How Much Is Child Support in CT? Income, Schedule, and Deviations

Child support in Connecticut is set by a state guidelines schedule that looks at both parents’ combined net weekly income and the number of children, then splits the resulting weekly obligation between the parents in proportion to each one’s share of that income. The schedule covers combined net incomes up to $4,000 per week; above that, the court decides case by case. Work-related childcare and the child’s health insurance premium are added on top and divided the same way, so the amount actually ordered is usually higher than the base schedule figure.

What Drives the Amount

Connecticut uses the Income Shares Model. The premise is that a child should receive the same share of parental income they would have received if the household had stayed intact, so both parents’ incomes go into the math, not just the paying parent’s.

The calculation runs through the Connecticut Child Support and Arrearage Guidelines using a standardized worksheet (Form CCSG-1) and the Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations.¹ Three numbers drive the result: each parent’s net weekly income, the combined net weekly income, and the number of children the order covers.

Figuring Each Parent’s Net Weekly Income

Each parent files a Financial Affidavit disclosing income, expenses, assets, and liabilities.² Gross weekly income is defined broadly and includes:

Salary, hourly wages (capped at 45 paid hours per week), commissions, bonuses, tips, and profit-sharing
Self-employment earnings after reasonable business expenses
Social Security for the parent’s own needs, veterans’ benefits, workers’ compensation, unemployment, and disability insurance
Interest, dividends, annuities, rental income (net of necessary expenses), and trust or estate income
Pensions, royalties, lottery winnings, alimony from someone outside the case, and adoption subsidies received for the child in question

Supplemental Security Income, public assistance grants, the earned income tax credit, and child support received for other children in the home are excluded.³

From gross income, only a short list of deductions is allowed. General living expenses do not qualify. The permitted deductions are federal and state income taxes (with all allowable exemptions and credits), Social Security and Medicare tax, health insurance premiums for the parent and their legal dependents, court-ordered alimony or child support for children from other relationships, and mandatory union dues if the employer withholds them. What remains is that parent’s net weekly income.

Applying the Schedule

The worksheet adds both parents’ net weekly incomes together, rounds to the nearest $10, and looks that combined figure up on the Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations. The schedule returns a total weekly obligation based on the number of children.

Each parent’s responsibility is proportional to income. If one parent brings in 65% of the combined net, that parent owes 65% of the total obligation. The noncustodial parent’s share becomes the weekly payment to the custodial parent.¹

The schedule tops out at a $4,000 combined net weekly income. When parents earn more than that together, the $4,000-level amount becomes the minimum presumptive obligation, and the court sets the actual figure using statutory factors including each parent’s earning capacity, the child’s needs, and the family’s standard of living.⁴

Low-Income Floor

A noncustodial parent whose net weekly income is under $50 owes nothing. Up to roughly $290 per week net, a reduced calculation kicks in that bases the obligation on the noncustodial parent’s income alone rather than the combined figure, so the payment stays within reach.⁵

What Gets Added to the Base Amount

Two significant costs sit on top of the schedule figure and are split between the parents in the same income-based proportions:

Work-related childcare, meaning the net cost of daycare, after-school care, or similar expenses that let the custodial parent work
The child’s share of the health insurance premium

The base obligation plus these add-ons produces the presumptive child support award.¹ For families with young children in full-time care, childcare alone can push the final order well above the schedule number.

Shared Custody Changes the Math

When the noncustodial parent has the child at least 128 overnights per year (about 35% of the time), the guidelines treat the arrangement as shared physical custody. The worksheet runs the formula in both directions, calculates what each parent would owe the other, adjusts for the time split, and offsets the two amounts. The higher earner typically pays the difference, and the resulting payment is lower than the standard formula would generate, because that parent is already covering more of the child’s daily expenses during parenting time.

Below 128 overnights, the standard formula applies with no reduction for time spent with the child.

When a Judge Orders a Different Amount

The guidelines figure is presumptive, not mandatory. A judge can deviate, but only after making a written finding that applying the guidelines would be inequitable or inappropriate in the case.⁶ Recognized reasons include:

Extraordinary child expenses such as unreimbursed medical costs, special education, or costs tied to a disability
Extraordinary parent expenses such as significant visitation travel, unreimbursed job-related costs, or the parent’s own serious medical bills
Combined net income above the $4,000 weekly ceiling, where the court has discretion above the schedule
Self-support concerns, where the calculated payment would drop the paying parent below a livable income

Imputed Income for Underemployed Parents

A parent cannot lower their support by choosing not to work or taking a job below their skill level. Courts can base the calculation on earning capacity instead of actual income, looking at vocational skills, employability, age, and health.⁷ A finding of bad faith is not required; voluntary underemployment is enough.

How Long Payments Last

Support generally runs until the child turns 18. If the child is still a full-time high school student at 18, it continues until they finish twelfth grade or turn 19, whichever comes first.⁷

For a child with an intellectual, mental, or physical disability who lives with and depends on a parent, the court can extend support past 18. Under orders entered on or after October 1, 2023, that support can run until age 26.

Support ends earlier if the child marries, joins the military, or is legally emancipated.

Changing the Amount Later

Either parent can move to modify an existing order by showing a substantial change in circumstances. Connecticut draws a bright line: a deviation of 15% or more between the current order and what the guidelines would produce today is presumed substantial, and anything under 15% is presumed not to be.⁸

Common triggers include a meaningful shift in either parent’s income, a job loss, a new child from another relationship, or a change in the child’s living arrangement. The court filing fee for a post-judgment modification motion is $180.⁹

1
Connecticut Judicial Branch. Worksheet for the Connecticut Child Support and Arrearage Guidelines
2
Connecticut Judicial Branch. Connecticut Financial Affidavit JD-FM-6-LONG
3
Connecticut eRegulations. Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies Sec. 46b-215a-1 – Definitions
4
Connecticut eRegulations. Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies Sec. 46b-215a-2c – Child Support Guidelines
5
State of Connecticut Judicial Branch. State of Connecticut Child Support and Arrearage Guidelines
6
Connecticut eRegulations. Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies Sec. 46b-215a-5c – Deviation Criteria
7
Justia Law. Connecticut General Statutes 46b-84 (Formerly Sec. 46-57)
8
Justia Law. Connecticut General Statutes 46b-86 (Formerly Sec. 46-54)
9
Connecticut Judicial Branch. Court Fees