Tennessee Child Support Calculator

It depends on both parents’ monthly income before taxes, the number of children, and how many days the children spend with each parent. For example, if you earn $4,000 a month, the other parent earns $2,000, and you have your one child 80 days a year, you pay about $603 a month. Child care and health insurance are added on top, and the lowest order is usually $100 a month.

Each row turns weekly pay into monthly pay (× 52 ÷ 12). Four nights a month is about 49 days a year. Tennessee raises support a little when the paying parent has 68 days or fewer, so these amounts are slightly higher than at 69 to 91 days, and lower from 92 days on. The table assumes neither parent supports other children or pays self-employment tax. Tennessee’s schedule of starting amounts for both parents together is in Rule 1240-02-04-.09. It has been in effect since October 1, 2021, according to the Department of Human Services.

Tennessee uses an income shares formula, so both parents’ incomes count. It adds the parents’ monthly incomes before taxes, looks up basic support in the state’s schedule, and splits it by each parent’s share of the income. Parenting days, child care, and health insurance then change what the parent with less time pays.

The rules are in Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1240-02-04:

1. Find each parent’s adjusted income. Start with income before taxes from all sources. Then subtract half of any self-employment tax and a credit for other children the parent supports.
2. Add the two incomes.
3. Look up basic support for that combined income and the number of children. The schedule goes up in $50 steps, and income between steps rounds up to the next one.
4. Split it by each parent’s share of the income. A parent with 60% of the combined income owes 60%.
5. Adjust for parenting days if the paying parent has fewer than 69 or at least 92 a year.
6. Add child care and health costs, split the same way.

Example

One parent earns $4,000 a month and the other $2,000, so their combined income is $6,000. Basic support for one child at that income is $900. The higher earner has 67% of the income (the worksheet rounds shares to whole percents). With 80 parenting days a year, there is no adjustment, so they pay about $603 a month.

It can. Once the paying parent has the children 92 days a year or more (25%), a credit lowers support more with each added day. At 68 days or fewer, support goes up. With one child and gross pay of $4,000 and $2,000 a month, the higher earner pays about $651 a month at 40 days a year, $603 at 80, about $509 at 120, about $425 at 146 (40%), and about $306 at 50/50, which Tennessee counts as 182.5 days each.

• 69 to 91 days a year: no adjustment.
• 68 days or fewer: support goes up a little for each day under 69.
• 92 days or more: the credit grows with each day. If the parent with more time also earns more, the credit can make them the one who pays. A parent whose support comes from the low-income rule below gets no credit.

A parenting day is more than 12 hours in a row with the children, so a long daytime visit can count as a day. The rules are in Rules 1240-02-04-.02(10) and .04(7).

Child care a parent needs to work, go to school, or train for a job is added to basic support. The parents split it by their shares of the combined income, and the parent who pays the provider gets credit for it.

For example, if child care costs $600 a month and you have two thirds of the combined income, your share is about $400. If child care is subsidized, only what the parents pay counts. A parent who watches the children themselves can’t add a dollar value for that time. See Rule 1240-02-04-.04(8)(c).

The cost of covering the children is added to basic support and split by each parent’s share of the income. The parent who pays the premium gets credit for it. Ongoing medical costs insurance doesn’t cover are added the same way. Other bills insurance doesn’t cover are split by income share as they come up.

• Reasonable cost: coverage counts as reasonable if it costs the parent no more than 5% of their income before taxes, under Rule 1240-02-04-.02(24).
• Only the children’s part: if the plan also covers other people, only the cost for these children is added.
• Uninsured bills: copays, deductibles, dental, vision, and counseling costs insurance doesn’t pay are split by each parent’s share of the income, under Rule 1240-02-04-.04(8)(d).

If you get Families First (Tennessee’s cash assistance), you have to help the state get child support from the other parent, for example by naming them and helping establish paternity, unless that would put you or your children at risk. The support collected repays the state, but your family can get some of it. You can get up to the difference between what Families First says your family needs and the grant you get. Food stamps (SNAP) don’t require this.

• Families First: under the Department of Human Services’ child support policy, you must help find the other parent, establish paternity (legal fatherhood), and get a support order. You also give the state your right to collect the support. If you don’t help and have no good reason, your whole family loses Families First.
• Support paid to your family: there is no set amount. Under Rule 1240-01-48-.08, your family gets the support collected, up to the amount your family is still short. That is what Families First says a family your size needs, minus your grant and the other income Families First counts.
• SNAP: Tennessee doesn’t tie food stamps to child support, according to the USDA SNAP State Options Report.

To be excused because of a risk of harm, tell your Families First case manager. The Tennessee child support guide covers how this works.

When the paying parent’s income before taxes is low (up to $1,300 a month for one child), they pay no more than the schedule amount for their income alone. That amount is set to leave them $957 a month for their own living costs. The lowest order is usually $100 a month.

• Who counts as low income: a paying parent whose monthly income before taxes is up to $1,300 for one child, $1,550 for two, $1,700 for three, $1,850 for four, or $2,000 for five or more. The schedule shades these incomes. The parent pays their share or the schedule amount for their own income, whichever is lower, under Rule 1240-02-04-.03(4)(b). The $957 is already built into the schedule, so don’t subtract it again.
• $100 minimum: the minimum doesn’t apply when the parent’s only income is SSI. It also doesn’t apply when a child’s federal benefit or the parenting time credit brings the amount lower. A judge can set a higher or lower amount after looking at the case, under Rule 1240-02-04-.04(12).
• Earning less by choice: if a judge finds a parent is earning less than they could on purpose, the judge can count the income they could earn instead, under Rule 1240-02-04-.04(3)(a)2.

Yes. Support under the guidelines is capped at $2,100 a month for one child, $3,200 for two, $4,100 for three, $4,600 for four, and $5,000 for five or more. A judge can order more if the parent receiving support proves the children need it.

When the parents together earn more than $28,250 a month, basic support keeps rising. It goes up by 6.81% of the extra income for one child, and by up to 8.66% for five or more, under Rule 1240-02-04-.09. The caps come from Rule 1240-02-04-.07(2)(g), and a judge can require amounts above them to go into a trust for the children.

Yes. A judge can order more or less when the guideline amount would be unfair and a different amount is better for the children. The order must say what the guideline amount was and why the judge changed it.

Reasons the rules list include private school or special-needs education costs, activities like camp or lessons that cost more than 7% of basic support, extreme hardship, and unusually high medical needs. A different amount can’t leave the children’s main home unable to cover basic needs. See Rule 1240-02-04-.07.

Ask your local child support office for a review, or ask the court to change the order. The new amount has to be at least 15% higher or lower than the current one. Keep following the current order until it changes.

• When: whenever the guideline amount would be at least 15% higher or lower than your current order. For this comparison, leave out any earlier change a judge made to the guideline amount. A parent who earns less than they could on purpose can’t use that to lower support. See Rule 1240-02-04-.05.
• Through the child support office: either parent can ask for a review at any time. If the order was reviewed in the last two years, you’ll need to show what changed.

The Tennessee child support guide walks through each step.

Yes. The Tennessee Department of Human Services publishes the Income Shares Worksheet, an Excel calculator that fills in the official Child Support Worksheet courts use, along with a downloadable calculator and an iPhone app.

The Child Support Calculator page has the Windows and Mac versions. The Department says to check that page often for updates, because an outdated calculator can give wrong results.