How Child Support Is Calculated in Michigan

Courts must set child support using the Michigan Child Support Formula developed by the State Friend of the Court Bureau. By law, the formula is based on the needs of the child and the actual resources of each parent and accounts for child care and health care costs. A court may deviate from the formula only if applying it would be unjust or inappropriate, and must state the formula amount, how and why the order differs, and the value of any property awarded instead.

A parent, or anyone responsible for the care of a minor child, can apply for child support services through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Office of Child Support. The quickest way is the online application at Michigan.gov/MiChildSupport. You can also print and mail the paper IV-D Child Support Services Application/Referral (DHS-1201) to the Office of Child Support in Lansing or to a local MDHHS, Prosecuting Attorney or Friend of the Court office, or call 866-540-0008. People receiving cash or medical assistance are referred automatically.

Child support generally ends at 18. A court may order support after 18 while the child is regularly attending high school full-time with a reasonable expectation of earning enough credits to graduate, and is living full-time with the parent receiving support (or at an institution), but never after the child reaches 19 years and 6 months. A request for this extended support can be filed any time before the child reaches 19 years and 6 months, and the order must end on the last day of a specified month. Support beyond these limits is enforceable only if the parents agreed to it.

To change a support order, a parent can ask the Friend of the Court to review it or file a motion with the circuit court. The FOC must review an order on a party's written request, but does not have to act on more than one request from a party every 36 months; it also reviews public assistance and medical assistance cases at least every 36 months and can start a review itself for reasons such as an unordered change in custody, changed needs of the child, changed health care costs, changed finances, or an order based on incorrect facts. The FOC must seek a modification within 180 days if appropriate, but does not petition if the difference is below the minimum threshold set by the Michigan Child Support Formula. A party who disagrees with an FOC decision of no change can object in writing within 21 days to get a court hearing.

The Friend of the Court (FOC) and Office of Child Support must begin enforcement when one month or more of support is past due. Tools include income withholding (required in all orders unless the parents and court agree otherwise); show cause (contempt) hearings and bench warrants; a surcharge on overdue support when the court finds willful nonpayment; credit bureau reporting once arrears reach two months of support; suspension of professional, sporting, recreational and driver's licenses when arrears reach two months; liens on real and personal property, financial assets and insurance proceeds; passport denial at $2,500; interception of state tax refunds (arrears of $150) and federal tax refunds ($150 in cash assistance cases, $500 otherwise); and booting the vehicle of a parent with a bench warrant. Failure to pay support can also be a felony, which the local prosecuting attorney handles.

Michigan child support is calculated under the Michigan Child Support Formula (MCSF), published by the State Court Administrative Office, Friend of the Court Bureau; the January 2025 Michigan Child Support Formula Supplement contains the current schedules and figures used with the formula.