith and reasonably expected to graduate before 19 (§ 61.30(1)(a)). source
Worth knowing in Florida
- The court may vary from the guideline amount by plus or minus 5% after considering all relevant factors; a larger variance needs a written finding (§ 61.30(1)(a)). source
- The guidelines prove a substantial change of circumstances for modification only if the new amount differs from the existing order by at least 15% or $50, whichever is greater (§ 61.30(1)(b)). source
- A deviation factor applies when the schedule would require a person to pay more than 55% of gross income for current support under a single order (§ 61.30(11)(a)9.). source
- In an initial determination the court may award retroactive support for up to 24 months before the petition was filed (§ 61.30(17)). source
- When a parent's income information is unavailable, income is imputed at the Census median income of year-round full-time workers by rebuttable presumption (§ 61.30(2)(b)). source
- The Legislature must review the guidelines schedule at least every 4 years beginning in 1997 (§ 61.30(16)). source