Louisiana Child Support Guidelines: Income, Custody, and Deviations

Louisiana’s child support guidelines calculate what a parent owes by combining both parents’ gross incomes, subtracting certain preexisting obligations, matching the combined figure to a statewide schedule keyed to the number of children, and then adding health insurance premiums, child care costs, and any extraordinary expenses on top. Each parent is responsible for a share of that total based on their percentage of the combined income, adjusted for the custody arrangement. The guideline amount is presumed correct, but a judge can deviate from it in specific circumstances.

What Counts as Income

The calculation begins with each parent’s gross income, and Louisiana defines that broadly. Wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, dividends, pensions, interest, trust income, capital gains, Social Security benefits, workers’ compensation, disability payments, unemployment insurance, military housing allowances, spousal support from a prior relationship, and recurring monetary gifts all count.¹

Some sources are excluded: child support received from another case, public assistance like food stamps and SSI, per diem allowances not subject to federal income tax, and FEMA disaster assistance.¹ A judge can also exclude extraordinary overtime or seasonal income when counting it would be unfair. Regular overtime an employer routinely requires generally stays in.

Gross income becomes “adjusted gross income” after subtracting any preexisting child support or spousal support owed under a court order to someone outside the current case. A judge may also deduct amounts a parent pays for a child from another relationship who is not involved in the current proceeding.¹

Self-employed parents and business owners calculate gross income as gross receipts minus ordinary and necessary business expenses, but the law excludes accelerated depreciation, investment tax credits, and any other expense a judge finds inappropriate for support purposes.¹ Aggressive tax write-offs do not shrink child support income. Fringe benefits that reduce personal living costs, like a company car, free housing, or reimbursed meals, are added back as income. Business owners also face a heavier paperwork burden, including three years of personal and business tax returns, profit-and-loss statements, balance sheets, and bank statements.²

A parent who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed does not get to walk away from the obligation. The court imputes income based on earning potential, considering assets, employment history, skills, education, age, health, criminal record, job-search efforts, and the local market. Exceptions apply if the parent is physically or mentally incapacitated, or caring for a child of the parties under age five. When there is no evidence of actual income or earning potential, the law presumes the parent can earn the equivalent of 32 hours per week at the applicable minimum wage, and that presumption is rebuttable.³

Finding the Basic Obligation on the Schedule

Both parents’ adjusted gross incomes are combined. That total is matched to the Louisiana Child Support Guideline Schedule, which is written directly into the statute. You find the combined income on the left side and read across to the column for the number of children; the intersection is the basic monthly obligation.⁴ The legislature updates the schedule periodically.

Regardless of what the calculation produces, the court cannot set support below $100 per month. The floor does not apply in shared or split custody situations, or when the paying parent has a documented disability that limits their ability to meet it.⁵

What Gets Added on Top

The schedule covers ordinary child-rearing costs. Several categories are added separately before the total is split between parents.

Net child care costs, calculated by applying the federal Child and Dependent Care Expenses credit (IRS Form 2441) to actual costs.⁶
Health insurance premiums for the child. Only the portion attributable to the child counts; employer contributions and amounts covering other family members are excluded.⁷
Extraordinary medical expenses, defined as unreimbursed costs exceeding $250 per child per calendar year, when the parties agree or the court orders it.⁸
Other extraordinary expenses by agreement or court order: private or special-school tuition, registration, books, and fees meeting the child’s needs; transportation to move the child between parents; and extracurricular costs like camp, lessons, and school-sponsored activities.⁹

The sum of the basic schedule amount plus these add-ons is the total monthly obligation that both parents share.

How Custody Changes the Math

Louisiana uses two different worksheets, and which one applies can shift the result substantially.

Sole or Standard Joint Custody (Worksheet A)

When one parent has sole custody, or when joint custody does not rise to shared custody, Worksheet A applies. Each parent’s share of the total obligation equals their percentage of the combined adjusted gross income. The non-domiciliary parent pays their share to the domiciliary parent each month.¹⁰

If the non-domiciliary parent has physical custody for more than 73 days per year, the court may credit the support obligation. The parent seeking the credit must show that the additional time actually increases their expenses and reduces the domiciliary parent’s costs, and the court weighs the child’s best interest and overall fairness. A “day” requires at least four hours of physical custody.¹⁰

Shared Custody (Worksheet B)

Shared custody means each parent has the child for an approximately equal amount of time. The statute does not set a specific percentage threshold; the court looks at whether the arrangement is roughly equal in practice.¹¹

Worksheet B multiplies the basic obligation by 1.5 to account for the duplicated household costs of two full living arrangements. Each parent’s theoretical share is then cross-multiplied by the percentage of time the child spends with the other parent. The parent with the larger figure pays the difference, capped at what that parent would have owed as a domiciliary parent under Worksheet A.¹¹

When a Judge Can Deviate from the Guideline Amount

The guideline amount is presumed correct. A judge can order something different only when strict application would be against the child’s best interest or unfair to a party, and the judge must state on the record what the guideline amount would have been and why a different figure is warranted.¹²

Statutory grounds for deviation include a parent’s legal obligation to support other dependents in the household, existing support orders for children elsewhere, a parent’s own extraordinary medical costs, large community debts from the marriage, temporary emergency support when a full hearing cannot be held quickly, a parent’s total disability affecting earnings or living costs, the long-term burden of supporting an adult disabled child, and a catch-all for other circumstances that would make the guideline amount unfair or contrary to the child’s best interest.¹² The catch-all gives judges real flexibility, but the bar is high in practice. Vague financial-hardship claims rarely succeed without specific documentation.

Changing the Amount Later

Either parent can request a modification by showing a material change in circumstances that is both substantial and continuing since the last order. A temporary dip in income or a one-time expense usually will not qualify.¹³

When the Department of Children and Family Services is involved in enforcement, a rebuttable presumption of material change arises if a fresh guideline calculation produces an amount at least 25% different from the existing order. The 25% figure is not an automatic trigger; it shifts the burden to the other parent. The court can still deny a modification above that threshold if the result would not serve the child, and it can grant one below the threshold when the facts justify it.¹³

Awards are generally retroactive to the date the petition was filed, not the date the judge signs. The court can pick a later date for good cause but cannot go back further than the filing date. Voluntary payments the paying parent makes during the gap are credited against the retroactive amount, but only if they were not paid under an existing interim order.¹⁴ Document every voluntary payment from the moment the petition is filed.

When Support Ends

Child support ends automatically when the child reaches 18 or is emancipated, whichever comes first. If the order specifies a per-child amount, each child’s share ends individually. If the order sets a single amount for multiple children, that amount continues until the youngest ages out.¹⁵

Three exceptions extend support past 18. For a child who turns 18 while still a full-time student in good standing at a secondary school, support continues until graduation or age 19, whichever comes first. For a child with a developmental disability who is a full-time secondary student, support continues until age 22.¹⁵ For an unmarried adult child who is incapable of self-support and requires substantial care because of an intellectual or physical disability that appeared before the age of majority, support continues indefinitely. Substance abuse does not qualify as a disability for this purpose.¹⁶

What Happens if a Parent Doesn’t Pay

Once the judge signs the order, an income assignment usually issues at the same time, directing the paying parent’s employer to withhold the amount from each paycheck and send it to the state disbursement unit. The court can skip the income assignment only when the parties have a written agreement for another arrangement or the judge finds good cause.¹⁷

A parent who falls behind can be held in contempt, facing up to 90 days in jail, a fine of up to $500, or both. The court may suspend the sentence if the parent pays the full arrearage plus costs, or a lesser amount the state attorney recommends. Jail time does not erase the debt; the full balance remains owed after release.¹⁸

Willful failure to pay is also a crime. A first offense carries up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $500. A second or subsequent offense can bring up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to $2,500. When the arrearage exceeds $15,000 and has been outstanding for at least a year, the heavier penalties apply even without a prior conviction.¹⁹

1
Justia. Louisiana Code RS 9:315 – Economic Data and Principles; Definitions
2
Justia. Louisiana Code RS 9:315.2 – Calculation of Basic Child Support Obligation
3
FindLaw. Louisiana Code 9-315.11 – Determination of Income; Voluntarily Unemployed or Underemployed Party
4
Justia. Louisiana Code RS 9:315.19 – Schedule for Support
5
Justia. Louisiana Code RS 9:315.14 – Mandatory Minimum Child Support Award
6
FindLaw. Louisiana Code 9-315.3 – Child Care Costs; Addition to Basic Obligation
7
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code 9:315.4 – Health Insurance Premiums; Addition to Basic Obligation
8
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code 9:315.5 – Extraordinary Medical Expenses; Addition to Basic Obligation
9
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 9:315.6 – Other Extraordinary Expenses; Addition to Basic Obligation
10
Justia. Louisiana Code RS 9:315.8 – Calculation of Total Child Support Obligation; Worksheet
11
Justia. Louisiana Code RS 9:315.9 – Effect of Shared Custodial Arrangement
12
Justia. Louisiana Code RS 9:315.1 – Rebuttable Presumption; Deviation from Guidelines by Court; Stipulations by Parties
13
FindLaw. Louisiana Code 9-311 – Modification of Child Support Award
14
Justia. Louisiana Code RS 9:315.21 – Retroactivity of Child Support Judgment
15
Justia. Louisiana Code RS 9:315.22 – Termination of Child Support
16
Justia. Louisiana Code RS 9:315.22.1 – Support for Adult Child with Disability
17
Justia. Louisiana Code RS 46:236.3 – Enforcement of Support by Income Assignment
18
Justia. Louisiana Code RS 46:236.6 – Failure to Pay Support; Procedure, Penalties and Publication
19
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 14:75 – Failure to Pay Child Support Obligation