Idaho Child Support Calculator

Idaho child support depends on both parents’ income before taxes (Idaho calls it Guidelines Income), the number of children, and the overnights each parent has. For example, a parent earning $1,000 a week before taxes, whose children live mostly with the other parent earning $3,000 a month, pays about $577 a month for one child and $854 for two.

The amounts are the same for any schedule up to 91 overnights a year with the paying parent; from 92, the shared custody formula lowers them. They leave out one step: Idaho splits the tax savings from claiming the children between the parents, which often moves support $50 to $150 a month per child, up or down. The schedule these amounts start from is a set of yearly income brackets, from 18% of the first $10,000 for one child down to 5% above $110,000; see Rule 120(i)(1).

Idaho uses an income shares formula, which means both parents’ incomes count. It adds both parents’ incomes before taxes, applies the schedule’s percentages for the number of children to get one total, and has each parent pay their share of it based on income.

The rules are in Idaho Rule of Family Law Procedure 120:

1. Find each parent’s Guidelines Income. Start with income from all sources before taxes, including public assistance the parent gets, unless counting it would be an extraordinary hardship. Child support received doesn’t count.
2. Subtract deductions: child support and alimony paid under other court orders, and a deduction for other children living in the home.
3. Add the two incomes and apply the schedule. The schedule splits yearly income into brackets, each with its own percentage. Each percentage applies only to the income in its bracket, and the monthly amounts are added up.
4. Split it by income share.
5. Adjust for shared custody if each parent has more than 25% of the overnights.
6. Add child care and health insurance, split the same way.
7. Split the tax savings. One parent claims the children on their taxes, usually the one who saves more. The other parent gets a share of the savings matching their share of the income, added to or taken off support, under Rule 120(g)(3).

Example

This is the rule’s own example. One parent earns $25,000 a year and the other $10,000, with two children. The schedule gives $217 + $208 + $192 + $92 = $709 a month. The higher earner has 25,000 / 35,000 of the income, so with 25% or less of the overnights, they pay about $506 a month.

Yes, once each parent has more than 25% of the overnights (92 or more a year). Then a shared custody formula lowers support, and it drops more as time evens out. With two children and incomes of $25,000 and $10,000 a year, the higher earner pays about $506 a month when they have 91 or fewer overnights, $492 with 92, $439 with 110, $334 with 146, and $229 with equal time.

Idaho multiplies the schedule amount by 1.5, works out what each parent owes for the time the children spend with the other parent, and the parent who owes more pays the difference. A parent never pays more than they would if the children lived with the other parent full time. If the formula has the parent with more than half the overnights paying support, that parent can ask the judge to set a different amount. See Rule 120(i)(4).

A judge can order the parents to share reasonable child care a parent needs for work, by their shares of income, on top of basic support. The parents usually pay their shares to each other directly.

If a judge counts income a student parent could earn, the judge can also have both parents share that parent’s child care while in school. See Rule 120(g)(1).

Every Idaho order must address health insurance, which usually goes to the parent who can get coverage through work at the lower cost. Premiums and uncovered medical, dental, and other health costs are split by income share.

• How it’s paid: the parents usually pay these costs to each other directly, but a parent’s share of the premium can be added to or credited against the monthly support.
• Big bills: a treatment that would cost the other parent more than $500 out of pocket needs both parents’ written approval or a court order first, except in extraordinary circumstances.

See Rule 120(g)(4).

If the children live with you and you get cash assistance (TAFI), you have to help Child Support Services get support from the other parent, unless you have a good reason, such as a risk of violence. The support collected repays the state. Idaho also requires this for food stamps (SNAP), so a parent who doesn’t help can lose them.

• Cash assistance (TAFI): Temporary Assistance for Families in Idaho. You sign your support over to the state, which keeps what it collects, up to the assistance paid, under IDAPA 16.03.08. None of it is passed on to you.
• Food stamps (SNAP): a parent living with a child whose other parent is absent must help establish paternity and get support unless they have a good reason, under IDAPA 16.03.04.278 to 280. Helping means, for example, naming the other parent and going to paternity tests and court dates. The rule doesn’t apply to the paying parent.

Unlike most states, Idaho counts public assistance a parent gets as income for child support, unless that would cause extraordinary hardship, under Rule 120(e)(1). The Idaho child support guide covers how this works.

When the paying parent earns under $800 a month, a judge reviews both parents’ incomes and living expenses and sets the most they can pay while keeping enough to live on. Support is presumed to be at least $50 a month per child.

• Paying parent under $800: the judge decides the amount after the review, so the calculator above shows “A judge sets this amount.”
• Paying parent at $800 or more: the schedule applies, with the $50-per-child minimum. The rule says support should rarely be $0.
• Earning less by choice: a judge can base support on what a parent could earn if they choose not to work or work less than they could, but not for a parent who can’t work because of a physical or mental condition. Being in jail or prison doesn’t count as choosing not to work.

See Rule 120(c)(4) for the review and minimum, and Rule 120(e)(3) for income a parent could earn.

No. Above $440,000 a year in combined income, the schedule sets support on the first $440,000, and a judge can add more based on the children’s needs and the parents’ resources.

For income above $440,000, the judge looks at the children’s and parents’ resources, the standard of living during the marriage, and the children’s needs, including education and any disability. The schedule also stops at five children, and a judge can order more for larger families. See Rule 120(i)(2) and (i)(7).

Yes. A judge can order a different amount when evidence shows the formula amount is unfair or wrong for the family. The judge has to state on the record what the formula gives and why the order is different.

A judge can also lower support, usually by half, while the children stay with the paying parent for 14 days or more in a row, when that parent has 25% or less of the overnights. See Rule 120(b)(3) and (i)(5).

Ask Child Support Services to review your order, or file a petition to modify it in court. The court needs a major change, and a change in what the formula gives can count as one. Keep following the current order until it changes.

• Through Child Support Services: if your case is with the Department of Health and Welfare, either parent can ask for a review by calling 800-356-9868 after three years, or sooner after a major change that has lasted at least six months. The department seeks a change only if the new amount differs by at least 15% and $50 a month, under Idaho Code §32-1218.
• Through the court: file a Petition to Modify an Order, Judgment or Decree (CAO M 1-1) with the Court Assistance Office’s modification forms, including a new child support worksheet.

See Rule 120(d). The Idaho child support guide walks through each step.

No. Idaho courts use the Idaho Child Support Worksheet, a form that follows the same steps as the calculator above and also adds child care, health insurance, and the split of the tax savings from claiming the children.

The Court Assistance Office publishes the standard custody worksheet (CAO FL 1-13) and the shared or split custody worksheet (CAO FL 1-12). Courts get the worksheet with each parent’s Affidavit Verifying Income.