In Texas, sharing joint custody does not get you out of paying child support. The legal term for joint custody — joint managing conservatorship — governs who makes decisions about the child’s education, healthcare, and upbringing. Child support is calculated separately, based mostly on the paying parent’s income, and courts order it in joint custody cases all the time. If there’s a meaningful income gap between you and the other parent, the higher earner almost always pays, no matter how the custody labels read.
Why Joint Custody Doesn’t Cancel Child Support
Texas law presumes that appointing both parents as joint managing conservators is in the child’s best interest, and that presumption only falls away when there’s a history of family violence.1State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 153.131 – Presumption That Joint Managing Conservatorship in Best Interest of Child Because of that, joint managing conservatorship is the default outcome in most Texas custody cases.
What a lot of parents miss is that joint managing conservatorship is about rights and duties, not time or money. It gives both parents shared authority over major decisions. It does not mean the child splits time equally between two homes. In most orders, one parent gets the exclusive right to designate the child’s primary residence, and the other parent gets a possession schedule.
Child support sits in its own lane. Texas treats support as the child’s right, not either parent’s, and the court’s job is to make sure the child’s financial needs are covered in both households. If one parent earns $90,000 and the other earns $35,000, the court isn’t going to let the child’s standard of living swing wildly between homes just because the parents share conservatorship on paper. The higher earner pays.
How Much Child Support You’ll Pay
Texas uses a formula set out in Chapter 154 of the Family Code, and judges presume the guideline amount is correct. Deviating takes evidence, not just an argument.
Start With Net Resources
The calculation begins with the paying parent’s monthly “net resources,” which is not the same as take-home pay. Net resources include wages, salary, commissions, overtime, bonuses, self-employment income, interest, dividends, rental income, and retirement benefits. From that total, the court subtracts Social Security taxes, federal income tax (calculated as if the parent were single with one exemption and the standard deduction), state income tax, union dues, and the cost of the child’s health insurance.2Justia Law. Texas Family Code Chapter 154 – Child Support – Section 154.062
Apply the Guideline Percentage
Once net resources are set, the court applies a flat percentage based on how many children the paying parent supports:
- 1 child: 20% of net resources
- 2 children: 25%
- 3 children: 30%
- 4 children: 35%
- 5 children: 40%
- 6 or more: not less than the amount for five children
These percentages apply when the paying parent’s monthly net resources are at least $1,000. Below that, Texas uses a separate low-income schedule starting at 15% for one child.3State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 154.125 – Application of Guidelines
The Net Resources Cap Changed in 2025
The guideline percentages only apply up to a statutory cap on monthly net resources. Effective September 1, 2025, that cap rose from $9,200 to $11,700 per month. The maximum guideline support for one child is now $2,340 per month (20% of $11,700). For two children it’s $2,925.3State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 154.125 – Application of Guidelines
If the paying parent earns more than $11,700 per month, a court can order additional support above the guideline, but the parent asking for more has to prove the child actually needs it, considering the child’s proven needs, the lifestyle they would have had if the parents stayed together, and any extraordinary expenses.
When Judges Deviate
A judge can set support above or below the guideline if the evidence shows the guideline amount wouldn’t serve the child’s best interest. Factors include the child’s age and specific needs, childcare costs, education expenses, travel costs for exercising possession, and each parent’s financial resources. Walk in with documentation, not assumptions.
What Happens When You Share Equal Time 50/50
This is where joint custody parents most often assume they’re off the hook, and they’re usually wrong. No Texas statute reduces or eliminates child support based on how much time each parent spends with the child. The guidelines look at income, not the parenting calendar.
Parents who share roughly equal time can sometimes negotiate an “offset” arrangement, where each parent’s hypothetical support obligation is calculated based on their own income and the higher earner pays the difference. Courts aren’t required to use this method, but many will approve it in a settlement if both parents agree and the resulting amount still covers the child’s needs.
Even in a true 50/50 schedule, a court can still order full guideline support when the income gap is large. If one parent earns three times what the other earns, equal time will not cancel the obligation.
Health Insurance and Medical Costs
A Texas child support order is more than a cash payment. The court is required to include a medical support order in every proceeding that establishes or modifies child support.4State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 154.181 – Medical Support Order One parent must carry health insurance for the child, and the cost of that coverage is subtracted when calculating net resources.
The court decides which parent provides the coverage based on cost and availability. A parent with employer-sponsored insurance is often ordered to add the child to that plan. Texas treats health insurance as “reasonable” if the cost doesn’t exceed 9% of the obligor’s annual resources. If neither parent has affordable private coverage, the court may order cash medical support instead, covering the child’s share of public health program premiums or building a reserve for out-of-pocket costs.
Both parents are generally required to split the child’s uninsured medical expenses, including copays, deductibles, and anything insurance doesn’t cover.
How Long Payments Last and When They Can Change
Child support in Texas continues until the earliest of these: the child turns 18 or graduates from high school (whichever comes later), the child marries, the child is emancipated by court order, or the child dies. If the child has a disability, the court can order support to continue indefinitely.5Justia Law. Texas Family Code Chapter 154 – Child Support – Section 154.001
Payments don’t stop on their own. If support is being collected through wage withholding, the paying parent typically needs to file a motion to terminate, or the money keeps coming out of the paycheck. Just stopping is a fast way to rack up arrears.
Orders can be modified under two circumstances. The first is a material and substantial change in circumstances affecting the child or a parent — job loss, a serious medical diagnosis, a significant raise, or incarceration longer than 180 days all qualify. The second is time-based: at least three years have passed since the order was last set, and the current amount differs from the guideline amount by at least 20% or $100.6State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 156.401 – Grounds for Modification of Child Support The 2025 cap increase alone could trigger a modification for some families whose orders were set under the old $9,200 cap.
One argument that won’t work: claiming that a joint managing conservatorship order itself justifies changing support. The statute specifically says an order of joint conservatorship does not constitute grounds for modifying a support order. A new spouse’s income also doesn’t factor directly into the calculation, because the obligation is based on the paying parent’s own resources.
What Happens If You Don’t Pay
Texas treats child support enforcement as a priority, and the consequences escalate quickly. Wage withholding is the default — courts are required to order income withholding in every case with periodic child support payments, which means the money comes out of the paycheck before the obligor ever sees it.7State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 158.001 – Income Withholding
Fall behind, and the Texas Attorney General’s office can suspend driver’s licenses, professional licenses, and hunting and fishing licenses. Suspension kicks in when overdue support equals or exceeds three months’ worth and the parent hasn’t followed a repayment plan.8Texas Attorney General. License Suspension – Child Support in Texas
Courts can enforce support orders through contempt proceedings, which carry the possibility of jail time.9State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 157.001 – Motion for Enforcement At the federal level, owing more than $2,500 in past-due support triggers passport denial, meaning the State Department will refuse to issue or renew a passport until the debt is resolved.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 652 – Duties of Secretary Unpaid support also accrues interest and can be reported to credit agencies, making it one of the hardest debts to shake.