How Child Support Is Calculated in Georgia

Georgia uses an income shares model (in effect since January 1, 2007). Both parents' gross monthly incomes, after certain adjustments, are combined, a basic obligation is found on the statutory schedule, and each parent owes a share in proportion to income, plus prorated health insurance and work-related child care costs. The Georgia Child Support Commission provides the official online calculator. Support generally continues until the child reaches majority, dies, marries, or is emancipated; a court may extend it while the child is still in high school, but not past age 20.

Apply to the Georgia Department of Human Services, Division of Child Support Services (DCSS), online or by printing, completing and mailing the right application packet (Packet I for a new case with no order, Packet II when there is an existing order and the other parent lives in Georgia, Packet III when the other parent lives in another state) with any applicable fee to the child support office in your county. A $35 annual federal fee applies on cases of families that never received TANF once $550 has been paid out to the custodial parent in a fiscal year; in Georgia the noncustodial parent owes this fee. DCSS toll-free: (877) 423-4746.

The duty to support a minor child continues until the child reaches the age of majority (18), dies, marries or becomes emancipated, whichever comes first. In orders entered on or after July 1, 1992, the court may require either or both parents to keep supporting a child who has not married or become emancipated, is enrolled in and attending secondary school, and turned 18 before finishing high school, but not after the child turns 20.

A parent may ask the court to modify child support only if there is a substantial change in either parent's income and financial status or in the child's needs. Generally, the same parent cannot file another petition to modify within two years of the final order on that parent's previous petition, unless the noncustodial parent has not used, or has used more than, the ordered visitation, or the request is based on an involuntary loss of income. The court may allow a temporary change while the petition is pending. DCSS can also review an order on request; the amount may go up, down or stay the same, past-due support is not modified, and the review can take up to six months. The requesting parent pays a $100 non-refundable review fee when the review is complete, unless they receive TANF or Medicaid or have non-TANF gross income of $1,000 a month or less.

DCSS uses income withholding orders sent to employers, federal and state tax refund offset (when $150 or more is owed on a TANF case or $500 or more on a non-TANF case), levies on bank accounts identified through the Financial Institution Data Match program, and driver's license suspension for parents out of compliance for 90 days (a parent who reports a job or income change may sign an Enforcement Deferral to avoid suspension). DCSS collects interest at 7% on judgments in its cases, starting when the paying parent is 30 days delinquent.

The Georgia Department of Human Services, Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) is the state child support agency. Apply online (services.georgia.gov/dhr/cspp/do/public/ApplyNow) or download an application packet and mail it, with any applicable fee, to the child support office in your county: Packet I when no order exists, Packet II when an order exists and the noncustodial parent lives in Georgia, and Packet III when the noncustodial parent lives in another state. Parents can log in to the Customer Online Services Portal to manage a case. Toll-free: (877) 423-4746.

The Georgia Child Support Commission publishes the official online Georgia Child Support Calculator, which produces a Child Support Worksheet for the guidelines in O.C.G.A. 19-6-15. You create a free account ("Signup"), log in and start a worksheet; you do not need to be an attorney. The calculator figures a presumptive amount from the Basic Child Support Obligation and your entries; deviations (Schedule E) can raise or lower it and are subject to the judge's discretion, so the court or jury decides the final amount. The old Excel calculators are retired.