How Child Support Is Calculated in Massachusetts

Child support is set under the Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines issued by the Chief Justice of the Trial Court. The guideline amount is presumed correct; a court may depart from it only with written findings that the guideline amount would be unjust or inappropriate and that the departure is in the child's best interests. Orders may be modified when the existing amount is inconsistent with the guideline amount.

Child support orders cover minor children (under 18). The court may also order support, maintenance and education for a child aged 18 to 20 who lives in a parent's home and is principally dependent on that parent, and for a child aged 21 to 22 who lives in a parent's home and is principally dependent on that parent because the child is enrolled in an educational program (not including costs beyond an undergraduate degree).

After a divorce, either parent can file a complaint to modify. Support orders must be modified if the existing amount is inconsistent with the amount under the child support guidelines, or if health care coverage for the child needs to be provided for, unless the difference is due to an earlier justified departure from the guidelines that still applies. A parent's agreement does not prevent modification of child support. In cases where the state child support agency provides services, either parent can ask the agency to review the order every three years (or more often if regulations allow); within that cycle no change in circumstances needs to be shown, and outside it the requesting party must show a substantial change in circumstances. The agency must notify parents of this right at least once every three years.

The state child support agency (the IV-D agency, which by law is the Department of Revenue) can collect past-due support through income withholding notices to employers, demand letters, state and federal tax refund intercepts, federal administrative offset, passport denial, credit bureau reporting, contempt proceedings, capias and warrants, liens on real and personal property (unpaid support is automatically a lien), levy and seizure, forced sale of property, trustee process, and interception of unemployment and workers' compensation benefits, judgments, settlements and lottery winnings, bank accounts, and pension or retirement funds. It can also have driver's, professional, occupational, recreational and other licenses and vehicle registrations suspended, revoked or not renewed, after notice and a chance for a hearing. Each unpaid support payment becomes a judgment by law on its due date. The agency may assess interest and penalties by regulation.