Georgia Child Support Worksheet: Things to Know

Child Support

Aug 20, 2024 | Content

If you are going through a divorce or separation and you have children with your spouse, ensuring that their financial needs are met is of the utmost importance. Georgia law requires that both parents ensure their children’s financial and physical well-being.

The primary custodial parent would pay their share by providing what the child needs on a daily basis, while the non-custodial parent would make support payments to contribute to the costs associated with raising the child.

Georgia’s child support worksheet plays a vital role in determining a parent’s child support obligation. It is advisable to work with an attorney familiar with these complex guidelines and the court procedures involved to understand how to utilize the worksheet and determine the amount of child support you will pay or be paid.

Important Child Support Worksheet Laws to Know

Georgia family law utilizes a worksheet to determine child support payments when a couple divorces or separates. The worksheet determines the baseline or presumptive child support obligation placed upon the paying parent.

Whether a divorce case is contested or uncontested, the family law court is required to use the child support worksheet as its threshold for assessing a parent’s payment obligation. Each parent’s monthly gross income is one of the key line items on the child support worksheet. If one parent does not work, the court can impute income to that parent for the purposes of calculating child support.

The child support worksheet also includes mandatory and non-mandatory deviations. An example of a mandatory deviation from the standard child support calculation could be the cost of providing health insurance for the child. Non-mandatory deviations can include costs like travel expenses and extracurricular activities.

Factors That Impact How Child Support Is Calculated

Any source of income attributed to either parent can be calculated as part of the gross income for the purposes of the child support worksheet. This could include salaries, capital gains income, rental property income, unemployment income, and even social security income. Once the worksheet contains both parents’ combined adjusted gross income, it will show the dollar amount of support required for the child or children.

The judge also has discretion to deviate from the given child support amount. Financial limitations of a parent, high income of one or both parents, or specific needs of the child are a few potential situations that could lead to a deviation. The more children a couple shares, the higher the amount of support that will likely be required. Health expenses that are not covered by insurance or other extraordinary costs can impact the support amount.

Child support payments can also be increased or decreased outside of the worksheet calculations, depending on how parenting time is divided. For example, if one parent has primary custody of the child, the base calculation of support paid may be adjusted since that parent will spend most of the time raising the child.

An Attorney Can Explain Georgia’s Child Support Worksheet

An experienced attorney from the Atlanta Divorce Law Group can help you understand how child support is calculated under Georgia’s worksheet and the factors affecting payments. Contact our firm today to speak with a member of our team about your child support questions and legal needs.

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Georgia Child Support Worksheet: Things to Know

Important Child Support Worksheet Laws to Know

Factors That Impact How Child Support Is Calculated

An Attorney Can Explain Georgia’s Child Support Worksheet

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