How Child Support Is Calculated in Kentucky

Support is calculated under Kentucky's statutory guidelines: the guidelines table amount, based on the parents' combined monthly adjusted gross income, is divided between the parents in proportion to their shares of that income (an income shares approach), with a self-support reserve for low-income parents. A parent with the child at least 88 days a year may ask for a shared parenting time credit. The Office of the Attorney General publishes the official worksheet and a manual with examples.

Parents and guardians can apply for child support services online through the Kentucky Child Support Interactive website. You start by entering an email address, and the site emails you a code so you can finish the application later. Since July 1, 2025, the state child support program is run by the Department of Child Support Services under the Office of the Attorney General; local county attorneys continue to provide services in many counties.

Unless the parents agree otherwise in writing or the decree says otherwise, child support ends when the child is emancipated. If the child is still a high school student at 18, support continues while the child is in high school, but not beyond the end of the school year in which the child turns 19. The death of the paying parent does not automatically end support, and past-due support that built up while the child was a minor is still owed after emancipation.

A child support order can be changed only for payments that come due after a motion to modify is filed, and only if there has been a material change in circumstances that is substantial and continuing. If applying the child support guidelines to current circumstances changes the monthly amount by 15% or more, that is presumed to be a material change; a change under 15% is presumed not to be. A parent can file a motion with the court, and the Department of Child Support Services can also seek modification in cases it handles.

The Department of Child Support Services enforces support orders, collects past-due support, and can prosecute people who fail to pay. If a parent owes past-due support equal to six months of payments (or ignores child support subpoenas or warrants), the state must deny, suspend or revoke driver's, professional, occupational, recreational and sporting licenses until the debt is paid or a payment plan is being followed. Parents who owe $2,500 or more can be reported for passport denial. The agency also uses financial-institution data matches and administrative subpoenas to find assets, and matches state tort-claim settlements against the child support database.

Kentucky's child support program is run by the Department of Child Support Services, which is being transferred from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) to the Office of the Attorney General. Enforcement is automatic for K-TAP recipients; others can apply online through the Kentucky Child Support Interactive Website (csws.chfs.ky.gov) or complete the Application for Child Support Services (CS33) and mail or deliver it to the local child support office. Services include review and modification of orders, paternity acknowledgment and private wage withholding. Payments can be made online (fee applies), by phone (fee applies), in person, or by mail to Child Support Services, P.O. Box 14059, Lexington, KY 40512-4059. Child Support Hotline: (800) 248-1163, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern.

The Commonwealth of Kentucky's child support program offers an online Estimate Child Support tool that asks for each parent's income, deductions, child care costs and health insurance premiums and applies the Kentucky child support guidelines (KRS 403.212). Its disclaimer says "The calculations are only estimates that are based on information provided by the user" and that "only a Kentucky Court with competent jurisdiction has final authority to determine the amount of child support ordered."