Pennsylvania's Easiest Child Support Calculator (2023)

Pennsylvania uses a child support guideline formula to determine how much parents must contribute financially for the care of their children. Judges may award a slightly different amount in certain circumstances, and parents may agree to a different amount with court approval.

Alimony covers the basic needs of the child: food, clothing and housing. Child support payments continue until the child turns 18 and completes high school.

Usually, the parent with less custody pays child support to the other parent. If the parents spend the same amount of time with their son, he pays the one with the highest income.

Estimating Your Child Support Obligation

Follow the steps below or use the child support calculator above orPennsylvania Child Support Estimatorto estimate your child support payment.

Step 1: Find each parent's net monthly income

Add up your monthly income from wages, salaries, bonuses, commissions, and other sources, excluding Social Security and welfare. Subtractqualified deductionssuch as child support, mandatory union dues, and what you pay in federal, state, and local taxes.

Repeat the process for the other parent.

Example: Consider the hypothetical case of Keith and Audrey. Keith hasprimary physical custodyof their children and a monthly income of $2,500 after deductions. Audrey has a monthly income of $3,500 after deductions.

Step 2: Calculate the parents' combined monthly income

Add each parent's total from Step 1 to get the combined monthly net income.

Example: Keith and Audrey add their monthly net income to get $6,000.

Step 3: Determine each parent's percentage of income

Divide the parents' individual monthly income (from Step 1) by the combined net monthly income (from Step 2) to determine what percentage they contribute.

Example: Audrey, the parent with partial physical custody, divides her monthly earnings of $3,500 by $6,000 to get 0.5833, which means she earns 58.33% of the combined income.

Step 4: Find the basic support obligation shared by the parents

Nobasic alimony plan, find your combined monthly income in the left column and the number of children covered by this case in the top row. (If your combined income falls between two amounts shown, the court tends to round up.) The dollar amount where they intersect is the basic child support obligation you share with the other parent.

Example: With a combined monthly household income of $6,000 and three children, Audrey and Keith share a basic child support obligation of $1,761.

Step 5: Find the individual basic support obligation

Multiply the basic shared support obligation by the lower custodial parent's income percentage (from Step 3).

Example: Audrey multiplies $1,761 by 0.5833 to get a monthly baseline payment of $1,027.19.

Step 6: Adjust for additional expenses

Finally, you must adjust the individual basic support obligation to account for additional expenses, such as child care, health insurance premiums, and private school fees.

If the parents haveshared physical custody, they normally split these costs 50/50. In other physical custody arrangements, each parent pays an amount proportional to their share of income (from Step 3).

Determine how much the less custodial parent must pay for additional expenses based on these guidelines. If they pay more than they currently pay, add the difference to your basic support obligation. If they pay less than they currently pay, subtract the difference from your basic support obligation.

Round the adjusted value to the nearest whole dollar. That's what the parent with the least amount of custody owes each month, according to Pennsylvania guidelines.

Example: Keith and Audrey's only additional expense is medical insurance for the children. It comes out to $400 per month, and Audrey currently covers $100. Since she has partial custody and earns 58.33% of the combined income, she must pay $233 for insurance (0.5833 X 400). In other words, she's paying $133 less than she should. This amount is added to her basic support obligation (1027.19) for a total of $1160.19.

After rounding up, Audrey owes Keith $1,160 a month in child support, based on state guidelines.

Deviating from the guide formula

parenting time

The guideline formula assumes that the child support parent has between 30 and 40 percent of the monthly income.custody hours.

When the paying parent spends less than 30% of their time with the child, the receiving parent can request additional support.

When the paying parent has at least 50 percent of the parenting time, the court reduces their percentage of the parents' combined monthly income by 20 percent. When they have at least 40 percent parenting time, the court reduces it by 10 percent.

Example: Audrey spendsthree days a week with the kids(approximately 43 percent of parenting time), then you qualify for a 10 percent reduction in your combined earnings percentage. She takes her percentage from Step 3 (58.33%) and decreases it by 10% to get 48.33%. She uses this as her percentage of income in steps 5 and 6.

low income

The court may reduce a paying parent's obligation if the guideline amount leaves him or her with a monthly income of less than $981.

You can also reduce the obligation if the parents' individual net monthly income (from Step 1) and the number of children intersect within the shading in thebasic support program🇧🇷 The number where they intersect is the adjusted payment amount, as long as it is less than the monthly reference payment from Step 5.

Example: Consider Paul, who has a net monthly income of $1,150 and two children in his current relationship. The support schedule shows that his obligation is $154, due to his low income status.

high income

When the parents' combined monthly income exceeds $30,000 after deductions, you are literally off the court table.

To determine the parent's basic support obligation, the court starts with the basic obligation of $30,000 (which varies depending on the number of children in the case, as described below). Then add a share of revenue above $30,000 to the obligation.

• One child: $2,839 plus 8.6% of combined monthly income over $30,000
• Two children: $3,902 plus 11.8 percent
• Three children: $4,365 plus 12.9 percent
• Four children: $4,824 plus 14.6 percent
• Five children: $5,306 plus 16.1 percent
• Six children: $5,768 plus 17.5%

Example: Fern and Roger have two children and a combined monthly income of $35,000. They find that the highest scheduled pension obligation by number of children is $3,902.

They then multiply $5,000 (the amount of their income above $30,000) by 11.8 to get $59,000. They divide this by 100 to determine that they must add $590 to the programming amount.

They add $590 to $3,902 to determine that your adjusted shared support obligation is $4,492. They complete Steps 5 and 6 using that amount.

Other deviations

A judge can also order a parent to pay more or less than the standard amount ifqualifying circumstances, such as high medical expenses or the income of a new spouse, so require.

There are separate formulas for cases involving more than six children or a paying parent withvarious families.

Application for alimony

The child for whom you are seeking support must have a legal parent. Parents who were not married at the time of their child's birth mayestablish paternityby signing aAcknowledgment of Paternitytogether or by filing a paternity suit through a child support claim.

Either parent canapply for alimony online.

After your county Domestic Relations Section approves your application, both parents attend a meeting where oneconference officerissue atemporary alimony claim.

If you disagree with the amount, you can appeal before the decision becomes a decision.Final order🇧🇷 Generally, you must file an appeal within 20 days. You will then have a hearing before another police officer or judge, where a final decision will be made. Each county has a different procedure, so check your local regulations.

Modify your support request

The modification may be necessary if the parents' finances change, the parents' timeshare changes, or a child turns 18 and graduates from high school. Wearpennsylvania electronic servicesfile a request for modification or reach an agreement with the other parent and present it toYour County Domestic Affairs Sectionfor approval.

Other alimony details

If you receive public assistance, the assistance payments go to the Department of Public Welfare. Each month they will send you a transfer check, a portion of your total support payment. You will receive up to $100 if you have one child and up to $200 if you have more than one child.

Custody and child support are handled in separate court orders. Failure to comply with one does not affect the other. If one parent does not pay child support, the other cannot withhold visitation, and if one parent does not pay visitation, the other cannot refuse to pay child support.

A child support order is legally binding and must be taken seriously. If you are unable to pay as ordered, the court may seize your tax refund or garnish your wages. If you simply choose not to pay, a court can hold you in contempt and even send you to prison.

Don't guess or estimate your parenting time percentage

Estimating your time as a parent can affect your child support claim by thousands of dollars a year if you are about to qualify for a deduction.

Still, lawyers and courts often estimate because manual calculation is tedious and time consuming.

oCustody Exchange Request Xallows you to quickly and accuratelycalculate your exact paternity time.

With Custody X Change, you can adjust your schedule to see how even small changes affect your timeshare. And you can see how your schedule changes every year due toHolidaysand other events.

Whether you pay or receive child support, make sure the parenting time calculation is accurate. The number will affect you, your child, and the other parent. It is not an estimation work.