Calculating Child Support in Marietta
Child support is often a contentious issue when parents live apart. Parents tend to project their fears about co-parenting into the negotiations, and the process can be tense.
Although the state publishes guidelines that provide a suggested minimum child support amount, calculating child support in Marietta is rarely straightforward. The team at the Atlanta Divorce Law Group can help. Our family law attorneys have substantial experience handling all aspects of child support.
Understanding the Income Shares Model
The theory behind child support is that all children are entitled to benefit from the income of both their parents, whether their parents live together or not. Although it is also important to hold both parents accountable to provide financial support, the court’s primary interest is to ensure that children derive the same advantages from their parents’ earnings as children from intact families.
Georgia’s child support guidelines call for parents to spend a percentage of their net income to support their children. The percentage varies depending on the parents’ income bracket.
The guidelines are based on the percentage of income intact families at the same income level spend on their children. They are adjusted to reflect the fact that maintaining two households is more expensive than maintaining one, and that many of the necessities parents must provide are shared among multiple children.
Doing the Calculation
The child support guidelines appear in the Official Code of Georgia §19-6-15. In addition, the court system publishes a child support calculator. Although a judge might consider deviating from the guidelines amount, the calculator provides a parent with a ballpark figure.
Each parent must calculate their child support obligation. They do this by determining their gross income, which includes all their income regardless of source. The parent would then deduct amounts from their gross income if they pay self-employment tax or have child support orders in place concerning other children. A Marietta attorney can help a parent determine the proper deductions to establish their gross income for child support purposes.
Once each parent has determined their gross income, they divide it by 12 and then combine it with their co-parent’s to determine the parents’ combined gross monthly income. The parents would then consult the calculator to determine the basic monthly support obligation based on their gross incomes. The monthly support obligation is divided between the parents based on their relative incomes—a parent whose income makes up 65 percent of the parent’s gross income would be responsible for 65 percent of the child support obligation.
Adjustments
The law allows adjustments to the child support obligations based on several factors. For example, parents split the cost of health and dental insurance for the children equally. If the paying parent provides health insurance to the children through their employer, they could deduct their co-parent’s share from their monthly child support payment. Similarly, the parents must share the cost of work-related childcare equally.
Deviations From the Guidelines
The law recognizes several circumstances that justify a child support amount that is different from the amount the guidelines suggest. Judges can issue child support orders that deviate from the guideline amount, but they must base their decision on the child’s best interest. When the child’s best interests and the parent’s conflict, the child’s best interests govern.
Parenting Time Deviation
The guidelines do not account for the fact that many non-custodial parents also provide a home for their children. The judge has the discretion to adjust the child support obligation when the non-custodial parent has the children for a substantial percentage of the year. A new law that will take effect on January 1, 2026, makes the adjustment mandatory rather than discretionary.
Low-Income
Judges can order a child support payment less than the guideline amount when a paying parent has a low income. Starting January 1, 2026, new guidelines will change the formula for low-income payers, and the deviation will apply across the board whenever a paying parent’s income is low.
High-Income
Judges can impose child support payments higher than the guidelines amount when a paying parent’s income exceeds $40,000 monthly. Judges want the children to retain the privileged lifestyle they would enjoy if their parents lived together, and so will increase a child support payment to allow for extras like private schools, club memberships, extra-curricular activities, travel, summer camp, and similar expenses.
Get Help Calculating Child Support From a Marietta Attorney
The amount of child support you pay or receive greatly impacts your family’s lifestyle. Understanding how the amount is determined is critical.
Calculating child support in Marietta is more than just plugging a number into the guidelines. Contact a member of the team at the Atlanta Divorce Law Group to learn more.
