How to Calculate Child Support in Georgia: Income and Deviations

To calculate child support in Georgia, you run both parents’ incomes through the Income Shares Model set out in O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15: figure each parent’s monthly gross income, subtract allowed adjustments, add the two adjusted incomes together, look up the base obligation on the state’s table, add mandatory costs for health insurance and childcare, then apply any deviations the court will allow. The state provides an online calculator that does the arithmetic and generates the worksheet the court requires, but the number it spits out is only as good as the figures you enter.

Step 1: Find Each Parent’s Gross Income

Gross income means everything a parent earns before taxes or deductions. Wages, salary, commissions, tips, and bonuses all count. Self-employment income is gross receipts minus ordinary and reasonable business expenses.¹ Overtime, bonuses, and commissions get averaged over a reasonable period so one big month doesn’t distort the figure.

Beyond earned income, the statute also counts Social Security disability and retirement benefits, workers’ compensation, and unemployment insurance.¹ Non-cash benefits like employer-provided housing or a company vehicle can be included when they meaningfully reduce a parent’s living expenses. Gather recent pay stubs, W-2s, and at least the last two years of tax returns for each parent. Underreporting here is one of the fastest ways to end up back in court on a modification.

If a Parent Is Unemployed or Underemployed

The court won’t simply accept a zero or a suspiciously low income figure from a parent who is voluntarily unemployed or deliberately underemployed. Georgia law lets the judge impute income based on what that parent could reasonably earn, considering education, prior work history, job skills, and the local job market.¹ A parent who quit a good job without good reason, or who works part-time when full-time work is available, is a typical candidate. Documenting an active job search with dated applications is the best defense.

Step 2: Subtract Allowed Adjustments

Gross income becomes “adjusted income” after three specific deductions on Schedule B of the worksheet:²

One-half of self-employment and Medicare taxes for a self-employed parent (6.2% of self-employment income up to the Social Security wage base, plus 1.45% for Medicare). This puts self-employed parents on roughly equal footing with W-2 employees whose employers cover half of payroll taxes.
Preexisting child support paid under a court order from a different case that has been in place for at least 12 months.
Theoretical support for other qualified children — biological or adopted children living in the parent’s home who are not part of this case — if the court allows the credit.

These adjustments come off before the two incomes are combined, so they directly shift each parent’s percentage of the total. Bring certified copies of any preexisting orders and birth certificates for other children in the home. Skipping this step overstates income and inflates the final number.

Step 3: Combine Incomes and Look Up the Base Obligation

Add the two parents’ monthly adjusted incomes together. That combined figure goes into Georgia’s Basic Child Support Obligation Table, which assigns a base dollar amount based on the number of children. The table covers combined monthly income from $800 up to $40,000 and is built from economic data on what intact families at each income level spend on children.³

Each parent’s share of that base obligation is proportional to their share of the combined adjusted income. If one parent earns 65% of the total and the other earns 35%, the obligation splits 65/35. Georgia’s official online calculator handles this math and produces the worksheet.⁴ Errors almost always trace back to the data someone typed in, so it’s worth understanding the arithmetic even when the tool does it for you.

Step 4: Add Health Insurance, Childcare, and Uninsured Medical Costs

The obligation table doesn’t include three categories of expense, and they’re added on top of the base and prorated using the same income percentages:⁵

The portion of a parent’s health insurance premium that covers the child. If the noncustodial parent pays the premium, they get credit against their obligation so they aren’t paying twice.
Work-related childcare — care that allows a parent to work or attend school. Costs must be reasonable for the area.
Uninsured health care costs: copayments, deductibles, orthodontia, therapy, vision care, and other medical expenses insurance doesn’t cover.¹

Once the three add-ons are prorated and combined with each parent’s share of the base, the result is the presumptive amount of child support.

Step 5: Apply Any Deviations

The presumptive amount is what the court will order unless a party makes a case for a deviation. O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15(i) lists specific grounds, and the court has to make written findings explaining why the standard amount would be unjust and how the deviation serves the child’s best interest.² No deviation is allowed if it would leave the custodial parent unable to cover basic housing, food, and clothing for the child.

The deviations that come up most often:

Parenting time. When the noncustodial parent has significant court-ordered overnights, the duplicate housing and food costs get factored in on Schedule C.
High income. If combined adjusted income tops $40,000 per month, the court starts at the table’s highest level and may deviate upward to match the child’s actual standard of living.
Travel for visitation when the parents live far apart.
Extraordinary educational expenses like private school tuition or specialized tutoring.
Extraordinary medical expenses causing extreme economic hardship, whether for the child or, in limited cases, a parent.
Low income of the paying parent, where the presumptive amount would create genuine hardship.

Deviations live or die on documentation. Bring receipts, tuition contracts, therapy invoices, whatever backs the number. The deviation has to appear on the worksheet itself with a specific dollar amount and a written justification.

Using the State Calculator and Filing the Worksheet

The Georgia Child Support Commission’s online calculator walks through each step in order and generates a PDF worksheet that must be attached to the child support order.⁴ Print it, sign it, and file it. Most Georgia superior courts accept electronic filings; some smaller counties still take paper at the clerk’s office. Filing fees for domestic actions vary by county and typically run in the range of $210 to $220, plus service fees.

The worksheet is not optional. Showing up to a hearing without one usually means a continuance. The calculator produces the presumptive figure, but the judge has final authority to approve, reject, or modify it. Once signed, the worksheet becomes part of the permanent record and the baseline for any future modification.

How Long the Calculation Applies

The amount you calculate generally runs until the child turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever is later. If the child is still in high school past 18, support continues until graduation but cannot go past the 20th birthday. Support also ends if the child marries, is emancipated by court order, or enters active military duty. For a child with a physical or mental disability that began before age 18 and prevents self-support, the obligation can continue, though as of January 1, 2026, support for “dependent adult children” is governed by the new O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15.1 rather than the standard worksheet.¹ If income or the child’s needs change materially later on, either parent can petition to recalculate under the same guidelines.

1
Justia. Georgia Code 19-6-15 – Child Support Guidelines
2
Georgia Child Support Commission. OCGA 19-6-15 Child Support Statute
3
Georgia Child Support Commission. Basic Child Support Obligation Table
4
Georgia Child Support Commission. Georgia Child Support Calculator
5
Child Support Commission. Frequently Asked Questions On Georgia’s Child Support Guidelines