Georgia child support guidelines
Georgia uses the income-shares model (O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15), and the state publishes an official online calculator run by the Georgia Child Support Commission. This page explains the rules and links that calculator; it doesn’t compute your figure.
How the income-shares model works in Georgia
Georgia combines both parents’ adjusted gross incomes, then:
- Looks up a basic child support obligation for that combined income and the number of children in the statutory table, which runs from $800 to $40,000 of combined monthly income (about $480,000 a year);
- Prorates that obligation between the parents by each one’s share of income;
- Adds health-insurance and childcare costs and applies the parenting-time adjustment.
The premise is that the child should receive the share of parental income they’d have had if the household were intact. A low-income adjustment protects a parent earning roughly $1,850 a month or less, using the separate low-income table in subsection (p).
The 2026 parenting-time overhaul
Georgia’s most important recent change is structural. Effective January 1, 2026, the state replaced its old discretionary parenting-time deviation with a mandatory parenting-time adjustment formula under § 19-6-15(g) — it takes each parent’s court-ordered days and raises them to the power of 2.5 to weight overnights. In practice this means parenting time now moves the number through a fixed calculation rather than being left to a judge’s discretion, so the split of days matters more precisely than it used to.
Use the official Commission calculator
The Georgia Child Support Commission maintains the official calculator (linked above); it produces the presumptive amount plus the printable Worksheet and Schedules courts use, and reflects the current statute. Use it for an actual estimate — this page only explains the model.
For a real case
The calculator’s amount is presumptive and a court can deviate from it. For advice on your situation, consult a Georgia family-law attorney.
Reviewed by Aqil Abbas Khan, Founder & Editor of ToolsNexus
This page is general information, not legal advice. Child support in Georgia is set by Georgia’s official guidelines, and the amount in any real case is determined by the court or the state child-support agency using the official worksheet — not by this page. Guideline figures, schedules, and adjustments change over time and depend on facts specific to your situation (each parent’s income, parenting time, health-insurance and childcare costs, and other factors a court may consider). Use the official Georgia calculator for an actual estimate, and consult a licensed family-law attorney in Georgia for advice about your circumstances. ToolsNexus is not a law firm and does not provide legal representation.
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Frequently asked questions
- How is child support calculated in Georgia?
- Georgia uses the income-shares model (O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15). It combines both parents' adjusted gross incomes, looks up a basic child support obligation for that combined income and the number of children in a statutory table, then prorates it between the parents by income share. Adjustments include health insurance, childcare, and a parenting-time adjustment.
- What income range does the Georgia table cover?
- The Basic Child Support Obligation table runs from $800 to $40,000 of combined monthly adjusted gross income (about $480,000 a year). A low-income adjustment protects a parent earning roughly $1,850 a month or less in gross income by capping the obligation using the low-income table in subsection (p).
- How does parenting time change support in Georgia?
- Big change for 2026: Georgia replaced its old discretionary parenting-time deviation with a mandatory parenting-time adjustment formula under O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15(g), effective January 1, 2026. It uses each parent's court-ordered days raised to the power of 2.5, so more parenting time now reduces the obligation through a set calculation rather than a judge's discretion.
- Until what age is support paid in Georgia?
- Support generally continues until the child turns 18, and a court can order it to continue up to age 20 if the child is still enrolled in and attending secondary school. It can end sooner if the child marries or becomes emancipated.
- Is the guideline amount final?
- The calculator produces a presumptive amount that a court may deviate from to reach the final order, based on factors the statute allows. Use it as an estimate, not a guarantee, and consult a Georgia family-law attorney for a real case.