How Child Support Is Calculated in Maine

Maine uses an income shares model: the parents' annual gross incomes are added together and applied to the child support table to find the basic support entitlement; child care, health insurance and extraordinary medical costs are added, and the total is divided between the parents in proportion to their incomes. The parent without primary residential care pays their share to the other parent, and a separate calculation applies when parents provide substantially equal care. Each parent files a Child Support Affidavit (FM-050), and the figures go on a Child Support Worksheet (FM-040). The Judicial Branch pages reviewed do not link an official online calculator.

Parents who do not receive TANF can apply for full child support services from the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Support Enforcement and Recovery (DSER), online through the DSER client portal, by downloading and mailing the paper application, by email, or by phone at (207) 624-4100. Families receiving TANF get services automatically. There is no application fee stated, but federal law requires a $35 annual fee in cases where the state has paid out at least $550 in support to a person who has never received TANF cash assistance.

Child support generally ends when the child turns 18. If the child turns 18 while still attending secondary school, the order stays in force until the child graduates, withdraws or is expelled from secondary school, or turns 19, whichever comes first.

Any party, including DHHS, can file a motion to modify support. If the current order differs by more than 15% from the guideline amount, that is treated as a substantial change in circumstances. If the order is 3 years old or older, it can be reviewed without proving a change in circumstances and will be modified if it differs from the guideline amount. A change can apply back only to the date the other party was served with the motion. DSER will also review orders on request through its Case Review Unit, though DSER says this can take months.

Almost all support orders include immediate income withholding. After serving a Notice of Debt, DSER can collect past-due support by filing liens on personal and real property, collecting from bank accounts, reporting debts over $1,000 to credit bureaus, taking settlements and other lump sums, taking gambling and lottery winnings, revoking or denying passports, taking state (and, in interstate cases, federal) income tax refunds, attaching wages or unemployment benefits, and ordering the parent to appear and disclose finances under oath. DSER may start license revocation (driver's, professional, hunting and fishing licenses) when no support has been paid for 60 days; a payment agreement can prevent it. These tools are used only in full-service cases.

Maine's child support agency is the Department of Health and Human Services' Division of Support Enforcement and Recovery (DSER), part of the Office for Family Independence. DSER establishes paternity, collects current and past-due support, sets up income withholding, and enforces support through liens, license or passport actions, bank or lottery collection and credit bureau reporting. Families receiving TANF or other qualifying benefits receive services automatically; others may apply without any other involvement with the Department. A $35 annual federal fee applies to never-TANF cases once at least $550 is disbursed in a year. DSER voice response system: (800) 371-7179 or (207) 624-7830; to speak with a representative: (207) 624-4100.

Maine child support is figured on the Maine Judicial Branch Child Support Worksheet (form FM-040, Rev. 02/20) under 19-A M.R.S. 2001-2012, with a supplemental worksheet when parents provide substantially equal care. The worksheet starts from each parent's gross income, subtracts certain pre-existing support obligations, and applies the Maine Child Support Table, the self-support reserve and the poverty-level adjustment.