Georgia Child Support Law: Calculation, Modification, and Enforcement

Georgia child support law uses an Income Shares model: both parents’ gross incomes are combined, the state’s Basic Child Support Obligation table estimates what a child at that income level costs to raise, and each parent pays a share proportionate to their earnings. The governing statute is O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15, and the figure it produces is presumed correct unless a judge makes written findings to deviate.¹ Enforcement is aggressive once an order exists, with automatic wage withholding as the default and license suspension, passport denial, and jail available for parents who fall behind.

Who Owes Support and for How Long

Every parent in Georgia has a legal duty to financially support their minor children. The duty normally ends when the child turns 18, marries, dies, or becomes legally emancipated, whichever happens first. A judge may extend support past 18 if the child is still enrolled in and attending secondary school, but the extension cannot run beyond age 20, and it is not automatic — the court decides based on the circumstances.¹

For unmarried fathers, no support can be ordered until paternity is established, whether by a signed Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgment, an administrative determination through the Division of Child Support Services, or a court order based on genetic testing.² Once paternity is acknowledged or adjudicated, the father is liable for support exactly as if the child had been born during a marriage.

How the Amount Is Calculated

The calculation begins with each parent’s gross income, which Georgia defines broadly as all income from any source before taxes or deductions. The statute lists more than 20 categories, including wages, commissions, bonuses, overtime, self-employment earnings, pensions, interest and dividends, trust income, capital gains, Social Security disability benefits, workers’ compensation, unemployment benefits, alimony received from someone outside the case, prizes, lottery winnings, and cash gifts.³ If money comes in regularly, it almost certainly counts.

Once both parents’ adjusted gross incomes are set, they are added together. That combined figure is run through the Basic Child Support Obligation (BCSO) table, which estimates the total monthly cost of raising the children at that income level. Each parent is then assigned a percentage of that total based on their share of the combined income.⁴

Say Parent A earns $6,000 a month and Parent B earns $4,000. The combined income is $10,000. If the BCSO table puts the total cost for one child at that income level at $1,400, Parent A is responsible for 60 percent ($840) and Parent B for 40 percent ($560). The noncustodial parent’s share becomes the presumptive support amount.

The Georgia Child Support Commission maintains a free online calculator that pulls the correct BCSO values and runs the math. Gather recent pay stubs, tax returns, and documentation of health insurance premiums and work-related childcare costs before you sit down with it.

Self-Employment Income

Self-employed parents report gross receipts minus ordinary and reasonable expenses needed to run the business, but Georgia courts don’t accept the same deductions the IRS does. Depreciation on equipment, accelerated depreciation, home office costs, and excessive promotional or travel expenses cannot be subtracted. The logic: depreciation is a paper deduction and doesn’t reduce the money actually available for a child. Courts are told to scrutinize self-employment income carefully, and the figure used for child support is often higher than what shows up on a tax return.³

Imputed Income

A parent who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed can have income attributed to them based on what they could reasonably earn. Courts weigh work history, education, training, health, and ownership of valuable assets that look inconsistent with the income the parent claims. An expensive car paired with minimal reported income invites scrutiny. The rule isn’t limited to parents actively trying to dodge support; any intentional choice that reduces income can trigger imputation.³

Two limits matter. Income cannot be imputed to an incarcerated parent; the statute explicitly refuses to treat prison as voluntary unemployment. And a parent who has stayed home as a full-time caretaker gets special consideration, with the court examining how long they have been out of the workforce, their education, and the realistic jobs actually available to them.

Deviations That Raise or Lower the Number

The presumptive amount is just that: presumed. A judge can adjust it when the facts warrant, but every deviation requires written findings explaining why the standard amount would be unjust, what the presumptive amount was, and how the adjustment serves the child’s best interest.⁵

The statute names several specific deviations judges handle routinely:

Health insurance premiums covering the child are added to the basic obligation and allocated by income share.
Work-related childcare, such as daycare or after-school care needed for a parent to work, is treated the same way.
Travel expenses tied to court-ordered parenting time, when the parents live far apart, can be allocated by the court, which considers which parent moved and why.
Mortgage or shelter costs can offset support when the noncustodial parent is paying the mortgage on the home where the child lives or providing housing at no cost.
Extended parenting time with the noncustodial parent can justify a downward deviation, reflecting the costs that parent carries while the child is in their care.

Beyond the named categories, Georgia allows nonspecific deviations for anything the judge finds serves the child’s best interest, such as extraordinary medical needs or unusual educational costs. As of 2024, the BCSO table extends to a combined monthly income of $40,000 (up from $30,000); families above that line fall outside the table, and the court works with broader discretion.⁶

Federal law also requires every state-enforced order to address health coverage. In practice, the court orders one or both parents to carry insurance for the child, and when the noncustodial parent has employer coverage the state can direct the employer to enroll the child and withhold premiums from pay.

Getting an Order in Place

There are two routes. The first is the Division of Child Support Services (DCSS), which handles cases at no cost to the applicant. You can apply online or at a local office, and DCSS does everything from locating the other parent to arranging wage withholding.⁷ The tradeoff is caseload: the agency is busy, movement can be slow, and you have less control over strategy.

The second route is a civil action in Superior Court, typically filed as part of a divorce or as a standalone petition. Filing fees for domestic relations matters generally run a few hundred dollars depending on the county, with fee waivers available for parents who can show financial hardship. The other parent must be formally served, usually by the sheriff or a private process server.

Under either route, the judge reviews the completed child support worksheet and issues a final order along with an Income Deduction Order telling the paying parent’s employer to withhold support directly from wages. That automatic withholding is Georgia’s standard method of payment, not a punishment.

Modifying an Existing Order

Support orders can be changed when circumstances change, but you have to show a material change in a parent’s financial situation or in the child’s needs since the last order. Job loss, a significant pay raise, a new disability, or shifts in the child’s medical or educational needs are the common triggers. You can request a review through DCSS or file a modification petition in Superior Court.

One rule catches many parents badly: Georgia does not allow retroactive modification. Arrears that have already piled up under a valid order cannot be reduced or wiped out, no matter how much your situation has changed.⁸ The clock starts the moment your circumstances shift. Lose your job in January and wait until June to file, and you owe the full original amount for those five months. File promptly.

What Happens If Payments Stop

Enforcement escalates, and most parents only learn the full range of consequences after they’ve already fallen behind.

Wage Garnishment

Automatic withholding is the default. When a parent falls into arrears, federal law caps the garnishment at 50 percent of disposable earnings if the parent is supporting another spouse or child, and 60 percent if not. An additional 5 percent can be withheld once payments are more than 12 weeks overdue.⁹

License Suspension

Georgia can suspend both driver’s and professional licenses for nonpayment. The Department of Driver Services suspends a driver’s license on certification that the parent is out of compliance.¹⁰ The Secretary of State’s office can suspend professional licenses covering occupations like nursing, cosmetology, and engineering for delinquent parents.¹¹ Losing the license you need to earn creates an obvious spiral, so acting before arrears get there matters.

Tax Refund and Lottery Intercepts

Georgia can intercept federal and state tax refunds to cover past-due support. The federal Tax Refund Offset Program kicks in when arrears reach $500, or $150 if the custodial parent receives public assistance. Lottery winnings can be intercepted too.

Passport Denial

Once arrears exceed $2,500, the case can be certified to the U.S. State Department, which will refuse to issue or renew a passport and may revoke one you already hold.¹² International travel can stop over a relatively modest balance.

Contempt and Jail

A custodial parent can file a contempt action asking the court to find the noncustodial parent in willful nonpayment. A judge can order incarceration with a “purge payment” — essentially bail that goes straight to the support balance — and the parent stays in jail until it’s paid. Contempt findings can also carry attorney fees and interest on the arrears.

At the criminal level, failing to support dependents is a misdemeanor in Georgia. A third offense, or fleeing the state to avoid payment, becomes a felony carrying one to three years in prison.

Taxes

Child support is tax-neutral in Georgia and under federal law. The paying parent cannot deduct it, and the receiving parent does not report it as income.¹³ This is different from alimony, which has its own tax rules depending on when the divorce was finalized. If your order covers both, make sure you and your preparer know which payments are which.

When Parents Live in Different States

The Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) controls which state’s order governs when parents are no longer in the same place. The core rule is that the state that issued a valid order keeps control of it, even after parents or the child move away. Another state cannot modify the order unless the issuing state has lost jurisdiction, generally because neither parent nor the child still lives there.¹⁴ If your order came out of Georgia and you’ve since moved, Georgia’s guidelines likely still control your obligation until jurisdiction shifts. Confirm which state has authority through DCSS or an attorney before filing anything, or you risk conflicting orders.

1
Georgia Child Support Commission. Georgia Code 19-6-15 – Child Support Guidelines
2
Georgia Department of Human Services. Paternity Establishment
3
Justia. Georgia Code 19-6-15 – Child Support Guidelines for Determining Amount of Award
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Georgia Child Support Commission. Georgia Child Support Calculator
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Georgia Child Support Commission. Georgia Code 19-6-15 – Child Support Guidelines
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Georgia Child Support Commission. 2024 Updates to the Child Support Guidelines
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Georgia Department of Human Services Division of Child Support Services. Application for Child Support Services
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Georgia Secretary of State. Georgia Code 290-7-1 – Recovery and Administration of Child Support
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U.S. Department of Labor. Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA)
10
Justia. Georgia Code 40-5-54.1 – Denial or Suspension of License for Noncompliance with Child Support Order
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Georgia Secretary of State. How Loan Defaults or Child Support Can Impact Your License
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 652 – Duties of Secretary
13
Internal Revenue Service. Alimony and Separate Maintenance
14
Administration for Children & Families. 2001 Revisions to Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA)