Child support · KY
Kentucky child support calculator
The statutory table of KRS 403.212, the shared parenting time credit of KRS 403.2122 and the self-support reserve, applied to two incomes.
Rules read on official Kentucky pages on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Model
- Income shares
- Income counted
- Adjusted gross
- Shared parenting
- No fixed formula
- 1 child, $5,000 / $3,000
- $623
- a month, rules of July 1, 2025
A Kentucky parent with $4,500 of monthly adjusted gross income, raising two children with a co-parent who earns $3,500, owes about $802 a month under the guidelines table that the General Assembly wrote into KRS 403.212 itself. The table took effect on July 1, 2025, runs in $100 rows up to $30,000 of combined income, and lists $1,426 for two children at $8,000; each parent carries a share in proportion to income. Since 2024 parenting time has its own statute, KRS 403.2122, which replaced the repealed KRS 403.2121: a parent with at least 88 days a year subtracts a percentage of the table amount, 15% at first and 50% for equal time, so 120 days bring the same parent to $510. Low earners fall under a self-support reserve of $915, and no order goes under $60 unless the parenting credit pushes it there.
Guideline child support in Kentucky, per month
$623
$7,470 a year
| Combined monthly adjusted parental gross income | $8,000 |
| KRS 403.212 table amount, 1 child (row at or below the income) | $996 |
| Obligated parent’s share of combined income | 62.5% |
Estimate under the Kentucky 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.
A table that lives in the statute
Most states print their schedule in a court rule or an agency regulation. Kentucky puts it in KRS 403.212(9), so every change goes through the legislature: the version used here came with 2024 Ky. Acts ch. 219 and has applied since July 1, 2025. Rows climb by $100. From $0 to $900 of combined income every cell reads $60, the statutory floor, and the top line, $30,000, shows $2,730 for two children. Above it, subsection (7) leaves the amount to the judge; the calculator stays on that top line. The statute does not say what to do with an income between two lines, so the estimate reads the line at or below it; a worksheet built by the Office of the Attorney General may round differently.
The 88-day credit of KRS 403.2122
The 2024 session repealed KRS 403.2121 and created a chart-based credit. A "day" means more than twelve consecutive hours in the parent's care, and the time must be court-ordered or exercised by agreement. The obligated parent looks up his or her days in the chart, multiplies the percentage by the total obligation, and subtracts the result from his or her own share.
| Days a year with the paying parent | Credit | Monthly support, two children |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | none | $802 |
| 87 | none | $802 |
| 88 | 15% | $588 |
| 120 | 20.5% | $510 |
| 150 | 30.5% | $367 |
| 182 | 50% | $89 |
The jump at the threshold is the thing to watch. One day short, at 87, the order stays at $802; at 88 the credit of $214 applies at once. Because the percentage hits the whole table amount and not only the payer's share, a parent who earns less than the other can see the credit swallow most of the order at equal time. The court keeps discretion to adjust after weighing the payer's ability to keep a home for the child, distance, military duty and health coverage, and it may refuse the credit when the receiving parent gets KTAP, SNAP, Medicaid or KCHIP.
Self-support reserve thresholds
KRS 403.212(5)(b) protects a payer whose own adjusted income sits at or under $1,100 for 1, $1,300 for 2, $1,400 for 3 and $1,500 for 4 children (and $1,600 for six or more). The table is then read a second time at that parent's income alone and the lower figure wins. A payer at $1,050 with one child and a co-parent at $3,000 would owe $161 as a share, but the reserve gives $85. The reserve and the parenting credit cannot be stacked; the smaller result applies. Compare the day-based charts of Indiana and Tennessee, or the national overview.
The Kentucky guideline this calculator applies
| Rule | Kentucky |
|---|---|
| Model | Income shares, combined monthly adjusted parental gross income table (KRS 403.212) |
| Income counted | Adjusted gross income: gross income minus the deductions the guideline allows. |
| Official schedule | $0 to $30,000 of combined income a month, 301 rows |
| Shared parenting | No overnight formula in the calculator (see the rule below) |
| In force since | July 1, 2025 |
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 | $322 | $472 | $570 | $637 |
| $3,000 | $472 | $692 | $837 | $935 |
| $4,000 | $621 | $912 | $1,102 | $1,230 |
| $5,000 | $751 | $1,103 | $1,332 | $1,488 |
| $6,000 | $831 | $1,200 | $1,439 | $1,607 |
| $8,000 | $996 | $1,426 | $1,704 | $1,903 |
| $10,000 | $1,099 | $1,533 | $1,844 | $2,059 |
| $12,500 | $1,282 | $1,778 | $2,128 | $2,377 |
| $15,000 | $1,430 | $1,966 | $2,364 | $2,641 |
| $20,000 | $1,696 | $2,265 | $2,709 | $3,025 |
How the amount is set. KRS 403.212 gives no rule for incomes between two $100 rows; the statute prints rows every $100 from $0 to $30,000. Lookup method is not specified in the statute (floor is an assumption). source
Income. Gross income from any source (salaries, wages, bonuses, pensions, Social Security, workers' compensation, unemployment, SSI, gifts, prizes, maintenance received...), excluding means-tested public assistance such as TANF and food stamps; self-employment income is gross receipts minus ordinary and necessary expenses with straight-line depreciation only (KRS 403.212(3)(b)-(c)). Combined monthly adjusted parental gross income deducts maintenance actually paid under pre-existing orders and in this proceeding, prior-born child support actually paid, and an imputed guideline obligation for prior-born children living with the parent (KRS 403.212(3)(i)).
Above the table. The court may use its judicial discretion when combined adjusted parental gross income exceeds the uppermost level of the table (KRS 403.212(7)); income above the table is also a deviation criterion (KRS 403.211(3)(e)).
Parenting time. A parent with at least 88 days a year of court-ordered or consented parenting time may move for a shared parenting time credit (KRS 403.2122(2)(a)). The obligated parent's adjustment percentage from the chart in KRS 403.2122(4) is multiplied by the total support obligation on the worksheet and the result is subtracted from the obligated parent's monthly obligation (KRS 403.2122(3)(a)3-5). With equal parenting time the parent with the higher gross monthly income is the obligor (KRS 403.2122(3)(a)1.b). A 'day' means more than 12 consecutive hours in a 24-hour period (KRS 403.2122(1)(a)). The credit and the self-support reserve cannot be combined; the obligor pays the lesser amount (KRS 403.2122(3)(c), 403.212(5)(c)).
Child care and health care. added to the guideline amount and shared in proportion to combined monthly adjusted parental gross income cost of the child's health care coverage allocated in proportion to combined monthly adjusted parental gross income, in addition to guideline support; coverage is reasonable in cost if it does not exceed 5% of the responsible parent's gross income Reasonable and necessary child care costs due to employment, job search or education leading to employment are allocated pro rata (KRS 403.211(6)). Health care coverage costs are allocated pro rata (KRS 403.211(7)(a)); 'reasonable in cost' means not more than 5% of the parent's gross income (KRS 403.211(8)(a)). The parent maintaining insurance pays the first $250 of medical expenses per calendar year; extraordinary medical expenses above $250 are allocated pro rata (KRS 403.211(9)-(10)).
Low incomes. Self-support reserve of $915 per month (KRS 403.212(3)(d)). If the obligated parent's monthly adjusted gross income is at or below $1,100 (1 child), $1,300 (2), $1,400 (3), $1,500 (4 or 5) or $1,600 (6 or more), support is calculated from the table using that parent's income alone, and the parent pays the lesser of the pro-rata amount, the amount from his or her own income, and the shared parenting result (KRS 403.212(5)(b)-(c)). Minimum support is $60 per month except as provided in KRS 403.2122(3) (KRS 403.212(6)).
When support ends. Support terminates on emancipation; if the child is a high school student at 18, support continues while the child is in high school but not beyond the end of the school year in which the child turns 19 (KRS 403.213(3)). source
Worth knowing in Kentucky
- The guidelines table is written into the statute itself (KRS 403.212(9)); the current table took effect July 1, 2025 (2024 Ky. Acts ch. 219) and runs to $30,000 of combined monthly income. source
- A recalculation that changes support by 15% or more is rebuttably presumed to be a material change in circumstances justifying modification (KRS 403.213(2)). source
- A commission reviews the child support guidelines table at least once every four years and reports to the General Assembly (KRS 403.213(4)-(5)). source
- The Office of the Attorney General must promulgate the child support obligation worksheet by regulation and publish a manual with examples on its website (KRS 403.212(2)). source
- The shared parenting time credit statute (KRS 403.2122, created 2024) replaced KRS 403.2121, which was repealed in 2024. source
- Payments a child receives because of a parent's disability are credited against that parent's child support obligation and are not counted as income (KRS 403.211(16)). source