How Much Is Child Support in Louisiana for 2 Kids?

Child support in Louisiana for two kids is calculated by adding both parents’ monthly adjusted gross incomes, looking up the basic obligation for two children on the state schedule, adding child care and health insurance costs, and then splitting the total between the parents in proportion to their incomes. At a combined adjusted monthly gross income of $5,000, the baseline obligation for two children is $1,426; at $10,000 it is $2,053; at $15,000 it is $2,636.¹ What one parent actually pays is a share of that figure, not the whole thing.

The Three-Step Calculation

Louisiana uses an income-shares model. Three steps get you from raw paychecks to a monthly payment.

First, each parent’s adjusted monthly gross income is calculated. Second, the two figures are added together and used to look up the basic obligation for two children on the schedule in R.S. 9:315.19. Third, child care and the children’s health insurance premiums are added on top, and the total is divided between the parents by their share of the combined income.²

What the Schedule Says for Two Children

Here are sample rows from the schedule for two children:

$5,000 combined adjusted monthly gross income: $1,426
$7,000 combined: $1,715
$10,000 combined: $2,053
$15,000 combined: $2,636

Those numbers are the total baseline that both parents together are expected to spend on the children each month, before add-ons.¹ The published schedule runs from $1,050 up to $50,000 per month. Below the bottom of the schedule, the court sets an amount based on the facts, but must order at least $100 per month.³

A Worked Example

Say Parent A earns $6,000 a month and Parent B earns $4,000, for a combined $10,000. The schedule sets the basic obligation for two children at $2,053. The kids are in daycare with $400 in net child care costs, and the health insurance premium for the children is $150. Total obligation: $2,053 + $400 + $150 = $2,603.

Parent A’s share is 60% (their share of the combined income), or $1,562. Parent B’s share is 40%, or $1,041. If Parent B is the nondomiciliary parent, they pay $1,041 a month to Parent A. If Parent B also pays the $150 insurance premium directly, that amount is credited against the monthly payment, dropping it to $891.²

What Counts as Income

Gross income means income from essentially all sources: wages, salaries, bonuses, commissions, self-employment earnings, pensions, dividends, trust income, capital gains, Social Security, disability, workers’ compensation, and military housing allowances. Employer-provided benefits like a company car or free housing count if they meaningfully lower a parent’s living costs.⁴

Some items are excluded: child support received for other children, means-tested public assistance like SNAP or SSI, non-taxable per diem allowances, and extraordinary overtime when the court finds counting it would be unfair.⁴

From gross income, a parent deducts any pre-existing court-ordered child support or spousal support they owe in another case. The court may also allow a deduction for amounts a parent pays to support a minor child who is not part of this case. What is left is the parent’s adjusted gross income, and it is those two adjusted figures that get added together for the schedule lookup.⁴

If a Parent Is Voluntarily Underemployed

A parent who quits a job or takes a lower-paying one to shrink their support obligation will not get credit for that. The court can impute income based on earning potential, using factors like work history, skills, education, age, health, criminal record, and the local job market. Two exceptions: a parent who is physically or mentally unable to work, and a parent staying home with a child of the parties who is under five. Where no evidence of earning potential exists, the law presumes the parent can earn at least 32 hours a week at the applicable minimum wage.⁵

Add-Ons That Increase the Number

The schedule figure is a baseline, not the whole picture. Three categories of expense get added on top.

Work-related child care costs (daycare, after-school care) are added, reduced by the value of the federal child care tax credit. The result is called net child care costs.⁴

The children’s share of the health insurance premium is added too. Only the portion attributable to the kids counts, not the cost of covering the parent or unrelated dependents. If several dependents share one lump-sum premium and only some are part of this case, the premium has to be prorated first.⁴

Extraordinary expenses can also be folded in if the parents agree or the court orders it: private school tuition and fees, transportation between the parents’ homes, and special activities that support the children’s health, athletics, or cultural development, like camp, music lessons, and school extracurriculars.⁶

Shared Custody Changes the Math

The example above assumes one parent has primary custody, which uses Worksheet A. When the children spend roughly equal time in each household, the calculation shifts to Worksheet B. The basic obligation from the schedule is first multiplied by 1.5 to reflect the cost of running two full households for the kids. Each parent’s theoretical obligation is then cross-multiplied by the percentage of time the children actually spend with the other parent, and the parent who owes more pays the difference.⁷

Shared custody often produces a smaller monthly payment than sole custody, even though the total money spent on the children rises. The resulting amount can never be more than what the paying parent would have owed under a straight sole-custody calculation.⁷

When a Judge Can Deviate from the Number

The guideline amount is presumed correct, but a judge can order something different when applying the formula would be unfair or against the children’s best interest. The judge has to state specific reasons on the record and identify what the guideline amount would have been.⁸

Factors the court may consider include:

A parent’s legal obligation to support other children living in their household
Extraordinary medical costs of a parent not otherwise captured in the calculation
Extraordinary community debt from the marriage
A parent’s permanent or temporary total disability affecting earning capacity
Long-term support for an adult disabled child
Combined income below the bottom of the schedule
Any other circumstance that would make the guideline unfair or contrary to the children’s best interest⁸

When Support for Two Children Ends

How the order is written matters when there are two kids. If the order specifies an amount per child, each child’s portion terminates automatically when that child turns 18 or is legally emancipated. If the order sets a single combined amount for both children (an award “in globo”), the full amount continues until the younger child reaches 18.⁹

Support continues past 18 for a child who is still a full-time student in good standing at a secondary school, until the child finishes high school or turns 19, whichever comes first. For a child with a developmental disability enrolled full-time in secondary school, support can extend to age 22.⁹

Changing the Amount Later

Either parent can ask to modify a support order by showing a material change in circumstances since the last order: a significant income change, job loss, new medical needs, or a shift in custody time. The parent asking for the change carries the burden of proof.¹⁰

In cases the Department of Children and Family Services enforces, a material change is presumed whenever recalculating under the guidelines would produce an amount at least 25% different from the current order. Falling behind on payments does not count as a material change that justifies lowering the obligation.¹⁰

1
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 9:315.19 – Schedule for Support
2
Justia Law. Louisiana Code RS 9:315.8 – Calculation of Total Child Support Obligation; Worksheet
3
Justia Law. Louisiana Code RS 9:315.14 – Mandatory Minimum Child Support Award
4
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 9:315 – Economic Data and Principles; Definitions
5
Justia Law. Louisiana Code RS 9:315.11 – Voluntarily Unemployed or Underemployed Party
6
Justia Law. Louisiana Code RS 9:315.6 – Other Extraordinary Adjustments
7
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 9:315.9 – Shared Custody
8
Justia Law. Louisiana Code RS 9:315.1 – Rebuttable Presumption; Deviation from Guidelines by Court
9
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 9:315.22 – Termination of Support
10
Justia Law. Louisiana Code RS 9:311 – Modification of Support; Material Change in Circumstances