Vermont Child Support Calculator

Vermont’s table sets one starting amount of support for both parents together. It depends on the number of children and the parents’ combined monthly available income (income before taxes minus standard tax amounts). The paying parent owes a share that matches their part of the income. For example, if you earn $4,333 a month before taxes, the other parent earns $3,000, and the children live with the other parent, you pay about $672 a month for one child and $972 for two, before child care and medical costs.

In the first rows, support is limited so the paying parent keeps $1,596 a month after taxes. Under about $420 a week, a judge sets a small amount instead. With 25% or more of overnights each, the shared custody formula below changes the amounts. The table behind them, which gives the total for both parents together in $50 steps up to six children, is the Vermont Table for Intact Family Expenditures, under 15 V.S.A. § 654.

Vermont uses an income shares formula, so both parents’ incomes count. It subtracts standard tax amounts from each parent’s income before taxes and adds the two results. It then looks up what Vermont parents who live together spend on children at that income. Each parent owes their share of that amount.

The rules are in 15 V.S.A. §§ 653 to 657:

1. Find each parent’s available income. Start with income before taxes from all sources. Subtract Social Security and Medicare taxes, and income taxes from the Office of Child Support’s standard tables. Also subtract child support or alimony the parent already pays in other cases, and the children’s health insurance.
2. Add the two available incomes.
3. Look up the table amount for that combined income and the number of children.
4. Add child care and large medical or school costs.
5. Split it by each parent’s share of the income. A parent with 60% of the available income owes 60%.
6. Adjust for shared custody if each parent has at least 25% of overnights.

Example

One parent earns $4,000 a month and the other $2,000, and the children live mostly with the lower earner. The tax table turns those into $3,260 and $2,294 of available income, for $5,554 combined. The table amount for one child is $1,125, so the higher earner pays about $660 a month.

Yes, and it starts well before 50/50. Once each parent has at least 25% of the overnights (92 a year), a shared custody formula lowers support, and support drops more as the time gets closer to equal. With one child and gross pay of $4,000 and $2,000 a month, the higher earner pays $660 a month below 25%, about $646 at 92 overnights, about $522 at 30%, about $352 at 40%, and about $182 at 50/50.

• 30% or more each (110 overnights a year): the table amount goes up 50% to cover the cost of two homes. Each parent owes their income share of it for the time the children spend with the other parent. The parent who owes more pays the difference.
• Over 25% and under 30% (92 to 109 overnights): a partial shared costs table phases in the shared custody formula, so support goes down gradually toward the 30% amount.
• Limit: the law says shared custody can’t make a parent pay more than they would without it. The Office of Child Support’s calculator, and the one above, don’t apply this limit. So a parent who earns most of the income and has about a quarter to a third of the overnights can owe more than with fewer nights. A judge can apply the limit.

Only overnights count toward these percentages. Parents who share custody also use a different tax table. The rules are in 15 V.S.A. § 657.

Child care a parent needs to work, or to go to school for work, is added to support. The parents split it by their shares of the combined income. Subsidies and child care tax credits are subtracted from the cost first.

For example, if child care costs $600 a month after credits and you have 60% of the available income, your share is $360, under 15 V.S.A. § 653(2).

A judge orders one or both parents to insure the children when adding them costs no more than 5% of that parent’s income before taxes. The parent who pays the children’s premium subtracts it from their income. Medical bills insurance doesn’t cover, above $200 a year, are split by each parent’s share of the income.

• No affordable plan: a judge can order a parent to pay up to 5% of their income before taxes toward the children’s coverage, including Dr. Dynasaur (Vermont’s health coverage for children), under 15 V.S.A. § 658(f).
• Premium: only the cost of covering these children is subtracted from the parent’s income, under 15 V.S.A. § 653(1)(B).
• Uninsured bills: medical costs insurance doesn’t cover, above $200 a year, are added to support, under 15 V.S.A. § 653(4).

If you get Reach Up (Vermont’s cash assistance), you have to help the state get child support from the other parent. Your family gets the first $100 of support collected each month on top of your grant. 3SquaresVT (Vermont’s food stamps, or SNAP) has no child support requirement.

• Reach Up: you have to name the other parent and help find them, help prove who the legal parent is, and come to hearings when asked. If the Office of Child Support decides you didn’t, your family’s benefit goes down by 25%, under Reach Up rule 2232.2.
• $100 family bonus: the first $100 collected each month is paid to you and doesn’t lower your grant. Support above $100 is paid to you too, but your grant goes down by the same amount, under Reach Up rule 2250 and 33 V.S.A. § 1103(f).
• 3SquaresVT: Vermont doesn’t require help with child support for food stamps, according to the USDA SNAP State Options Report.

If helping could put you or your children in danger, ask for a child support waiver (rule 2232.3). The Vermont child support guide has more.

Support can’t leave the paying parent with less than $1,596 a month after taxes. This is Vermont’s 2026 self-support reserve, the amount protected for a parent’s own living costs. If the paying parent has less than that, a judge sets a small amount.

• Income above $1,596: support can’t be more than the parent’s available income minus $1,596. A parent with $1,800 of available income pays no more than $204, under 15 V.S.A. § 656(c).
• Income under $1,596: a judge sets a small amount after looking at the family’s finances, under 15 V.S.A. § 656(b).
• Earning less by choice: a judge can count the income a parent could earn. This doesn’t apply if the parent is disabled or in job training, or if earning less is best for the child, under 15 V.S.A. § 653(5).

The $1,596 figure changes each year and is posted on the Office of Child Support’s calculator page.

No. Vermont’s table ends at $30,025 a month in combined available income (income after standard taxes). Above that, a judge decides the amount.

At the top of the table, support for one child is $3,687 a month, under 15 V.S.A. § 656(d).

Yes. If a parent asks, a judge can order a different amount after deciding that the table amount is unfair to the child or to either parent.

Reasons in 15 V.S.A. § 659 include the child’s and each parent’s finances, the standard of living the child would have had, the child’s health and school needs, and travel costs for parenting time.

File a Motion to Modify Child Support in the Family Division of the Superior Court, or ask the Office of Child Support for help if it handles your case. You need a big change that wasn’t expected. If the guideline amount would be more than 10% higher or lower than your order, that counts.

• Changes that count: starting to get workers’ compensation, disability, unemployment, Reach Up, or other benefits based on need, or spending more than 90 days in jail for a reason other than unpaid support. If the order is three or more years old, you don’t need to show a change.
• Through the court: file the Motion to Modify Child Support (form 400-00803) with an Affidavit of Income and Expense. The Judiciary’s child support page has both.
• Through the Office of Child Support: if it handles your case, it can help you ask for a review.

A new amount can start no earlier than the date you file, under 15 V.S.A. § 660. The Vermont child support guide walks through each step.

Yes. The Office of Child Support’s online Vermont Child Support Calculator fills in the official worksheets for every custody arrangement.

Use the Vermont Child Support Calculator. The Office of Child Support’s calculator page has the paper worksheets, tables, and instructions.