How every state calculates child support, when it ends, what happens when it goes unpaid, and
how the money reaches families. Find your state, compare it with others, and check the source
behind every fact.
Alabama adds both parents' gross monthly incomes, looks up the basic obligation for that total in the Rule 32 schedule, and splits it by each parent's share of the combined income.
The shared custody worksheet (Form CS-42-S) applies only when a court orders each parent about 50% of the time (about 183 overnights a year); it raises the basic obligation by 50% and offsets the two shares. Below that, any adjustment for parenting time is a judicial deviation.
Support usually ends at 19, Alabama's age of majority, or earlier on marriage or emancipation. There is no separate high school extension; courts have also ordered support for an adult child with a disability.
Since Ex parte Christopher (Ala. 2013), Alabama courts cannot order a parent to pay college costs after the child turns 19, and DHR no longer handles post-minority education (Bayliss) cases.
Support judgments entered on or after September 1, 2011 accrue 7.5% a year (12% for 1981 to 2011 judgments, 6% before November 13, 1981). DHR says its system calculates this interest on the arrears it enforces.
Alabama does not pass any current support through to families receiving Family Assistance (TANF); the state keeps collections up to the assistance it has paid.
DHR charges $35 a year once $550 has been collected and disbursed in a federal fiscal year, unless you have ever received Family Assistance. Unpaid fees can be recouped from future support payments.
DHR can move to suspend driver's, professional, and recreational licenses when unpaid support equals six months of payments. Suspension takes effect 60 days after notice, and you have 15 days to request a hearing.
DHR reviews an order every 36 months on request without proof of change, sooner after a substantial change. A difference of more than 10% between the order and the guideline amount is presumed a material change.
Support is a percentage of the paying parent's adjusted annual income (total income minus taxes, mandatory dues, and some retirement contributions): 20% for one child, 27% for two, 33% for three, plus 3% for each additional child. The other parent's income is not used in primary custody cases.
Shared custody applies when the order gives a parent at least 30% of the year, which the commentary counts as 110 overnights; both incomes and the time split then enter the formula. Below that, the court may allow up to a 75% credit for visits of more than 27 consecutive days.
Support ends at 18, but an order can continue it for an unmarried 18 year old who is actively pursuing a high school diploma or equivalent and living as a dependent with a parent or guardian.
Alaska law extends support past 18 only for a child still in high school; Rule 90.3 does not set support for adult children, and courts have no authority to order college costs over a parent's objection.
CSED charges 6% a year on unpaid support, figured monthly on the unpaid principal (no interest on interest). Interest is not charged on current support being paid through wage withholding, and CSED can waive interest on support owed to the state.
If you get Alaska Temporary Assistance, the state passes through up to $50 a month of the support it collects, paid on top of your benefit. Support collected above that goes to the state to repay assistance.
If you have never received cash assistance in any state, CSED keeps $35 from your support once $550 has been paid to you in a federal fiscal year (October to September). The paying parent still gets full credit.
CSED can act against driver's and occupational licenses when you owe more than four times your monthly support and over $1,000, or owe $1,000 with no payment in 60 days. You get a 60 day notice first, and a payment agreement stops the action.
An order can be reviewed after three years without showing a change. A recalculated amount more than 15% higher or lower than the current order is presumed a material change.
Alaska SNAP does not require you to cooperate with child support; the state has not adopted the federal cooperation or arrears disqualification options.
CSED's current brochure and client portal guide offer direct deposit and name no prepaid card. The pages that described its U.S. Bank ReliaCard were taken down after the 2025 system change.
Arizona combines both parents' gross monthly incomes (Child Support Income), looks up the basic obligation in the state schedule, and splits it by income share, then credits the paying parent for parenting time.
The Parenting Time Table gives the paying parent a credit starting at 20 days a year (2.5% of the basic obligation) and rising to 50% at 164 days or more. Arizona counts days, not overnights: each 24 hours is a day, a block of 12 or more hours counts as a day, and shorter blocks count as a half or quarter day.
Support ends at 18, but continues while a child who turns 18 is actually attending high school or an equivalency program, up to age 19. A court may also order support past 18 for a child with a mental or physical disability.
Arizona law carries support past 18 only for high school (to 19) or a child with a disability; it does not authorize a court to order college costs, so they are paid only if the parents agree.
Past-due support accrues 10% simple interest a year by statute, starting at the end of the month after each payment is due, and the Division of Child Support Services calculates it on the arrears it enforces. A court can suspend future interest while a parent is incarcerated or disabled and unable to work.
There is no fee to apply for DCSS services. Separately, the paying parent in a case with an Arizona order pays an $8 monthly handling fee to the payment clearinghouse.
If you have never received cash or medical assistance, DCSS keeps $35 a year from your support after $550 has been collected in the federal fiscal year.
When you are at least six months behind and wilfully not paying, DCSS can refer you to court to suspend or restrict your driver's or recreational license. You have 15 days from the notice to request an administrative review.
In a DCSS case either party can request a review every three years without showing a change. A guideline amount 15% or more away from the current order is evidence of a substantial change for the court's simplified modification; DCSS also uses 15% or $50 a month, whichever is less.
Arkansas combines both parents' gross incomes, finds the basic obligation on the Family Support Chart, and splits it by each parent's share of the combined income.
The chart assumes the paying parent has fewer than 141 overnights a year; at 141 or more the guidelines intend a case by case downward deviation. When time is about equal (about 183 overnights each), the court offsets the two parents' obligations.
Support ends at 18, or for a child still in high school at graduation or the end of the school year after the child turns 19, whichever is earlier. A court order can extend support beyond these points, for example for a child with a disability.
Arkansas support ends automatically at the ages set by statute unless an order specifically extends it, and the law gives courts no separate authority to order college costs; parents can agree to them.
State law sets interest at 10% a year, but OCSE collects interest only after a court reduces the arrears to a judgment; otherwise you must calculate and pursue it yourself.
Arkansas passes no fixed amount through to families on TEA cash assistance. OCSE keeps support up to the amount of the TEA grant and pays the family only collections above the grant.
The person applying pays a one-time $25 fee for each noncustodial parent, and OCSE then withholds 13% of each collection (up to $18 a month) plus legal fees. Families required to cooperate because they get SNAP, TEA, Medicaid, or ARKids First pay no fees.
Arkansas pays the federal $35 annual fee from state funds. Receiving parents who are not on TEA, Medicaid, or SNAP still pay OCSE's own charges, mainly a base cost of 13% of each monthly payment (up to $18).
OCSE can suspend driver's, professional, and recreational licenses when you owe at least three times your monthly support. A written payment agreement, full withholding, or paying current support plus 20% toward arrears avoids or ends it.
Either parent can request an OCSE review every three years, or sooner after a change of 20% or more in monthly income. The 20% test applies to the paying parent's gross income, not to the support amount.
Parents applying for SNAP in Arkansas must cooperate with OCSE unless they have good cause. Arkansas applies the federal option to both custodial and noncustodial parents and also disqualifies members who are behind on court-ordered support.
California uses a statewide formula built on both parents' net disposable incomes and the higher earner's share of parenting time, rather than a lookup table.
The formula uses each parent's percentage of time with the children directly, so every overnight changes the amount with no starting cutoff. Equal time can still leave support owed when incomes differ.
Support ends at 18, but continues for an unmarried full-time high school student who is not self-supporting until the child finishes 12th grade or turns 19, whichever comes first. Both parents must also support an adult child who is incapacitated and unable to earn a living.
Families on CalWORKs get up to the first $100 of current support collected each month for one child, or $200 for two or more, and that amount is not counted when figuring the CalWORKs grant. Families who left CalWORKs get all current support plus assigned arrears.
Local child support agencies open cases and request orders at no cost to you; the only regular charge is the annual fee for families that never received cash aid.
If you have never received cash public assistance, DCSS deducts a $35 annual service fee from the first payment it distributes to you after at least $550 was distributed in the prior October to September year. Services for paying parents are free.
When a payment is more than 30 days overdue, licensing agencies are notified; the first notice gives you 150 days to resolve it before suspension (30 days for a repeat). Driver's licenses are not suspended for parents whose income is below a set level.
Local agencies notify parties at least every three years of the right to a review, and you can ask sooner after a change. An agency modification generally needs the order to change by 20% or $50 a month, whichever is less.
Colorado combines both parents' adjusted gross monthly incomes, finds the basic obligation in the state schedule, and splits it by income share, with a parenting time credit for each parent's overnights.
For orders entered or changed on or after March 1, 2026, each parent gets a parenting time credit from a table that starts at one overnight, replacing the old 92 overnight shared care cutoff. Equal time does not by itself end support.
Support ends at 19. If the child is still in high school, it continues until the end of the month after graduation but not past 21, and a court or the county can continue it past 19 for a child with a mental or physical disability.
For orders entered since July 1, 1997, support ends at 19 (or after high school) unless the parents agree in writing to more, so a court cannot order college costs over objection. Older orders could include post-secondary support.
Support due since July 1, 2021 can accrue interest at 2% above the 8% statutory rate (10%), compounded annually (12% compounded monthly before then). It is not automatic: the parent or agency owed may collect or waive it, and a court can disallow it for good cause.
Families on Colorado Works receive all current support collected, and it is not counted when figuring the cash grant (it is counted, with disregards, for eligibility). The law lets the pass-through stop in a year the legislature does not fund at least 90% of the county share.
If you have never received TANF or Colorado Works, $35 a year is deducted from the support paid to you once at least $550 has been collected that year.
The state can move to suspend your driver's license whenever you owe arrears and have not signed or kept a payment agreement, even after a partial payment; there is no minimum months behind. You have 30 days after notice to pay, make an agreement, or request a review.
The county grants a review on request once 36 months have passed since the last one, sooner with a qualifying change. A recalculated amount that differs by less than 10% is not a substantial and continuing change.
Connecticut combines both parents' net weekly incomes (after taxes and other allowed deductions), finds the basic obligation in the state schedule, and splits it by income share.
The guidelines have no parenting time formula. With shared physical custody (substantially equal time), the higher income parent pays their guideline share, and a judge may deviate for shared custody or extraordinary parenting expenses.
Support ends at 18, but continues for an unmarried full-time high school student until 12th grade ends or age 19, whichever comes first. A court can order support to 21 for a child with an intellectual, mental, or physical disability who lives with and depends on a parent.
A court can order either parent to help with up to four years of college or vocational school for a child under 23, capped at the cost of UConn for an in-state student. The order must be sought when the divorce or separation is decided unless the decree reserves it.
Connecticut's child support statutes set no interest rate on past-due support, and neither DSS nor Support Enforcement Services lists interest among its collection tools. Instead, the arrearage guidelines set how much you pay each month toward the past-due balance.
Families on Temporary Family Assistance receive the first $50 a month of current support, and it is not counted in figuring TFA eligibility or benefits. Larger collections go to repay assistance unless they exceed the grant.
If you have never received TFA, OCSS deducts $35 a year from payments to you once at least $550 is disbursed in the state fiscal year (July 1 to June 30).
Only a judge or family support magistrate can suspend a license, when you owe more than 90 days of support or fail to keep court-ordered health insurance for 90 days. The court must find your nonpayment wilful and that you have the means to meet the order's conditions.
In state program cases you can ask for a review every three years without showing a change. A difference of 15% or more from the guideline amount is presumed substantial for modification.
Delaware uses the Melson formula on both parents' gross monthly income: each parent first keeps a $1,600 self-support allowance, the children's primary needs are shared by income, and a standard of living adjustment is added on top.
A paying parent with 80 to 124 overnights a year (about 22% to 34% of the year) gets a 10% credit, and 125 to 163 overnights a 30% credit. At 164 or more overnights in each home the child counts as shared placement and half the child's needs are assigned to each household.
Support ends by law at 18, or for a child still enrolled in high school at graduation or 19, whichever comes first. The statute has no separate extension for a disabled adult child.
Delaware law ends support at 18 or high school graduation, so a court cannot order a parent to pay for college unless the parents agreed to it in writing.
Delaware's child support statutes and court rules do not charge interest on past-due support. Instead the court adds a repayment amount, usually 20% of current support (at least $20 a month).
The first $50 of support collected each month is returned to the TANF family the following month and is disregarded when figuring TANF eligibility and the grant. Delaware also uses fill-the-gap budgeting; the state keeps the rest while the case is open.
The parent applying for services pays $25 by check or money order. It is waived if you get Medicaid, TANF, General Assistance, SNAP, or child care subsidy, previously got TANF, Medicaid, or foster care, or the child is in Head Start.
DCSS deducts $35 a year from the custodial parent's support payments once $550 is collected in a federal fiscal year, on cases that never received TANF.
The statute allows suspension once you owe $1,000 or more and are 30 days delinquent; DCSS's own page lists $3,500 owed and no payment in 60 days as its trigger. After the notice you have 20 days to pay, agree to a plan, or request a hearing.
Within 2.5 years of the last order you must show a substantial change and a formula result more than 10% different; after 2.5 years Family Court recalculates without that test. Delaware has no administrative review; DCSS files a petition with Family Court.
Delaware has not adopted the federal option to disqualify SNAP households for not cooperating with child support. TANF and Medicaid do require cooperation unless you have good cause.
Florida adds both parents' net incomes (gross income minus taxes and other allowed deductions), finds the support amount for that total in the state schedule, and splits it by each parent's share of income.
Once each parent has at least 20% of the year's overnights (73 nights), the substantial time-sharing formula applies: the schedule amount is multiplied by 1.5 and each parent's share is weighted by the other parent's time. Equal time can still leave support payable when incomes differ.
Support ends at 18, or continues for a child who is still in high school and expected to graduate before 19. A court can also order support past 18 for a child whose mental or physical incapacity began before 18.
Florida's statute ends support at 18 (or high school graduation by 19) unless the parents agreed to more, so a court cannot order college costs over a parent's objection.
Unpaid support becomes a judgment after a delinquency notice, and the depository must then charge Florida's judgment rate on it: 7.87% for judgments from Oct. 1, 2026, reset each Jan. 1 until paid. The Department of Revenue does not say it adds interest to monthly balances on its own.
Families on Temporary Cash Assistance assign their support to the Department of Revenue, up to the total cash assistance paid, and Florida's TCA law provides no pass-through or child support disregard.
Driver's license and vehicle registration suspension can start once you are 15 days late on a payment. The notice gives you 20 days to pay, sign a payment agreement, contest it in court, or show you get unemployment, disability benefits, or cash assistance.
Within three years of the last order, a change must move support at least 15% and at least $50; after three years, DOR can seek a change of at least 10% and at least $25 without proof of changed circumstances.
Florida requires the custodial parent in a food assistance household to cooperate with child support unless good cause applies; USDA lists Florida as disqualifying a custodial parent who does not.
Georgia adds both parents' gross monthly incomes (after a few adjustments such as self-employment tax and other children), looks up the basic obligation for that total in the state table, and splits it by income share.
Any court-ordered parenting time enters the formula: each parent's days are raised to the power 2.5 and used to weight the two shares, so the adjustment grows smoothly with time and has no starting cutoff. No adjustment applies without a court order awarding parenting time.
Support ends at 18, marriage, or emancipation, but a court may order it to continue for a child still in high school until 20. A separate law lets a court order support for a dependent adult child with a disability.
Past-due support carries 7% a year starting once a payment is 30 days late. DCSS adds it only on orders it established or modified; on other orders a court can apply or waive it.
Georgia has no fixed pass-through. It uses gap budgeting: DCSS forwards support up to the gap between the family's standard of need and the maximum TANF grant (minus other net income), keeps the rest, and gap payments do not reduce the TANF check.
Georgia charges the $35 annual fee to the noncustodial parent ($2.92 a month, added to withholding) once $550 is disbursed in a year on a never-TANF case. Paying parents also owe up to $1.50 per payment processed.
DCSS certifies a license for suspension when you owe at least three months of support and paid less than three months' worth in the last 105 days; state law allows action at 60 days. The notice gives 20 days to pay, make an agreement, or request a hearing.
DCSS offers a review every three years and may seek a change when the new amount differs by at least 15% and at least $25 a month. The requesting parent pays a $100 review fee unless on TANF or earning $1,000 a month or less.
Georgia has not adopted the federal option to disqualify SNAP households over child support cooperation. TANF and Family Medicaid for the adult do require cooperation.
Hawaii uses a Melson-style formula on net income: each parent keeps a $1,693 monthly self-support reserve, the children's basic needs ($455 a month per child) are shared by income, and a standard of living adjustment of 10% per child (up to 30%) of remaining income is added.
When the parent with less time has more than 143 overnights a year (144, about 39% of the year), the Extensive Time-Sharing Worksheet phases support down toward the equal time-sharing result reached at 183 overnights.
Support usually ends at 18 but continues while the child attends high school, with no age cap in the law. After high school it can continue until about 23 for a full-time student at a college, university, or vocational school, and a court can order support for an adult child with a disability.
A court can order support for an adult child enrolled full-time in college, university, or vocational school, generally ending by 23, using the guideline worksheets unless exceptional circumstances apply.
Hawaii's child support agency does not calculate or collect interest on past-due support, and we found no Hawaii statute that sets an interest rate for child support arrears.
Hawaii keeps support collected for TANF families to repay assistance and passes none through. Bills to pass through $100 for one child and $200 for two or more (HB 1181 and SB 95) were introduced in 2023 and 2024 but did not become law.
CSEA can move to suspend a license once you are behind by three months of support. Within 30 days of the notice you can request a hearing or contact CSEA in writing to set up a payment agreement.
Once an order is three years old you can ask for a review without showing any change. Sooner, you need a substantial and material change, which is presumed when the guideline amount differs by 10% or more.
Hawaii has not adopted the federal option to disqualify SNAP households over child support cooperation. TANF and Med-QUEST medical support do require it unless good cause applies.
Idaho adds both parents' gross incomes (with a few adjustments), applies the state's percentage brackets for the number of children to get a basic obligation, and splits it by each parent's share of income.
When the child spends more than 25% of overnights (92 or more of 365) with each parent, the shared custody formula applies: the basic obligation is multiplied by 1.5, each parent's share is weighted by the other's time, and the two amounts are offset. At 25% or less there is no adjustment.
Support ends at 18, but a court may continue it while the child is still in high school until graduation or 19, whichever comes first. The support statute has no separate extension for a disabled adult child.
Interest runs only once a court enters a money judgment for unpaid support, at Idaho's legal rate in effect when the judgment is entered (8.875% for July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, reset by the State Treasurer each July). Neither Idaho law nor DHW says missed monthly payments accrue interest automatically.
Families on TAFI cash assistance assign their support to the state, which keeps collections up to the assistance paid; Idaho has no pass-through or disregard.
The parent applying for enforcement services mails a $25 fee with the application. Receipting-only service (payments processed through the state, no enforcement) is free.
Child Support Services bills the $35 annual fee to the parent ordered to pay once $550 has been collected and paid out in a federal fiscal year, on cases that never received TANF.
A license can be suspended once you owe 90 days of support or $2,000, whichever is less. You have 21 days after the notice to request a hearing, and a repayment schedule can stop the suspension.
Child Support Services reviews orders every 36 months on request, or sooner after a substantial change, and seeks a modification only if the new amount differs by at least 15% and at least $50 a month.
A parent living with a child whose other parent is absent must cooperate in establishing paternity and getting support, or is not eligible for Food Stamps, unless good cause applies. The rule does not apply to paying parents.
Illinois adds both parents' net incomes (gross income minus standardized or individualized taxes), finds the basic obligation in the HFS schedule, and splits it by each parent's share of combined net income.
When each parent has 146 or more overnights a year (40% of the year), the basic obligation is multiplied by 1.5, each parent's share is weighted by the other parent's time, and the two amounts are offset. Below 146 there is no formula adjustment.
Support ends at 18, or for a child still in high school at graduation or 19, whichever comes first. A court can also order support for an adult child with a disability.
A court can order either or both parents to contribute to college or vocational school expenses incurred before the student's 23rd birthday (25 for good cause). The duty ends if the student falls below a C average, earns a bachelor's degree, or marries.
Illinois law sets 9% a year on past-due support (0.75% a month on the unpaid balance), but since Jan. 1, 2021 Child Support Services no longer adds it automatically. It is established only on a written request after the youngest child is emancipated and all support is paid, or when a court adjudicates it.
Since July 2024 Illinois passes all child support collected to families on TANF and disregards it when figuring TANF eligibility and benefits; the first $100 (one child) or $200 (two or more) arrives as the monthly pass-through payment and the rest follows separately. SNAP still counts it as income.
Illinois imposes the $35 annual fee on never-TANF cases once $550 is collected, and pays it from state funds, so it is not taken from either parent. HFS describes its child support services as free.
The Secretary of State suspends a driver's license when you are 90 days or more delinquent, on a court report or an HFS certification. The suspension takes effect 60 days after the notice unless you pay in full or set up a payment plan HFS accepts.
Child Support Services reviews cases every three years at no charge, and as a rule the new amount must be at least 20% higher or lower to change the order. A substantial change in circumstances can justify an earlier modification.
Illinois has not adopted the federal option to disqualify SNAP households over child support cooperation. TANF and Medicaid do require cooperation unless good cause applies.
Indiana works by the week: it adds both parents' weekly gross incomes (after a few adjustments), finds the basic obligation in the state schedule, and splits it by each parent's share of income.
The parenting time credit begins at 52 overnights a year (about 14% of the year, roughly alternate weekends) and grows through the Table PT bands up to equal time. At equal time support can still be owed, and the court decides which parent pays controlled expenses such as clothing and school costs.
Support ends at 19, or earlier if the child is emancipated or is 18, out of school for four months, and self-supporting. It continues to high school graduation, with no age cap, if a parent files notice between the child's 17th and 19th birthdays, and continues during incapacity for a disabled child.
A court can order parents to contribute to college or vocational school costs based on the child's ability, the child's own resources, and each parent's means, but the petition must be filed before the child turns 19. Courts may limit the award to the cost of a state-supported school.
Interest is not automatic. On request of the person or agency owed support, a court may order interest of up to 1.5% a month (18% a year) on delinquent payments, collected like support.
While a family receives TANF, the state keeps the child support it collects to repay benefits. Once TANF ends, current support goes to the family first.
Indiana charges the parent ordered to pay a $55 Annual Support Fee per case each year under state law, often taken through wage withholding. DCS policy does not describe deducting the federal $35 fee from the receiving parent.
You count as delinquent once you are $2,000 or three months behind, and the agency can then move to suspend driving and other licenses. The notice gives you 20 days to pay, agree to a payment plan with income withholding, or request a hearing.
IV-D orders can be reviewed at least every three years. A court can modify an order at least 12 months old that differs from the guidelines by more than 20%, or any order after a substantial and continuing change.
Indiana has not adopted the federal option to disqualify SNAP households over child support cooperation. TANF and Medicaid do require cooperation unless good cause applies.
An extraordinary visitation credit of 15% to 25% starts at 128 court-ordered overnights a year (about 35% of the year). Court-ordered joint (equally shared) physical care uses a separate offset formula.
Support runs to 18, and to 19 for a child engaged full time in finishing high school or an equivalency program. A court can order support for a child of any age who is dependent because of a physical or mental disability.
Unpaid support accrues 10% a year starting 30 days after each payment is due. Child Support Services may collect it but is not required to keep interest balances, and may waive interest to help collect the debt.
While a family receives FIP (Iowa's TANF), the state keeps the full amount of assigned support collected to repay assistance; none is passed through to the family.
Applying is free. A 2019 law (Senate File 605) eliminated the customer-paid application fee, and the current application lists only the $35 annual fee.
The parent receiving support pays $35 a year, taken from support payments, if they never received cash assistance on the case and at least $550 was collected in the federal fiscal year.
Child Support Services can start license sanctions when unpaid support equals three months of payments. You have 20 days after the notice to request a conference.
Either parent can ask CSS for a review every two years, and CSS adjusts only if the order is more than 20% off the guidelines. In court, a 10% difference from the guideline amount is a substantial change.
Both parents' gross incomes are combined and matched to a schedule that also varies by the children's ages, and each parent pays their proportionate share.
When the child spends 35% or more of the time (about 128 overnights a year) with the parent without primary residency, the court decides whether to reduce support by 10%, 20%, or 30% using a table. Equal time uses separate shared expense or equal parenting time formulas.
Support ends at 18, but continues to June 30 of the school year the child turns 18 if still in high school. A court can extend it through the school year the child turns 19 if both parents took part in the decision that delayed graduation.
A court cannot order college support over a parent's objection; support past 18 beyond the high school rules happens only when the parents agree in writing and the court approves it.
Past-due installments are judgments that carry the Kansas judgment rate (4 points over the Fed discount rate, reset each July 1; 7.75% through June 30, 2027), with a 10% simple rate presumed correct for support. CSS does not calculate interest and enforces it only when a court order states the total.
CSS acts after 90 days without payment when past-due support exceeds $500. Kansas restricts driving privileges rather than fully suspending them, and you have 30 days after notice to resolve it or request a hearing.
Either parent can ask CSS to review the order every three years. A change in finances that would move the guideline amount by 10% counts as a material change.
Custodial parents and caretaker relatives applying for food assistance must cooperate with Child Support Services unless they have good cause; anyone who does not is ineligible until they cooperate.
A shared parenting time credit starts at 88 days a year with the paying parent (15%) and rises in steps to 50% at equal time. The statute counts days of care, custody, and control rather than overnights.
Kentucky law ends support at emancipation, with only the high school extension; support for college happens only if the parents agree in writing or the decree expressly provides for it.
A court judgment for unpaid child support bears 12% interest, compounded annually, from the date the judgment is entered (double the 6% rate on other judgments). The rate applies once a court enters a judgment for the arrears, not to each missed payment by default.
A $35 fee is deducted from the receiving parent's next payment once $550 has been paid out in the federal fiscal year, on cases that never received K-TAP, AFDC, or Kinship Care.
Driver's, professional, and recreational licenses can be denied or suspended when arrears equal six months of nonpayment, or for ignoring a child support subpoena or warrant.
Either parent can ask for a review every 36 months, or sooner with a continuing change. A guideline result 15% or more different from the current order is presumed a material change.
Custodial parents do not have to cooperate to get SNAP. A noncustodial parent who is behind on court-ordered support is ineligible for SNAP while delinquent, with exceptions for good cause (such as illness or a job change), drug treatment, job training, and households with a child or a pregnant member.
Under joint custody, a court may give a credit once the paying parent has the child more than 73 days a year (at least 4 hours counts as a day); the amount is up to the court. Approximately equal time (shared custody) uses a separate formula that raises the basic amount by 50% and offsets each parent's share.
Support continues past 18 for an unmarried, dependent child who is a full-time student in good standing in high school, until 19. A court must continue support to 22 for a child with a developmental disability who is still a full-time high school student.
Louisiana law extends support only for high school students (to 19) and some students with disabilities (to 22); there is no provision for ordering college costs.
Each past-due payment is a judgment by law, and Louisiana judgments carry the judicial interest rate (7.50% for 2026, reset each year). No child support statute or DCFS page says the agency adds interest to child support balances.
While a family receives FITAP, collected support is kept by the state to repay assistance; only an amount above the unreimbursed grant is refunded to the family.
DCFS charges $35 a year once it has collected and distributed $550 to a family that never received FITAP, and the custodial party is responsible for it.
Being more than 90 days behind can lead to suspension of driver's, professional, and hunting and fishing licenses. You have 20 days after the notice to request a hearing.
DCFS reviews an order that is more than three years old, would change by at least 25% under the guidelines, or reflects a substantial change in circumstances. A judge must approve any new amount.
Maine adjusts the formula only when parents provide substantially equal care, using a separate calculation that can still produce support when incomes differ. The law defines equal care by participation in the child's total care, not by a fixed overnight count.
Maine law lets the department collect 6% a year on support debts owed to it, but DSER lists charging interest on child support debts among the services it cannot provide. A separate court judgment for past-due support can carry post-judgment interest.
Maine passes through the first $50 a month of current support collected to a family on TANF and excludes it from TANF eligibility and benefit calculations. The $50 is per family, not per child.
DSER charges no fee to apply for child support services. Its current application lists only the $35 annual federal fee for families that never received TANF.
DSER keeps $35 a year from support collected for a parent who never received TANF, once more than $550 has been collected in the federal fiscal year. Paying parents also pay a $2 fee added to withheld support.
Driver's, professional, and recreational licenses can be suspended when you are more than 60 days behind on current support or an arrears agreement, or not providing ordered health insurance. You have 20 days to request a hearing.
DHHS must notify parents at least every three years of their right to a review. An order more than 15% off the guideline amount is a substantial change, and after three years a court can modify without showing changed circumstances.
Shared physical custody applies when each parent keeps the child overnight more than 25% of the year (at least 92 overnights), with an extra adjustment between 92 and 109 overnights. It uses Worksheet B and does not automatically end support.
No Maryland child support law sets an interest rate on past-due support, and the Department of Human Services told legislators in 2025 that Maryland does not charge interest on child support arrears.
A family on Temporary Cash Assistance gets up to $100 a month for one child or $200 for two or more from current support paid, capped at the ordered amount. The passed-through amount is disregarded when computing TCA.
Maryland charges a $15 annual collection fee to a receiving parent who never received TCA on the case, but only after they receive at least $3,500 in support in the year starting October 1.
Since October 1, 2025, CSA can refer a license for suspension only when the account is 120 days or more out of compliance, and not if your income is at or below 250% of the federal poverty level. You usually have 30 days to request a review after the 120 day notice.
Either parent can request a CSA review at 36-month intervals, or sooner after a material change. Maryland sets no numeric percentage; a court must find a material change in circumstances.
The base formula assumes the other parent has about one third of the time. Approximately equal sharing of time and expenses uses the shared calculation; time between one third and one half is only a ground for a judge to deviate, and there is no fixed overnight count.
Support past 18 is up to the judge: to 21 for a child living with and principally dependent on a parent, and to 23 if also enrolled in an undergraduate program. DOR's system ends current support at 21 unless the order says otherwise.
A judge can order a parent to contribute to college costs for a dependent child up to 23. The guidelines cap each parent's share at 50% of in-state UMass Amherst costs unless the judge finds the parent can pay more.
In full-service DOR cases, DOR charges 0.5% a month interest plus a 0.5% monthly penalty on past-due support whenever more than $500 is owed and the minimum monthly payment was not made. It never charges interest on prior interest or penalty.
DOR can suspend driver's, professional, and recreational licenses for any arrearage that is subject to a child support lien; the law sets no minimum amount or time. You have 30 days after notice to request a hearing.
DOR reviews full-service orders every three years on request without proof of a change. Any inconsistency between the order and the guideline amount is a ground to modify, with no percentage threshold.
Michigan's formula uses both parents' net incomes (after taxes and other allowed deductions) to set a base support amount for each parent, then nets the two using the parenting time offset.
The parental time offset applies to every support calculation where overnights can be determined, with no minimum. Each parent's overnights are raised to the 2.5 power in the equation, so the effect grows as time approaches equal.
Support ends at 18, but a court can continue it while the child attends high school full time with a reasonable expectation of graduating, never past 19 years and 6 months. Support past 18 for any other reason, including an adult child with a disability, needs the parents' agreement in the order.
A Michigan court can extend support past 18 only for a child still in high school. College support is enforceable only if the parents agreed to it and the agreement is in the judgment or order.
Michigan adds no interest by default. A judge who finds nonpayment willful can order a simple surcharge each January 1 and July 1 at 1% plus the average 5-year Treasury note auction rate, which works out to about 4.96% for July 2026.
Current support collected for a child on the Family Independence Program is paid to the family as a client participation payment, with no cap. That payment is excluded as income for FIP, so it does not lower the grant.
MDHHS lists its child support services (paternity, locating a parent, getting an order, collecting payments) as free to the parent who applies. Court fees can apply once an order exists, including the $3.50 monthly Friend of the Court fee charged to the paying parent.
Michigan assesses the $35 federal fee on never-assisted cases after $550 is collected, but since fiscal year 2011 it pays the fee from MDHHS funds instead of taking it from the parent receiving support.
Licenses can be suspended once arrears exceed two months of support and income withholding has failed; a driver's license also requires a court finding that you can pay and are willfully not paying. You have 21 days after the notice to pay or request a hearing.
Either parent can request a Friend of the Court review once every 36 months, and cases on public assistance are reviewed at least that often. The office must seek a change when the new amount differs from the current order by 10% or $50 a month, whichever is greater.
Minnesota adds both parents' gross incomes (less a credit for other children they support), looks up a basic support amount in the state table, and splits it by each parent's share of combined income.
When a court order awards parenting time, the parenting expense adjustment applies with no minimum: each parent's annual overnights are cubed in the formula. If parenting time and incomes are both equal, no basic support is paid.
A child is covered until 18, or until 20 while still attending secondary school. Support also continues for a child who cannot support themselves because of a physical or mental condition.
Minnesota's definition of a child stops at 18, or 20 in secondary school, so a court cannot order college support over a parent's objection; parents can agree to it.
Beginning August 1, 2022, interest no longer accrues on past, current, or future child support judgments. Interest that accrued before that date can still be owed.
MFIP families receive all current basic support collected in the month it is due. The first $100 a month for one child, or $200 for two or more, does not reduce MFIP; support above that counts as income.
There is no application fee, but parents who apply for full services and have not received public assistance in the last 24 months pay a 2% cost recovery fee taken from the support collected.
A driver's license can be suspended when arrears equal at least three months of support and you are not following an approved payment agreement. The county gives 90 days' notice, and you can request a hearing within 30 days or sign a payment agreement.
Either parent can ask the county for a review at any time, and orders also get a cost of living adjustment every two years. A new guideline amount at least 20% and $75 a month different from the current order is presumed a substantial change.
Minnesota has not adopted any SNAP child support cooperation or arrears disqualification. Cooperation is required for MFIP, child care assistance, and Medical Assistance.
Support is a flat share of the paying parent's adjusted gross income (gross income minus taxes, Social Security, and required retirement): 14% for one child, 20% for two, 22% for three, 24% for four, 26% for five or more. The other parent's income does not enter the base formula.
Only joint custody with equally shared parenting time (50%, about 183 overnights a year) has a formula: each parent's guideline amount is figured and the higher-income parent pays the difference. Below equal time, any credit for time with the paying parent is a judge's deviation.
Mississippi's age of majority for support is 21, so support runs to 21 unless the child marries, joins the military full time, or is otherwise emancipated earlier. A court can end it sooner for a child 18 or older who leaves school or moves out and works full time.
Under Mississippi case law a chancellor can order a parent to pay college expenses as part of support, unless the child's behavior toward that parent forfeits it. The duty ends at 21 along with all other support.
Interest is not added automatically; it is owed only when a court adjudicates the arrears. MDHS asks the court for 8% simple interest unless the underlying judgment sets a different rate.
TANF families can receive up to $100 of the support collected each month, regardless of how many children. The pass-through is disregarded for TANF eligibility and the grant, though MDHS may count it for other benefits such as SNAP.
A custodial parent who applies for services (rather than being referred through TANF or SNAP) pays a one-time, nonrefundable $25 by check or money order.
MDHS deducts $35 a year from support collected for the custodial parent once $550 is disbursed in a federal fiscal year, on cases that never received TANF and are not getting SNAP. The paying parent is never charged.
MDHS can start suspending driver's, professional, and recreational licenses once you are one or more months behind, with exemptions such as disability or receiving SNAP or TANF. The notice gives you 90 days to pay or sign a payment agreement.
You can ask MDHS for a review every three years without showing a change, or sooner after a material change. MDHS treats a 25% difference from the current order (or a 25% change in adjusted gross income) as a substantial change.
SNAP applicants caring for a child with an absent parent must cooperate with child support unless they have good cause. Mississippi also disqualifies noncustodial parents who refuse to cooperate or fall behind on support.
Form 14 combines both parents' gross monthly incomes, looks up the basic amount for the children in the state schedule, and splits it by each parent's share of combined income.
Form 14 line 11 gives the paying parent a credit that starts at 6% of the basic amount for 36 to 72 overnights a year (about 10% to 20% of the year) and rises in steps to 34% at 181 or more. The credit generally applies only if the receiving parent's adjusted income is above a floor ($1,750 a month for one child).
Support continues past 18 while the child attends and progresses in high school, until graduation or 21, and for a child in college or vocational school who meets credit and grade rules, until 21. A court can extend support for a child who is physically or mentally incapacitated.
Support continues by statute for a child who enrolls in college or vocational school by October 1 after high school, takes at least 12 credit hours a semester, keeps grades good enough to reenroll, and sends both parents transcripts. It stops at 21 regardless.
Delinquent support on Missouri court judgments accrues simple interest of 1% a month automatically. The Family Support Division does not calculate it; the receiving parent must file a sworn payment history and interest statement with the circuit clerk to collect it, and FSD collects interest judgments that appear on the clerk's record.
While a family gets Temporary Assistance, Missouri keeps the current support it collects, up to the amount of the grant, and passes none of it through.
Missouri charges no fee to apply for child support services. The only fee FSD lists is the $35 annual federal fee, split between the parents, on families that never received Temporary Assistance.
Missouri splits the fee: $17.50 is deducted from the receiving parent's next payment after $550 is collected in the federal fiscal year, and $17.50 is collected from the paying parent. It applies only to families that never received Temporary Assistance.
FSD or a court can suspend licenses when you owe three months of support or $2,500, whichever is less. The license is suspended 60 days after the notice is served unless you pay, enter a payment plan, or request a hearing.
FSD reviews orders every three years on request, or sooner in special circumstances. A Form 14 amount that differs from the current order by 20% or more is a prima facie showing of a substantial change.
Missouri has not adopted SNAP child support cooperation or arrears disqualification. Cooperation is required for Temporary Assistance and MO HealthNet.
Montana uses a Melson-style formula on each parent's income after taxes and other allowed deductions: each parent first keeps a personal allowance ($20,748 a year in 2026), the child's primary needs are shared by income, and a standard of living adjustment is added from income left over.
There is no adjustment when the child spends 110 days a year or fewer with the other parent. Once a child spends more than 110 days (about 30% of the year) with each parent, the shared parenting worksheet credits each parent for days above 110.
Support ends at emancipation or high school graduation, whichever is later, and no later than 19 unless the parents agreed otherwise. It can continue past that age for a child with a disability who depends financially on the custodial parent.
Support ends by 19 at the latest unless a written agreement or the decree expressly extends it, so a court cannot order college support over a parent's objection.
The law lets CSSD collect interest at the judgment rate, the bank prime rate on January 1 plus 3% (6.75% plus 3% for 2026), not compounded. In practice CSSD does not calculate interest and collects it only after a court reduces it to a judgment.
Current support collected for a TANF family, up to $100 a month per family, is passed through by the public assistance office. That amount is disregarded when figuring TANF income and eligibility.
The applicant pays a nonrefundable $25 enrollment fee. It is waived if you receive Montana public assistance, including Medicaid, Healthy Montana Kids, SNAP, cash assistance, or a child care grant.
CSSD can suspend driver's, professional, and hunting and fishing licenses once you owe six months of support. You have 60 days after the notice is served to pay, agree to a payment plan, or request a hearing.
CSSD reviews an order after 36 months, or sooner with a substantial change such as a 30% change in either parent's gross income. It proceeds with a modification only if the new guideline amount differs from the current order by 15% or more.
Montana has not adopted SNAP child support cooperation or arrears disqualification. Cooperation is required for TANF cash assistance and for Best Beginnings child care scholarships.
Nebraska combines both parents' monthly net incomes (total income minus taxes and other allowed deductions), finds the support amount in Table 1, and splits it by each parent's share of combined net income.
When a court orders joint physical custody and each parent has more than 142 days a year (about 39%), support is presumed to use the joint custody worksheet. If one parent has 109 to 142 days (about 30% to 39%), using that worksheet is up to the judge.
Nebraska's age of majority is 19, so support ends when the child turns 19, marries, dies, or is emancipated by a court, unless the order specifically extends it. There is no separate high school extension because 19 already covers most seniors.
Past-due support draws simple interest at the state judgment rate in effect on the date of the most recent order, starting 30 days after a payment is late, and the state child support agency computes it. The judgment rate for orders entered from October 15, 2026 is 6.441%; older orders keep the rate in effect when they were entered.
Current support collected while a family gets ADC is assigned to the state, and none is passed through today. Beginning July 1, 2027, the law requires a pass-through of up to $100 a month for one child or $200 for two or more, disregarded for eligibility and the grant.
DHHS lists the $35 annual fee as the only charge for child support services, and it does not recover other administrative costs. State law allows an application fee, which the department may pay on the applicant's behalf.
Once $550 has been disbursed in a federal fiscal year, $35 is taken from the receiving parent's next payments, per case. It is not charged if the family ever received TANF, must cooperate with child support for SNAP, or had IV-E foster care.
DHHS or the county attorney can certify you for driver's and professional license suspension when you owe more than three months of support or are not following a payment plan. You have 30 days after the notice to pay, set up a payment plan, or request a review.
DHHS reviews IV-D orders every three years, or sooner after a substantial change. A guideline amount at least 10% (and at least $25) different from the current order, due to circumstances that have lasted three months and should last six more, is presumed a material change.
Both custodial and noncustodial parents of a child under 18 must cooperate with child support to get SNAP, unless they have good cause. Only the parent who refuses is disqualified; the rest of the household keeps benefits.
Support is a tiered percentage of the paying parent's gross monthly income: for one child, 16% of the first $6,000, 8% of the next $4,000, and 4% above $10,000 (22%, 26%, and higher on the first $6,000 for more children). The other parent's income counts only when custody is joint.
With joint physical custody, generally at least 40% of the time with each parent (146 overnights a year), each parent's obligation is figured and the higher one pays the difference. Below that, there is no formula credit, though a judge can adjust for the factors in NAC 425.150.
Support ends at 18, or at 19 if the child is still enrolled in high school. A parent must keep supporting an adult child whose disability began before 18 until the child is no longer disabled or becomes self-supporting.
When a court adjudicates arrears it adds simple interest at the prime rate plus 2%, a rate set each January 1 and July 1 (8.75% through 2026, from a 6.75% prime). The state system calculates and enforces interest on adjudicated arrears only.
Nevada stopped paying disregard (pass-through) payments in 2002, so support collected for a TANF family goes to reimburse the state. The family gets support only when collections exceed the TANF grant, which ends cash assistance.
On cases that never received TANF, the program keeps $35 from support collected for the receiving parent each federal fiscal year once more than $550 has been collected and disbursed. The paying parent still gets full credit.
Driver's, professional, and recreational licenses can be suspended if you owe more than $1,000 and are at least two months behind, or fail to provide court-ordered health insurance. You have 30 days after the notice to pay, sign a repayment plan, or request a hearing.
You can request a review every three years without showing a change, or anytime circumstances change. Nevada's numeric test is a 20% change in either parent's gross monthly income, not a percent change in the support amount.
A percentage of both parents' combined net income (19% to 25.6% for one child, lower at higher incomes) is divided between the parents in proportion to their incomes. Net income is gross income less standard federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare amounts.
There is no overnight formula; instead, when each parent has more than 35% of the schedule (about 128 overnights) and gross incomes are within 10%, a deviation is presumed, and above 40% (about 146 overnights) a $0 order is presumed. Both presumptions require the parents to split child care, uninsured medical, and agreed activity costs 50/50; with unequal incomes a shared schedule is weighed case by case.
Support ends at 18, or for a full-time high school (or home education) student at graduation or 2 months after the 19th birthday, whichever comes first. For orders issued after July 9, 2013, a court may continue support for a child with disabilities who is receiving special education, up to age 21.
A New Hampshire support order cannot require a parent to pay for an adult child's college. Parents can agree to contribute in a stipulated decree that both sign and the court approves.
DHHS may collect interest at the RSA 336:1 judgment rate (26-week Treasury bill plus 2 points, reset each January; 5.7% for 2026) on support debt owed to the department, but it is not required to keep interest balances and may waive it. It is not added automatically to arrears.
While you receive FANF or TANF cash assistance, DHHS keeps the support it collects to reimburse the assistance paid to you. Support goes to you once assistance ends.
Each year the $35 fee is deducted from your payments once $550 has been sent to you, if you have never received TANF for the children. It is charged per case, so parents with several cases pay it more than once.
DHHS may start revoking driver's, professional, and hunting or fishing licenses after 60 days without payment (the statute itself sets no day count). You have 21 days after notice to request a supervisory review or file to change the order, which stops the action.
Either parent can ask for a recalculation 3 years after the last order without showing any change, or sooner after a substantial change in circumstances. The statute sets no percentage test for what counts as substantial.
You can choose direct deposit or the New Hampshire Debit MasterCard, called the Way2Go Card. If you do not choose within 2 weeks of the enrollment package, you are enrolled in the card.
Both parents' weekly net incomes are combined to find a basic support amount in the state schedule, and each parent owes a share in proportion to income. The guidelines must be applied as a rebuttable presumption in every support case.
With regular parenting time below two overnights a week, the paying parent's award can be reduced by their share of overnights times the 37% of costs that are variable (food and transportation). At the equivalent of two or more overnights a week (about 28%, or 102 overnights) a shared parenting worksheet may apply instead.
Support ends automatically at 19 unless the receiving parent asks to continue it before then, which is allowed up to 23 for a child still in high school or enrolled full time in college, vocational, or graduate school. Support can continue past 23 for a child with a severe physical or mental incapacity that existed before 19.
A judge can order parents to contribute to college costs and to continue support for a child in college, applying case law and statute rather than the support schedule. Support for a child in school can run to age 23.
The child support agency sets interest at zero, but unpaid support is a judgment and accrues post-judgment interest under Court Rule 4:42-11 (4.5% simple for 2026, 6.5% for judgments above the Special Civil Part limit; reset each year). Probation does not add it to your balance; it is calculated only when the arrears are paid off or collected from assets.
While you receive Work First New Jersey cash assistance, you get up to $100 a month of the support collected for one child, or up to $200 for two or more. The amount passed through is disregarded when your cash benefit is calculated.
You pay a one-time $6 fee to apply for full child support services, and you can pay it after you submit the application. There is no fee if you receive public assistance.
New Jersey pays the $35 annual fee for never-assisted families once $550 is collected, using state funds. Its rule allows billing the paying parent only if that funding is not available.
Driver's, professional, and recreational licenses can be suspended once arrears equal six months of support, health coverage has not been provided for six months, or a support warrant is outstanding. The notice gives you 30 days to pay in full or ask for a court hearing in writing.
Every three years both parents get notice of the right to a Triennial Review, which is automatic if you receive public assistance; orders also get a cost of living adjustment every two years. Court modification otherwise requires a substantial change in circumstances, with no set percentage.
New Jersey has not adopted the federal option to disqualify SNAP households for not cooperating with child support. Cooperation is required for Work First New Jersey cash assistance.
If you do not sign up for direct deposit or have no bank account, your support is loaded onto a Way2Go Card. You get one free cash withdrawal per deposit each month at participating banks and ATMs.
Both parents' gross monthly incomes are combined to find a basic obligation in the state schedule, and each parent owes a share in proportion to income. Worksheet A covers sole custody with visitation and Worksheet B covers shared responsibility.
Time below 35% of the year is basic visitation with no adjustment. When the children spend at least 35% of the year (about 128 days) in each home and the parents substantially share duties and costs, Worksheet B raises the basic obligation by 50% and divides it by each parent's days with the children.
Support ends at 18, or at high school graduation for a child under 19 who is still attending high school. Support after that is ordered only under a written agreement between the parents.
Interest accrues by law at a fixed 4% a year on delinquent child support from the date it becomes delinquent until it is paid, and the Child Support Services Division calculates it on New Mexico orders. Payments go first to current support and arrears, and to interest last.
While you receive New Mexico Works cash assistance, CSSD passes through up to $100 a month of current support for one child or up to $200 for two or more. The pass-through (and a $50 child support disregard) is excluded from income when your benefit is figured.
Since July 2024 New Mexico charges parents no program fees, so the federally required $35 annual fee on never-assisted cases is not deducted from your support. The 2024 funding covers fees previously collected from non-TANF cases.
Being more than 30 days in arrears puts you out of compliance, and CSSD sends a monthly certified list to state licensing agencies, including MVD for driver's licenses and hunting and fishing licenses. MVD gives 30 days from its notice to request a hearing or show a certificate of compliance; reinstatement costs $25.
CSSD reviews orders in its caseload three years after the last order, and a modification is warranted when the recalculated amount differs by at least 20% up or down. Incarceration of the paying parent for more than 180 days can also prompt a modification.
New Mexico has not adopted the federal option to disqualify SNAP households for not cooperating with child support. Cooperation is required for New Mexico Works cash assistance.
You can receive payments on the NM Child Support Way2Go Card Prepaid Mastercard; the enrollment form lists its fees, and teller cash withdrawals at Mastercard member banks are free.
A flat percentage of both parents' combined income (17% for one child, 25% for two, 29% for three, 31% for four, at least 35% for five or more) is split by each parent's share of income, applied on combined income up to $193,000 since March 1, 2026. Income is gross income less FICA and New York City or Yonkers taxes only; federal and state income taxes are not deducted.
The formula has no parenting time credit or shared custody worksheet: the custodial parent receives support, and with equal time courts treat the higher earner as the paying parent. A judge can deviate from the formula when the result is unjust, considering factors such as the paying parent's time with the children.
Parents must support a child until 21, unless the child becomes emancipated earlier (for example by marriage, military service, or self-support). Because support already runs to 21 there is no separate high school extension.
A court can order either parent to pay toward post-secondary education when it finds that appropriate given the parents' circumstances and the child's best interests. This is in addition to basic support, which already runs to 21.
When a court enters a money judgment for arrears and finds the default was willful, the judgment must include interest at the 9% civil judgment rate from each payment's due date. Interest is not added automatically to your child support account balance.
When current support is paid in the month it is due, you get up to $100 for one child under 21 on the Temporary Assistance case, or up to $200 for two or more, in addition to your TA grant. It is paid on your EBT card.
If you have never received Family Assistance or Safety Net Assistance and more than $550 is paid to you in the October to September year, $35 is deducted from your support. It is charged per case.
Your driver's license can be suspended once your account is more than four months past due. After the notice you have 45 days to pay in full, make a payment arrangement, or challenge the suspension; a restricted license for work or school may be available.
A court can modify an order after three years, after either parent's gross income changes by 15% or more (a drop must be involuntary), or on a substantial change in circumstances. The 15% test is a change in income, not in the support amount, and parents can opt out of the three-year and 15% grounds in a written agreement.
New York has not adopted the federal option to disqualify SNAP households for not cooperating with child support. Cooperation is required for Family Assistance and Safety Net Assistance.
If you do nothing, payments go to the New York Child Support Debit Card, a Way2Go Mastercard; you can choose direct deposit instead, or ask for paper checks if both are a hardship.
Both parents' gross monthly incomes are combined to find a basic obligation in the state schedule, and each parent owes a share in proportion to income. A self-support reserve built into the schedule lowers orders for low-income paying parents.
When the child lives with each parent at least 123 nights a year (about 34%) and each parent covers the child's expenses during that time, Worksheet B raises the basic obligation by 50% and divides it by income and nights. Below 123 nights there is no parenting time adjustment.
Support ends at 18, but for a child still in primary or secondary school it continues until graduation, the child stops attending regularly or making satisfactory progress, or age 20, whichever comes first. The statute has no extension for an adult child with a disability.
Court-ordered support ends at 18 or high school graduation (by 20 at the latest), so a judge cannot order a parent to pay for college. Parents can agree to it in a separation agreement or consent order.
North Carolina law does not provide for interest on child support arrears, so none is charged on North Carolina orders. CSS will collect interest on another state's order when that state's law allows it.
While you receive Work First Family Assistance, support collected is kept to repay the state for your assistance, and none is passed through. Once WFFA ends, current support is paid to you.
Families not receiving public assistance pay a nonrefundable application fee of up to $25, or $10 if income is at or below the federal poverty guideline. There is no fee for families on TANF, Medicaid, or foster care.
If you have never received public assistance, $35 is automatically deducted from your support each federal fiscal year after at least $550 has been paid to you. It is charged per case.
Once you are at least 90 days in arrears, the child support agency can ask a court to revoke your driver's, hunting, fishing, or trapping licenses, but the judge must find the nonpayment willful. The judge can stay revocation if you pay 5% of the arrears or $500, whichever is less, and follow a payment plan.
For an order at least three years old, a difference of 15% or more between the current order and a new guideline calculation is presumed to be a substantial change. Earlier changes need a showing of substantially changed circumstances.
North Carolina has not adopted the federal option to disqualify SNAP households for not cooperating with child support. Cooperation is required for Work First cash assistance.
Support is read from a state table based only on the paying parent's monthly net income (after taxes) and the number of children; the receiving parent's income is not used. When parents have equal or split residential responsibility, an amount is figured for each parent and the two are offset.
A court order giving the paying parent more than 100 overnights a year (about 27%) reduces support by a formula based on those overnights; the order must state the number. When the court orders equal residential responsibility, each parent's obligation is calculated and offset instead.
Support ends at 18, or for a child who turns 18 while enrolled in high school and living with the receiving parent, at the end of the month of graduation or the 19th birthday, whichever comes first. The receiving parent files a declaration with the child support agency to continue it, at no charge.
North Dakota law extends support past 18 only for a child still in high school, so a court cannot order college costs unless the parents agree to them.
Child Support automatically charges simple interest on past-due support ordered by a North Dakota court, at the judgment rate set each January from the prime rate (10% for 2026, 11% for 2025). Interest can be suspended while you follow a payment plan, and remaining interest may then be waived.
Support that comes due while you receive TANF is assigned to the state, which keeps it up to the amount of TANF your family received. After TANF ends, current support goes to you.
HHS charges no fee to apply for Full Services; its listed service fees are only the $35 annual fee for Full Services and $5 a month for Limited Services.
On Full Services cases the $35 annual fee is collected from the parent who receives support once federal conditions are met. Limited Services cases (court orders that only process payments) instead pay $5 for each month support is collected.
Driver's, professional, and hunting or fishing licenses and vehicle registrations can be suspended once support is 2 months or $2,000 past due, whichever is less, or after a broken payment plan. A suspension is lifted by paying in full or entering a payment plan.
Either parent in a Full Services case can request a review every 18 months, and the agency seeks a change when the order is below 85% or above 115% of the guideline amount. For orders at least a year old, a court conforms support to the guidelines without any showing of changed circumstances.
North Dakota has not adopted the federal option to disqualify SNAP households for not cooperating with child support. Cooperation is required for TANF and Medicaid.
Both parents' annual gross incomes are combined to find a basic obligation in the state schedule, and each parent owes a share in proportion to income. The same worksheet is used for sole and shared parenting orders.
A court-ordered parenting time order of 90 or more overnights a year (about 25%) cuts the paying parent's obligation by 10%. Above 90 overnights the court must also consider a further deviation, and at 147 or more it must explain in writing if it grants none.
Support ends at 18, or continues while the child attends an accredited high school full time, but an order cannot run past 19 for that reason. A court order can continue support for a child with a mental or physical disability who cannot support themselves.
Support past 18 is allowed only for high school, disability, or when the parents agreed to it in a separation agreement made part of a divorce or dissolution decree. A court cannot otherwise order a parent to pay for college.
Interest is not added automatically; when a court finds a default was willful it may assess interest on the arrears at the statutory rate (federal short-term rate plus 3 points, reset each year; 7% for 2026). Any interest assessed is folded into the new monthly payment plan.
While you receive Ohio Works First, current support collected is kept to repay this month's grant and then past unreimbursed assistance; you get only the amount above both. After assistance ends, current support goes to you.
The county child support agency charges a $1 application fee, which it may ask you to pay or may absorb itself. There is no fee for families referred from public assistance or foster care.
Ohio adds a 2% processing charge to every support payment, paid by the parent who pays support, and claims the federal $35 annual fee for never-assisted cases out of that charge. Nothing is deducted from the receiving parent's support.
The agency can start driver's license suspension at least 90 days after a final default finding, and only if you paid less than half of what was due over the prior 90 days. It must give at least 30 days' notice before referring you to the BMV; paying, setting up withholding, or a payment agreement stops it.
You can ask the county agency for a review 36 months after the last order, or sooner for qualifying changes. A recalculated amount more than 10% above or below the current order counts as a substantial change that requires modification.
Ohio has not adopted the federal option to disqualify SNAP households for not cooperating with child support. Cooperation is required for Ohio Works First cash assistance.
You can receive payments by direct deposit or on the Platinum smiONE Visa Prepaid Card, which is credited within one business day of the payment posting to your case.
A parenting time adjustment is presumed once the parent paying support has at least 121 overnights a year (about 33% of the time). It is presumptive, so a judge can decline it if it is not in the child's best interest.
Support ends at 18, or for a full-time high school student at graduation or age 20, whichever comes first. A court can order support for an adult child with a disability that began before 18 (43 O.S. 112.1A).
Past-due support draws 2% a year by statute, and CSS adds it as simple interest once arrears exceed one month's support. Parents can waive interest owed to the parent receiving support only with court approval.
Oklahoma passes no child support through to families on TANF; collections follow the federal distribution order and repay assistance, up to the TANF paid. Support goes to the family once TANF ends.
There is no cost to open a case. Oklahoma does charge the parent receiving support a 3% service fee on each payment sent out, up to $10 a month, unless the family is on TANF or SoonerCare.
CSS takes $35 from your next payment after it has sent you $550 in a federal fiscal year. Families who have ever received TANF are exempt; SoonerCare-only families still pay.
Oklahoma repealed driver's license suspension for child support effective Nov. 1, 2020. CSS can still act against professional, occupational, business and recreational licenses after 90 days of nonpayment.
You can ask CSS for a review once 12 months have passed since the order or the last review. The order can change if the new amount differs by more than 20 percent.
Each parent earns a parenting time credit from a formula based on their overnights, with no minimum. At equal time and equal incomes no support is owed.
Support ends at 18, but a court can order support for a child attending school (high school, college or job training, at least half time with satisfactory progress) until 21. Support for a child attending school is paid to the child.
Support judgments carry Oregon's 9% simple judgment rate, but the Child Support Program does not calculate it. Interest is added to your case only if a court sets an amount, the parents agree in writing, or another state certifies it.
A family on TANF gets up to $50 of current support per child each month, capped at $200 per family and at the support due. The pass-through is excluded when ODHS figures the TANF grant.
Cases that never received TANF pay $35 a year once $550 has been sent to the family, deducted from support received. A child attending school can share the fee.
The program can start suspending driver's, professional and recreational licenses when you owe the greater of 3 months of support or $2,500 and have not paid in full each of the last 3 months. You have 30 days after notice to contest or sign a payment agreement.
An order more than 35 months old can be reviewed and updated without showing a change. Sooner, a substantial change is needed and the new amount must differ by more than $50 or 15%, whichever is less.
A reduction is presumed once the child spends 40% or more of overnights (146 a year) with the paying parent, and it grows with more time. With equal time, the higher earner generally pays.
Support continues to 18 or high school graduation, whichever is later, with no fixed age cap for a student. A court can continue support past 18 for a child with special needs.
Courts cannot order a parent to pay for college. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ended the duty in Blue v. Blue (1992) and struck down the 1993 college support law in Curtis v. Kline (1995); written agreements are still enforceable.
Pennsylvania's support law sets no interest rate on past-due support. Instead a court can add a penalty of up to 10% on support at least 30 days overdue when nonpayment was willful.
A family on cash assistance gets up to $100 a month of current support paid for one child, or $200 for two or more, paid the following month. The state code's income exemption still names only the first $50, so how the rest is budgeted is unconfirmed.
Filing for support is free for the parent who applies. A $40.25 Judicial Computer Fee for each new court action is added to the paying parent's balance.
The parent receiving support pays $35 a year only after receiving $2,000 or more between Oct. 1 and Sept. 30, a higher bar than the federal $550. Anyone who has ever received cash assistance is exempt.
A court can suspend driver's, professional and recreational licenses when you owe 3 or more months of support and your income can't be withheld. You have 30 days after notice to pay or get a court-approved plan.
Either parent can ask for a review every three years without showing a change. Sooner, the court must find a material and substantial change; there is no numeric percentage test.
Support is paid by direct deposit or onto the Pennsylvania child support payment card, a Way2Go Mastercard prepaid card (older cards carry the EPPICard name).
The schedule assumes the other parent has at least 20% of overnights. The shared placement calculation applies only when each parent has at least 49% of the time (about 179 overnights); below that a judge can only deviate.
Support ends at 18. A court may continue it for a child still in high school until 90 days after graduation, but never past 19, and may extend it for a child with a severe physical or mental impairment.
Interest of 12% a year (1% a month on the unpaid balance) is assessed on past-due support unless the Family Court relieves the parent for good cause. The Office of Child Support Services lists it among its enforcement tools.
Since July 1, 2026, a family on RI Works gets up to $100 a month of support collected for one child, or $200 for two or more (up from $50). The pass-through is not counted against the RI Works grant.
The $35 fee applies to never-assistance cases once $500 is collected in a year, and OCSS says the state currently pays the federal share. The older regulation text still says $25.
You are out of compliance once you owe more than 90 days of support, which can lead to suspension of driver's, professional and recreational licenses. Request a Family Court hearing within 30 days of the notice; separately, DMV can refuse a license with arrears over $500.
Orders in OCSS cases can be reviewed every three years without showing a change. Sooner, OCSS refers a review to Family Court if the new amount would differ by 15% or more.
Payments go on the Kids Card, a Money Network prepaid debit card issued by My Banking Direct, unless you sign up for direct deposit. It replaced the earlier KeyBank card.
The shared custody worksheet applies when each parent has more than 109 court-ordered overnights a year (30%) and both pay child expenses. Between 110 and 128 overnights the reduction phases in gradually.
Support ends at 18, or for a child still in high school at graduation or the end of the school year after the child turns 19, whichever is later. A court can extend it for a child with a disability or other exceptional circumstances.
A family court can order a parent to help pay college costs under the exceptional circumstances clause. The state Supreme Court upheld that power in McLeod v. Starnes (2012).
South Carolina's judgment rate is the prime rate plus 4 points, compounded annually; it is 10.75% from Jan. 15, 2026 to Jan. 14, 2027. Whether interest is added to past-due support is up to the family court, and DSS does not say it charges interest on its cases.
While a family receives TANF, DSS keeps current support to repay the TANF paid. An older statute written for AFDC says DSS may pass the first $75 to the family, but DSS says it recovers the payments.
Families who never received TANF are charged $35 each federal fiscal year after $500 has been collected and paid out. DSS still states the older $500 threshold rather than the federal $550.
You are in compliance only if you owe no more than $500 and paid the full support for the last two months; otherwise DSS can revoke driver's, professional and recreational licenses. You have 45 days after notice to pay or sign a payment agreement.
DSS reviews TANF cases every three years and other DSS cases every three years on request, adjusting the order if it differs from the guidelines. No percentage test is set; earlier changes need a substantial change in circumstances.
A court may apply the shared parenting cross credit when a detailed plan gives each parent at least 180 nights a year. Separately, a court may abate 38% to 66% of support for nights the child spends with the paying parent once that reaches 6 or more nights in a month.
DSS or the parent owed support may collect interest of 1% a month (12% a year) on the unpaid principal. The law makes it optional, so it is not added automatically.
While a family receives TANF, the state keeps support up to the unreimbursed assistance and sends the family only any amount above that. Current support goes to the family once TANF ends.
Parents not on TANF, SNAP or Medicaid pay a $5 application fee for full services. The fee is treated as the paying parent's debt and refunded to you when it is collected from them.
South Dakota pays the federal $35 annual fee from state funds, so parents are not charged it. The division's fee rule and handbook list no annual fee for parents.
Driver's, professional and recreational licenses are restricted (not issued or renewed) once you owe $1,000 or more and at least 3 months of support. Breaking a repayment agreement can lead to revocation; you have 15 days to ask for review.
After three years an order can be modified without showing any change; within three years you need a substantial change, with no percentage test. Orders entered before July 1, 2026 can be modified without a change.
State law makes cooperation with the Division of Child Support a condition of SNAP eligibility, and the penalty falls on the custodial parent. South Dakota does not use the arrears disqualification for paying parents.
A parenting time adjustment uses a variable multiplier once the paying parent has 92 or more days a year (about 25%), and it grows with each added day. At 68 days or fewer, support can be raised.
Support continues past 18 while the child is in high school, until the child or the child's class graduates, whichever is first, but not past 19. A court can extend it to 21 for a disabled child, or longer for a severely disabled child living with a parent.
In TDHS (IV-D) cases, interest does not accrue unless a court makes a written finding and sets a rate of up to 6%. In private cases arrears accrue 6% a year unless a court lowers it.
Tennessee uses fill-the-gap budgeting instead of a fixed pass-through: a Families First family can receive collected support up to its unmet need, the consolidated need standard minus the grant and counted income. There is no set monthly dollar amount.
You are out of compliance once you owe $500 or more and it is 90 days past due; TDHS can then have driver's, professional, business and recreational licenses revoked. You have 20 days after notice to pay, set up payments or ask for a hearing.
You can ask TDHS for a review at any time; if a full review was done within two years, you must show a change first. The order is adjusted only if the new amount differs by at least 15%.
Support is a percentage of the paying parent's net resources only: 20% for one child, 25% for two, 30% for three, 35% for four, 40% for five or more. The percentages apply to net resources up to $11,700 a month for orders set since September 1, 2025.
Texas has no shared parenting formula; the guideline percentage applies no matter how many overnights you have. A judge may vary from the guidelines after considering the amount of time each parent has with the child.
Support lasts until 18 or high school graduation, whichever is later, with no age cap as long as the child is enrolled and meeting attendance rules. A court can order support for a disabled child for an indefinite period.
Texas courts can order support only until 18 or high school graduation (or indefinitely for a disabled child). College costs are paid only if parents agree to it in an enforceable agreement.
Past-due support accrues 6% simple interest a year by statute, from the date it is delinquent until paid, and the Attorney General's Child Support Division warns that it adds to what you owe. Bills to cut the rate to 3% (HB 4213 and SB 629) died in the 2025 session.
A family on TANF gets the first $75 of current support collected each month, regardless of the number of children; the rest repays the state. Up to $75 a month of child support is excluded when HHSC counts income for TANF.
The $35 fee is deducted from the receiving parent's support each year they receive at least $550 on a full-service case that never had TANF. Registry-only cases instead pay a $3 monthly State Disbursement Unit fee, which a judge may order the paying parent to cover.
The OAG or a court can suspend driver's, professional and recreational licenses once you owe at least three months of support and have not followed a repayment schedule you were offered. Request a hearing before the 21st day after you are served to contest it.
You can ask the OAG to review your order every three years; after three years a court can modify if the guideline amount differs by 20% or $100 a month. Sooner, you need a material and substantial change in circumstances.
Texas does not use the federal option to make SNAP depend on child support cooperation. TANF and certain Medicaid cases are the ones referred to the OAG.
The Texas Payment Card is a smiONE Visa prepaid card; payments load 1 to 2 days after the OAG receives them. Direct deposit is the other electronic option.
Both parents' adjusted gross monthly incomes are combined to find a base obligation in the state table, and each parent owes their percentage share. Previously ordered child support and alimony actually paid are subtracted from gross income first.
The joint physical custody formula applies when the child stays with each parent more than 30% of overnights and both contribute to expenses; the credit starts with the 111th overnight and grows larger above 130. With an equal schedule, the lower-income parent is treated as having 183 overnights.
Support ends at 18 or when the child graduates high school in their normal and expected year, whichever is later; there is no fixed age cap. Support can continue at any age for a child incapacitated from earning a living.
Utah law lets courts in divorce actions order support to age 21, which can cover a child in college; courts rarely order it without the parents' agreement. Parents who never married have no such statute.
Utah does not currently charge interest on missed monthly support, and ORS adds interest only when an amount has been adjudicated. Under 2026 H.B. 248, simple interest of 6% a year on unpaid principal starts accruing on July 1, 2027.
Support collected for a family on cash assistance (FEP) currently goes to repay the state. Starting July 1, 2028, ORS will pass through up to $100 a month for one child and $200 for two or more.
ORS does not charge applicants to open a case; the nominal $0.01 application fee is paid from state funds. Separately, ORS takes 6% of each payment (up to $12 a month) from the applicant's case unless they receive cash assistance or Medicaid.
The $35 fee is retained from the receiving parent's support once $550 has been disbursed in the federal fiscal year, on cases where the custodial parent never received cash assistance.
ORS can suspend your driver's license after 60 days with no payment and no good-faith effort to pay; suspension is mandatory if you owe $35,000 or more and made no full payment in 60 days. You have 30 days after the notice to request a hearing.
If your order is three years old, it can be adjusted when the guideline amount differs by 10% or more, with no change in circumstances needed. Sooner, you need a substantial change (such as a 30% income change) producing a 15% difference.
Both parents' available incomes (gross income minus FICA, standard state and federal income taxes, health insurance for the children, and prior support paid) are combined to find the guideline amount, and each parent owes their share.
A shared costs table applies once a parent has 25% of overnights (about 91 a year), and the full shared custody formula (support raised 50% and offset) starts at 30% (about 110 overnights). Shared custody can never require more than the standard guideline amount.
A court can order support until the child turns 18 or finishes secondary education, whichever is later; the statute sets no age cap for the high school extension.
Instead of interest, Vermont law imposes a surcharge on past-due support of 0.5% a month (6% a year), assessed monthly, not compounded, and treated as principal. A court can discharge surcharge that built up while the paying parent was unable to pay.
A family on Reach Up keeps up to the first $100 of child support each month, regardless of the number of children, and that $100 is disregarded when figuring the Reach Up grant. The amount rose from $50 on January 1, 2024.
Full OCS services are free with no income limits. Registry-only cases, where no one has applied, pay $5 a month out of the receiving parent's first payment.
OCS or a magistrate can suspend driver's, recreational and professional licenses once you are behind by a quarter of a year's support and not complying with the order. You have 21 days after notice to contest.
An order that varies more than 10% from the guideline amount counts as a substantial change. If the order has not been modified in three years, the court can waive the change requirement.
The shared custody formula applies when a parent has the child more than 90 days a year (a day is 24 hours, with a half day counted for a short overnight). Support is the shared amount unless the sole custody amount is lower.
Support continues past 18 for a full-time high school student who lives at home and is not self-supporting, until 19 or graduation, whichever comes first. A court can order support for an adult child with a severe disability that began before 18 who lives with the parent.
Arrears carry the 6% judgment rate unless the parent who is owed waives interest in writing to the court. DCSE treats interest as due on the case along with current and past-due support.
A TANF family gets up to $100 of support collected each month, disregarded for TANF. Families with two or more children also get a TANF supplement of up to another $100, paid within two months of the collection.
DCSE charges nothing to apply; state law sets a $1 application fee that the department may pay for applicants. DSS lists only the $35 yearly fee, a $25 fee to reopen a case within six months, and case costs such as genetic testing.
DCSE can suspend your driver's license once you are 90 days or $5,000 behind. Suspension takes effect 30 days after notice, and you can request a court hearing in writing within those 30 days.
Either parent can ask DCSE for a review every three years, or sooner with a documented material change. DCSE adjusts an administrative order when the review shows a change of at least 10% and at least $25 a month.
Virginia pays support by direct deposit or onto the Virginia Way2Go Prepaid Mastercard issued by Comerica; payments start loading 30 to 45 days after you enroll.
Both parents' net monthly incomes (after taxes and certain deductions) are combined to find the basic obligation in the state economic table, and each parent owes their proportional share.
Washington has no shared custody formula or overnight cutoff. A court may deviate from the standard calculation when the paying parent has significant residential time, after weighing both households' needs.
Administrative orders run to 18, or to 19 for a child still in high school full time. Court orders set their own end date and can be extended past 18 to finish high school.
A court can order either or both parents to pay postsecondary educational support for a dependent child enrolled and in good standing. It cannot extend past the child's 23rd birthday except in exceptional circumstances such as disability.
Past-due support carries 12% interest by statute, but DCS does not assess or collect interest on Washington orders unless the interest has been reduced to a judgment.
A TANF family gets up to $50 a month for one child or $100 for two or more, and current child support is not counted against the TANF grant. A full pass-through is in law but does not take effect until July 1, 2029.
DCS keeps $35 from support after it has sent the receiving parent $550 in a federal fiscal year, on cases that never had TANF. You can ask for a hardship exception through a Conference Board.
DCS can certify you for suspension of driver's, professional and recreational licenses once arrears total more than six months of support. You have 20 days after the notice to pay, agree to a payment plan, request a hearing or file to modify.
DCS reviews an order on request once 35 months have passed, and petitions to modify only if the new amount differs by at least 15% and $100 a month. Separately, a court can adjust for income changes every 24 months without a substantial change.
Both parents' adjusted gross incomes (gross income minus a few deductions such as prior support paid) are combined to find the basic obligation in the state table, and each parent owes their proportional share.
The extended shared parenting worksheet applies when each parent has the child more than 127 days a year (35%). It multiplies the basic obligation by 1.6 and offsets each parent's time-weighted share.
Support continues past 18 while the child is unmarried, lives with a parent or custodian, and attends a secondary or vocational program full time, but not past 20. Case law allows support beyond 18 for a disabled child.
Past-due support carries 5% simple interest on the unpaid principal, and BCSE charges it on arrears. A court can conditionally suspend collection of accrued interest if both parents agree to a payment plan that clears the arrears within 60 months.
A WV WORKS family gets up to $100 a month for one child or $200 for two or more, plus a $25 Child Support Incentive whenever any support is collected. The pass-through is excluded as income for WV WORKS.
BCSE can start action against driver's, professional and recreational licenses once arrears equal six months of support and other enforcement has failed. Within 30 days of the notice you can pay, ask for a payment plan meeting or request a hearing.
Either parent can ask BCSE to review an order three years after it took effect, or sooner with a substantial change. A guideline amount more than 15% different from the current order counts as a substantial change.
Support is a percentage of the paying parent's gross monthly income only: 17% for one child, 25% for two, 29% for three, 31% for four, 34% for five or more. Shared placement uses both parents' incomes, and separate rules adjust for low and high incomes.
The shared-placement formula may apply when both parents have court-ordered placement of at least 25% of the year, or 92 overnights, and each pays the child's basic costs in proportion to their time.
The child support system charges simple interest of 0.5% a month (6% a year) once past-due support equals a month of support, even while you are paying it down. The statute sets 1% a month (12% a year) but lets the department use the 0.5% rate through a pilot program.
A family receiving W-2 cash benefits keeps all of its cash benefit plus 75% of the child support paid, with no dollar cap, and the support does not reduce the W-2 payment. Families in W-2 services without cash benefits get all of the support.
The $35 fee comes out of the receiving parent's support after the first $550 each federal fiscal year, unless they ever received W-2 or AFDC cash. The paying parent separately owes a $65 yearly Receipt and Disbursement fee on each case.
The agency can start license suspension when there is a lien against you equal to at least 300% of your monthly support (three months owed) and no alternative payment plan is in place. You are notified first and can stop the action by paying or agreeing to a plan.
The local agency will review an order on request once three years have passed, or sooner after a substantial change. An order can be changed when the new amount would differ by $50 a month or more; there is no percentage test.
Child support cooperation has not been a FoodShare (SNAP) requirement since 2008. W-2, BadgerCare Plus and Wisconsin Shares child care still require it.
Both parents' net incomes (after taxes, Social Security, the children's health coverage, other support paid and mandatory pension deductions) are combined in the statutory tables, and each parent owes their proportional share.
The shared responsibility formula applies when each parent keeps the children overnight more than 25% of the year (92 or more nights) and both contribute substantially to expenses. It multiplies the obligation by 150% and offsets each parent's time-weighted share.
A parent's duty continues past 18 for a child attending high school or an equivalent program full time, until age 20. It continues indefinitely for a child who is mentally or physically disabled and unable to support themselves.
Wyoming law extends support past 18 only for high school or an equivalent program, or for a disabled child. College support comes only from the parents' agreement.
Missed monthly support does not bear interest in Wyoming. Instead, each unpaid installment not paid within 32 days carries an automatic one-time late payment penalty of 10% of that installment.
A family on POWER (TANF) gets up to $100 a month for one child or $200 for two or more, disregarded when figuring POWER benefits. Since January 1, 2024, former-assistance arrears also go to the family.
The Wyoming Child Support Program does not charge an application fee to open a case. The custodial parent pays a $25 processing fee when a federal tax refund is intercepted.
The $35 fee is automatically taken from the receiving parent's support once $550 is collected in the federal fiscal year, on cases where the custodian never received POWER.
The department can suspend your driver's license administratively if you owe more than $2,500 and have made no full monthly payment for 90 days; a court can order suspension at any arrearage. Suspension starts 60 days after notice unless you pay, set up an approved plan or request a hearing.
Every three years either parent can ask for a review and adjustment with no change in circumstances needed. An order more than six months old can be adjusted sooner if the guideline amount changes by 20% or more a month.
Every state uses a formula, called a guideline, and courts must follow it unless they explain why not. Most states use income shares: both parents’ incomes are added together, the state’s table says what parents with that combined income spend on children, and each parent owes their share. A few states take a percentage of the paying parent’s income instead, and three use the Melson formula, which first sets aside a basic living allowance for each parent.
In most states, the paying parent gets a lower amount once the children stay with them overnight often enough. Where that line sits matters: a parent with 100 overnights a year gets a reduction in some states and nothing in others. A few states count every overnight, so each extra night changes the amount a little. Equal time rarely means zero support when incomes differ.
Child support usually ends at 18, but most states keep it going while a child finishes high school, and a few set the age at 19 or 21. Support for a disabled adult child can continue in most states. When current support ends, any past-due balance is still owed.
In most states, child support for college happens only if parents agree to it. A minority of states let a judge order one or both parents to help with tuition and living costs after high school, usually with an age cap.
Do states charge interest on unpaid child support?
Past-due child support (arrears) can grow with interest, and some states’ rates float with market rates. A rate in state law does not always mean the agency adds it to your balance; in many states interest applies only if a court orders it. The map shows the rate in law; the table says whether your agency adds it automatically.
When a family receives TANF (cash assistance), the state usually keeps the child support it collects to repay the aid. Some states send part of it to the family each month, called a pass-through, and some send all of it. Many states also ignore that money when calculating the family’s benefit.
Federal law requires a $35 yearly fee on cases where the family never received cash assistance and at least $550 was collected that year. States choose who pays it: the parent receiving support, the parent paying, or the state itself.
How far behind before a driver’s license can be suspended?
Nearly every state can suspend a driver’s license for unpaid child support, but the point where it starts varies. You get a notice first, with a short window to pay, set up a payment plan, or ask for a review. Many states also cover professional, hunting, and fishing licenses.
You can ask for a review if income or custody changes. Agencies also review orders on a cycle, usually every three years. To change the amount, most states require that the new guideline amount differ from the current order by a set percentage. A review can raise or lower support, and nothing changes until a new order is issued.
Does SNAP (food stamps) require a child support case?
TANF and Medicaid generally require parents to cooperate with child support, with exceptions for safety. SNAP does not, unless a state opts in. The states below that do can deny or reduce SNAP for a parent who does not cooperate.
Most states pay support by direct deposit or a state prepaid debit card. Card brands differ in fees and apps, and the card website does not always show the same thing as your state child support account.