Kansas Child Support Calculator

Kansas child support depends on both parents’ monthly incomes before taxes, the number of children, each child’s age, and parenting time. With one child aged 6 to 11, when one parent earns $3,000 a month and the other earns $2,000, the higher earner pays about $542 a month if the child lives with the other parent.

Each row turns weekly income into monthly income (× 52 ÷ 12). With lower pay and two or three children, paying the formula amount would leave the paying parent under $1,330 a month, so a judge sets the amount (see the low-income section below).

Support goes up as children get older. When the parents earn $5,000 a month together, the schedule amount for one child, for both parents together, is $808 at ages 0 to 5, $904 at 6 to 11, and $961 at 12 to 18. Each parent pays a share based on their part of the income. The full schedules, up to $18,000 a month and six children, are in Appendix II of the Kansas Child Support Guidelines.

Kansas uses an income shares formula. It adds both parents’ monthly gross incomes (pay before taxes) and looks up what the state says children of each age cost at that income. Each parent pays a share based on their part of the income.

The steps are in sections II to IV of the Kansas Child Support Guidelines:

1. Find each parent’s income for child support. Start with gross income from all sources, leaving out public assistance. Then subtract support paid for other children and adjust for spousal support (maintenance). Taxes are already built into the schedules.
2. Add the two incomes and look up the schedule for the number of children, using each child’s age group.
3. Split it by each parent’s share of the income, rounded to a tenth of a percent.
4. Adjust for parenting time if the paying parent has at least 35% of the children’s time.
5. Add health insurance and child care, split the same way, and check that the paying parent can afford the total.

Example

One parent earns $3,000 a month before taxes and the other $2,000, so their combined income is $5,000. The schedule amount for one child aged 6 to 11 is $904. The higher earner has 60% of the income, so with the child living with the other parent, they pay about $542 a month.

It can. Once the paying parent has the children at least 35% of the time (about 128 nights a year), a judge can lower support by 10%, 20%, or 30%. With one child aged 6 to 11 and gross incomes of $3,000 and $2,000 a month, the higher earner pays $542 a month below 35%, about $488 at 35%, $434 at 40%, and $379 at 45%. At exactly equal time, the amount depends on how the parents split costs like clothing and school, so the calculator above says a judge sets it. If the parents agree to split those costs equally, the higher earner pays about $90.

• Parenting time adjustment: support can drop 10% when the paying parent has 35% to 39% of the children’s time, 20% at 40% to 44%, and 30% at 45% to 49%. Time at school or day care doesn’t count, and a judge decides whether the adjustment applies.
• Long stays: when the children stay 14 or more days in a row with the paying parent, as in summer, a judge can lower support for that time by up to half.
• Equal time: a judge must find that equal time is best for the children, and it must be the regular schedule, not just summers and holidays. If the parents have a court-approved written plan to split costs like clothing and school equally, the higher earner pays half the difference between the two parents’ shares. Without a plan, the judge makes one parent responsible for those costs. The higher earner still pays half the difference, and the parent who doesn’t handle those costs also pays 7% to 15% of the schedule amount.

See sections IV.H and VI of the Kansas Child Support Guidelines.

Child care a parent needs so they can work or look for work is added to the schedule amount, after subtracting any tax credit for it. It is split by each parent’s share of the income, and the parent who pays the provider gets credit for what they pay.

For example, if child care costs $600 a month after the tax credit and you have 60% of the combined income, your share is $360. The cost must be reasonable and is averaged over the whole year, including school breaks. See section IV.J of the Kansas Child Support Guidelines.

The cost of insuring the children (health, dental, and vision) is added to the schedule amount and split by each parent’s share of the income. The parent who pays the premium gets credit for it. Medical bills that insurance doesn’t pay are split the same way.

• Premium: only the cost of covering the children in this case counts. If coverage costs the parent nothing, it counts as $0. A judge decides whether a proposed premium is reasonable.
• Uncovered bills: deductibles, copays, and other necessary medical, dental, vision, and mental health costs are split by each parent’s share of the income, however parenting time is shared. Send the bill and proof of payment within 30 days, and the other parent has 30 days to pay their share.

See sections I.H and IV.I of the Kansas Child Support Guidelines.

If the children live with you and you get TANF (cash assistance), you have to help Child Support Services get support from the other parent, for example by naming them, keeping appointments, and going to court. Support paid while you get TANF goes to the state. Parents applying for food assistance (SNAP) have to help too.

• TANF: if you don’t help without a good reason, TANF stops for your whole family for at least three months the first time, and longer after that. If seeking support could put you or the children in danger, tell your caseworker, who may excuse you, under DCF’s cooperation rules.
• What you keep: none of the support paid while you get TANF, under DCF’s information for custodial parents.
• Food assistance (SNAP): an adult who doesn’t help without a good reason loses SNAP until they do, and the rest of the household keeps it, under K.S.A. 39-709. Support collected for a family on SNAP goes to the family.
• Not income: TANF, SSI, SNAP, and other public assistance don’t count as income for support, under section II of the guidelines.

The Kansas child support guide covers working with Child Support Services.

Kansas aims to leave the paying parent at least $1,330 a month of income before taxes, the 2026 federal poverty guideline for one person. If paying the formula amount would leave them less, there is no formula amount: a judge decides support based on what is best for the child, and the calculator above says a judge sets it.

• Example: a paying parent with $1,500 a month has $170 more than the poverty guideline. If the formula amount is more than $170, a judge decides the amount. See section VI.G of the guidelines and the 2026 poverty guidelines.
• Earning less by choice: a judge can count income a parent could earn, based on their work history, skills, education, health, and local jobs, and must explain why in writing.

No. When the parents earn more than $18,000 a month together, a judge decides how much to add to the top amount in the schedules. Each schedule ends with a formula the judge can use as a guide.

The calculator above uses that formula as a starting point. See section IV.G of the Kansas Child Support Guidelines.

Yes. A judge can change the amount from the worksheet (the form that applies the formula) when that is best for the child, and must explain why in writing.

A parent can ask in writing before the hearing for these adjustments: travel costs for long-distance parenting time, tax benefits such as who claims the children, a child’s special needs, support past age 18 by agreement, and the parents’ overall finances. See section V of the Kansas Child Support Guidelines.

Ask Kansas Child Support Services to review your order, or file a motion to modify it in district court. Keep paying the current order until it changes.

• When: after a big change in your situation. A change that would raise or lower the basic support amount by 10%, or a child turning 6 or 12, counts. A raise for the parent the children live with doesn’t, on its own. See section I.E of the guidelines.
• Through Child Support Services: either parent can ask CSS to review the order every three years, or sooner after a change in their situation.

The Kansas child support guide walks through each step.

No. Kansas courts use the Kansas Child Support Worksheet with the Kansas Child Support Guidelines and their schedules.

The Kansas Child Support Worksheet is a fillable PDF from the Kansas Judicial Branch. It follows the same steps as this page, plus health insurance, child care, and the other adjustments.