Missouri Form 14 is the state’s official Child Support Amount Calculation Worksheet, and both parents must complete one whenever a court or administrative agency sets or changes a child support obligation. The worksheet runs each parent’s income through a series of adjustments, applies Missouri’s Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations, adds direct child-related expenses, and credits the paying parent for overnight time with the child. The number at the bottom is what the court will order unless someone proves it shouldn’t be. You can download the worksheet and its directions from the Missouri Courts website at courts.mo.gov.1Cornell Law Institute. 13 CSR 40-102.010 – Child Support Obligation Guidelines
Documents to Gather First
Pull these together before you open the form. Missing items are the most common reason a worksheet gets kicked back:
- Pay stubs covering at least the last three months for both parents, showing gross (pre-tax) income.
- The most recent federal tax return, which helps verify dividends, interest, trust distributions, capital gains, and second-job earnings.
- Award letters for Social Security, veterans’ disability, workers’ compensation, unemployment, pensions, or disability insurance.
- Existing court orders for maintenance from a prior marriage and support orders for other children not in this case.
- Monthly health and dental insurance premium records for the children, recurring uninsured medical costs, and work-related childcare receipts.
- The parenting plan or custody order, with a count of overnights each parent has per year.
Line 1: Monthly Gross Income
Each parent enters monthly gross income on Line 1. Missouri defines this broadly. It includes salaries, wages, commissions, dividends, severance pay, pensions, interest, trust income, annuities, partnership distributions, Social Security, retirement benefits, workers’ compensation, unemployment compensation, disability insurance benefits, and military subsistence and quarters allowances.2Missouri Courts. Form 14 – Child Support Amount Calculation Worksheet Overtime, bonuses, second-job earnings, and recurring capital gains may also be included when the court finds it appropriate.
If a parent is unemployed, or the court decides a parent is voluntarily underemployed, the judge can impute income based on work history, education, and local job market conditions.2Missouri Courts. Form 14 – Child Support Amount Calculation Worksheet This is where fights happen. Bring documentation of actual earnings, job searches, or any medical or family circumstance that limits your ability to work.
Lines 2 and 3: Adjustments to Income
Line 2a subtracts court-ordered maintenance you pay from a prior marriage. Line 2b adds maintenance you receive. Line 2c gives you a credit for other children who live primarily with you and aren’t part of this action. To calculate the 2c credit, look up your Line 1 gross income in the Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations using the number of those other children, then subtract any child support you already receive for them under a court order.3Missouri Courts. Directions, Comments for Use and Examples for Completion of Form No. 14 Line 3 is your adjusted monthly gross income, and it drives everything that follows.
Looking Up the Base Obligation
Add both parents’ Line 3 figures together and look up the combined amount in Missouri’s Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations. The table runs in $50 income increments from $0 to $30,000 per month, with columns for one through six children.4Missouri Courts. Missouri Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations If your combined income falls between two rows, use the next higher row. The number at the intersection is the base obligation: Missouri’s view of what it costs to raise that many children at that household income.
Each parent’s share of the base is proportional to their share of the combined adjusted gross income. If one parent earns 60% of the combined figure, that parent owes 60% of the base amount.
Lines 6a–6c: Add-On Expenses
The schedule covers ordinary costs like food, clothing, and shelter. Three categories of direct expenses get added on top:
- Line 6a is the monthly cost of health or dental insurance for the children. Enter only the portion attributable to the children, not the parent’s own premium.
- Line 6b is recurring uninsured medical, dental, orthodontic, psychological, or other health-related costs that exceed $250 per child per year. One-time bills don’t go here.
- Line 6c is work-related childcare: what a parent actually pays so they can work or attend job training. Summer and after-school programs count when they’re employment-related.
These are added to the base obligation and each parent’s proportional share is recalculated. Whichever parent actually pays the insurer or childcare provider gets credit against their share, so no one pays twice.
Line 11: Overnight Visitation Credit
Line 11 reduces the paying parent’s obligation based on how many overnights per year the child spends in that parent’s home. The reasoning is simple: when the child sleeps at your house, you’re already buying the food and running the utilities that the base amount funds for the other parent’s household. The Form 14 directions include a percentage table where the credit rises with overnights. A parent with roughly 36 to 72 overnights gets a modest credit, and the percentage climbs from there; heavy time-sharing arrangements can produce credits above 30%.
Count carefully. Judges use the actual parenting plan or custody order, not what you’d like the schedule to be. Claim 120 overnights with a plan that schedules 90 and the court will use 90. The credit comes off the paying parent’s proportional share on Line 10, and Line 12 gives you the final number.
The Presumed Child Support Amount
Line 12 is the “Presumed Child Support Amount.” Under Section 210.841, there is a rebuttable presumption that the amount calculated through Rule 88.01 and Form 14 is the correct amount to order. A court can deviate, but only by making a written finding or a specific finding on the record that the calculated amount would be “unjust or inappropriate” in the case.5Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 210.841 – Judgment or Order, Contents – Amount of Support, Presumption Factors the judge may weigh include the child’s educational or medical needs, the parents’ financial resources, and other circumstances that make the standard calculation unfair to a parent or the child.1Cornell Law Institute. 13 CSR 40-102.010 – Child Support Obligation Guidelines
Rejected vs. Rebutted
These two outcomes sound similar and mean different things. A rejection means the court found a math error, an item that shouldn’t have been included, or a wrong dollar figure; the court then completes its own Form 14 and files it in the record. A rebuttal means the math is fine but the presumed amount is unjust given the family’s circumstances.6Missouri Courts. Form 14 Directions, Comments for Use and Examples A rejection is a fixable error. A rebuttal is the judge saying the standard formula doesn’t fit your family.
Filing the Worksheet
File Form 14 with your local circuit court as part of a child support petition, dissolution of marriage filing, or motion to modify. Attorneys file through Missouri’s electronic filing portal at courts.mo.gov/ecf. Self-represented parents can file in person at the circuit clerk’s office. The Missouri Family Support Division handles cases administratively when it is involved in establishing or enforcing an order.
Filing fees for domestic relations petitions with children vary by county and generally run between $130 and $200. Clay County charges $197.50 for a domestic relations petition involving children; Morgan County charges $132.50 for a child support petition.77th Judicial Circuit Court of Clay County, Missouri. Circuit Court – Filing Deposits and Other Fees8Morgan County, Missouri. Filing Fees and Costs Call your clerk to confirm the exact amount.
Serving the Other Parent
After filing, serve the other parent with the summons and petition. Under Missouri law, service happens by delivering copies in person, by leaving them at the person’s home with a household member at least fifteen years old, or by delivering them to an authorized agent.9Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 506.150 – Service of Summons and Petition You cannot serve the papers yourself. A sheriff’s deputy, private process server, or any non-party handles delivery. If you can’t locate the other parent, ask the court about alternative service, such as service by publication.
What the Judge Does Next
A judge or administrative hearing officer compares the Form 14 entries to the financial evidence: pay stubs, tax returns, expense documentation. If the math checks out and both parents’ worksheets line up, the judge signs an order using the presumed amount. If the worksheets disagree, which is common, the judge weighs the competing numbers, may complete an independent Form 14 on the record, and issues an order based on the court’s own calculation. The completed worksheet becomes a permanent part of the case file.
Either parent can later file a motion to modify if circumstances change substantially: a job loss, a significant raise, a shift in the custody arrangement. A new Form 14 goes with any modification motion.6Missouri Courts. Form 14 Directions, Comments for Use and Examples The moving parent’s credit for other children on Line 2a or 2c may be capped at the level that existed when the original order was entered, so don’t assume every adjustment resets.
One Thing Form 14 Doesn’t Set
Form 14 produces a monthly amount. It does not control when the obligation ends. Under Section 452.340, child support generally terminates at eighteen, but continues through high school until graduation or age twenty-one, whichever comes first, and can extend further for a child who enrolls in college or vocational school on schedule and keeps up a qualifying course load.10Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 452.340 – Child Support, Termination If termination date matters to your case, read the statute itself; the worksheet won’t tell you.