Child support · MA
Massachusetts child support calculator
The Massachusetts worksheet works in weeks and in marginal bands, not in a schedule of rows.
Rules read on official Massachusetts pages on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Model
- State formula
- Income counted
- Gross income
- Shared parenting
- No fixed formula
- 1 child, $5,000 / $3,000
- $1,057
- a month, rules of December 1, 2025
Massachusetts sets child support with a weekly formula, not a table of rows. Under the guidelines in force since December 1, 2025, a parent with $1,500 of weekly gross income, next to a co-parent at $500, owes about $314 a week for one child, $1,359 a month, before child care. The worksheet adds both parents' available income, applies marginal percentages band by band (22% on the first $1,000 a week, falling to 10% near the top), multiplies the one-child amount by a factor for more children (1.40 for two, 1.68 for three), then splits it by income. Combined income counts up to $8,654 a week, $450,000 a year. A payer earning $301 a week or less owes no more than $15 a week unless the court deviates. Orders reaching 40% of the payer's available income are presumed to be a hardship.
Guideline child support in Massachusetts, per month
$1,057
$12,685 a year · $244 a week, the period of the MA table
| Combined available income (shown monthly) | $8,000 |
| Table A amount for one child (shown monthly) | $1,691 |
| Table B factor, 1 child | 1.00 |
| Paying parent’s share of income | 62.5% |
| Children 18 or older (Table C) | not applied: all children counted as under 18 |
Estimate under the Massachusetts 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.
Marginal bands instead of a grid
Where most states print hundreds of income rows, Massachusetts prints one short schedule, Table A of worksheet CJD 304, and lets the arithmetic do the rest. Each band adds its own percentage only to the dollars inside it, like an income tax bracket. The official chart that the Trial Court also publishes is simply this formula rounded to the dollar.
| Weekly income | Support for one child |
|---|---|
| Payer: $0 to $301 | $15 |
| Payer: $302 to $391 | $15 + 20% above $301 |
| Combined: $392 to $1,000 | 22% |
| Combined: $1,001 to $1,600 | $220 + 21% above $1,000 |
| Combined: $1,601 to $2,400 | $346 + 18% above $1,600 |
| Combined: $2,401 to $3,500 | $490 + 14% above $2,400 |
| Combined: $3,501 to $5,000 | $644 + 11% above $3,500 |
| Combined: $5,001 to $8,654 | $809 + 10% above $5,000 |
The first two lines read the paying parent's own gross income; every other line reads combined available income. For two children the one-child amount is multiplied by 1.40, so the parent above owes about $439 a week ($1,902 a month). Available income here means gross income minus the children's health premium the parent pays and support already paid for other children.
Three boxes for parenting time
The worksheet does not count overnights. It asks which of three boxes fits: children living mainly with one parent about two thirds of the time, time shared approximately equally, or a split where each parent has at least one child. In the shared box both parents' amounts are computed and the higher one pays the difference. With equal time, the same family's support drops to about $293 a week. This calculator uses the shared box only from half the year; for anything in between, the guidelines treat a schedule well above or below one third as a ground for deviation.
In the two-thirds box, a guard protects a recipient with much more income than the payer: if support would be under 10% of the recipient's available income, line 7b limits it. Child care counts up to $430 per child per week: with $600 a week of care for one child, the payer's total rises to $636 a week.
Low and high incomes
A payer at $280 a week falls in the first band and owes $15 a week here, unless the court deviates. Above $8,654 of combined weekly income, the formula stops and the judge decides any extra at a lower percentage: a family at $12,000 a week with one child gets $881 from the formula. Support for children aged 18 to 23 is discretionary and reduced, for instance by 25% when every child covered is 18 or older; the calculator assumes all children are minors. For alimony, Massachusetts has its own statute, covered on the Massachusetts alimony page.
The Massachusetts guideline this calculator applies
| Rule | Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Model | Income shares by formula: weekly combined available income x marginal percentages by income band (Table A), adjusted for number (Table B) and ages (Table C) of children |
| Income counted | Gross income before taxes, as the state guideline defines it. |
| Shared parenting | No overnight formula in the calculator (see the rule below) |
| In force since | December 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 | $440 | $616 | $739 | $814 |
| $3,000 | $660 | $924 | $1,109 | $1,221 |
| $4,000 | $880 | $1,232 | $1,478 | $1,628 |
| $5,000 | $1,093 | $1,531 | $1,837 | $2,023 |
| $6,000 | $1,303 | $1,825 | $2,190 | $2,411 |
| $8,000 | $1,691 | $2,368 | $2,841 | $3,129 |
| $10,000 | $2,051 | $2,872 | $3,446 | $3,795 |
| $12,500 | $2,417 | $3,384 | $4,061 | $4,472 |
| $15,000 | $2,767 | $3,874 | $4,649 | $5,120 |
| $20,000 | $3,322 | $4,651 | $5,582 | $6,146 |
How the amount is set. All amounts weekly, rounded to the nearest dollar. (1) Each parent's available income; combined available income (3b) and each parent's share (3c). (2) Applicable income 3d = combined income capped at $8,654 a week ($450,000 a year). (3) Support for one child 3e from Table A on 3d (the first two bands use the payor's own gross income). (4) Multiply by the Table B factor for the number of children (3g). (5) Reduce by the Table C percentage for children aged 18 or older (4a-4c). (6) Each parent's share = 3c x 4c; add the other parent's share of child care costs up to $430 per week per child (line 6). (7) Box 2 (children with one parent about 2/3 of the time): if the payor's support is under 10% of the recipient's available income, it is limited to the lesser of 6e, 6g, or (7a + 10%) x payor income, but not below the chart's shaded minimum (line 7b). Box 1 (shared approximately equally) and Box 3 (split): the worksheet computes each parent's share and the parent with the larger amount pays the difference. (8) Subtract Social Security dependency benefits sent to the recipient for the payor's retirement/disability (7c-7d). Orders of 40% or more of the payor's available income are presumptively a substantial hardship (7e). Income above $8,654 a week: discretionary, at a percentage below 10% (line 8; § II.C.2). source
Income. Gross income from all sources listed in Guidelines Section I.A (wages, self-employment, Social Security retirement/disability, dividends, etc., with a catch-all for any other compensation, I.A.30), excluding means-tested benefits. Available income (worksheet line 2/3a) = gross weekly income + Social Security dependency benefit sent to the parent - other support obligations paid - health care premium/enrollment and dental/vision insurance actually paid, not less than $0 (2025 Guidelines § II.H-I; CJD 304 lines 2-3).
Parenting time. Worksheet line 1b has three boxes: Box 1 shared approximately equally, Box 2 primary residence with one parent about 2/3 of the time, Box 3 split (each parent has at least one child). The guidelines assume about one-third parenting time for the non-residential parent; substantially less or more (but under one-half) is a ground for deviation (2025 Guidelines § II.D.1-4). There is no overnight threshold.
Child care and health care. other parent's share of child care costs, up to $430 per child per week, added to the payor's support (worksheet line 6) premiums actually paid are deducted from the paying parent's gross income (not added to support) Reasonable out-of-pocket child care costs actually paid, up to $430 per week per child, are shared in proportion to available income (§ II.E.1). Health care and dental/vision premiums are deducted from the payer parent's gross income (§ II.H.1, II.I.1). Health care coverage is reasonable in cost if it does not exceed 5% of the parent's gross income (§ II.H).
Low incomes. Payor gross income of $301 a week or less: order of no more than $15 a week; $302 to $391: no more than $33 a week (Table A: $15 + 20% above $301). The court may deviate higher or lower, including to $0 (§ II.C.1). The 2025 Task Force set $301 and $391 at 100% and 130% of the 2025 poverty guideline for one person and calls $391 a week the minimum subsistence level (Commentary 2025, § II.C).
When support ends. The court may, but need not, order support for a child aged 18 to 21 who lives with and is principally dependent on a parent, and to 23 if enrolled in an undergraduate program; the guidelines reduce support for such children through Table C, and a child aged 18+ still in high school is treated as under 18 (2025 Guidelines § II.F; G.L. c. 208, § 28). source
The state also runs its own official child support calculator; use it, or the court's worksheet, for a filing.
Worth knowing in Massachusetts
- The 2025 Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines took effect December 1, 2025 (signed by the Chief Justice of the Trial Court on October 30, 2025) and supersede all previous guidelines (Preamble). source
- The guidelines apply up to $450,000 of combined annual available income ($8,654 a week), raised from $400,000 in 2021; above that, support on the excess is discretionary at less than 10% (§ II.C.2). source
- Child care costs are shared only up to a benchmark of $430 per week per child, based on the average cost of center-based infant care in Massachusetts (§ II.E.1 and 2025 Commentary). source
- Support can be ordered for children up to age 23, but is reduced (Table C, e.g. 25% when all children are 18 or older) and contribution to college costs is generally capped at 50% of UMass Amherst in-state costs (§ II.F-G). source
- A child support order of 40% or more of the payor's available income creates a rebuttable presumption of substantial hardship justifying a deviation (worksheet line 7e; § IV). source