Child support in Michigan is calculated with a statewide formula that weighs both parents’ incomes, the number of overnights the child spends with each parent, and costs like health insurance and childcare. Payments are processed through the Michigan State Disbursement Unit, and the Friend of the Court office in each county handles investigation, collection, and enforcement. Both parents owe support regardless of whether they were ever married or live together.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 722.3 – Obligation of Parents
How the Support Amount Is Calculated
Every case uses the Michigan Child Support Formula (MCSF). The number the formula produces is a rebuttable presumption, so a judge must order that amount unless specific circumstances make it unfair.2Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 552.605 – Child Support Order; Deviation From Formula; Agreement The State Friend of the Court Bureau maintains the formula, and the current version took effect January 1, 2025.3Michigan Courts. 2025 Michigan Child Support Formula Manual
Income Is Defined by the Formula, Not Your Paystub
The MCSF uses its own definition of “net income,” which is not the same as take-home pay or taxable income. It starts with income from every source, then subtracts a specific list of items: federal, state, and local income taxes; FICA and Medicare; mandatory payments required as a condition of employment, such as union dues or required retirement contributions; court-ordered alimony paid to someone other than the other parent; and the parent’s share of mandatory health insurance premiums.3Michigan Courts. 2025 Michigan Child Support Formula Manual For servicemembers, income counts Basic Allowance for Housing, Basic Allowance for Subsistence, and specialty pay, even though those allowances are not federally taxed.4Michigan Courts. Child Support and Military Families
Overnights Shift the Number
The formula also weighs how many overnights the child spends with each parent. More overnights with the paying parent generally lowers the obligation, because that parent is already covering more day-to-day costs directly. Childcare and the child’s health insurance premiums are built into the calculation as well.
When a Judge Can Deviate
A judge may order a different amount if the formula would be unjust, but must write the reasons into the order. The MCSF manual flags situations that may justify deviation, including a child with extraordinary medical or educational expenses, a parent with unusually high or low income, significant costs tied to exercising parenting time, or a parent supporting stepchildren or other non-shared children.3Michigan Courts. 2025 Michigan Child Support Formula Manual
Medical Support Is Part of Every Order
On top of the cash obligation, every Michigan child support order must address health coverage. State and federal rules require the court to order one or both parents to carry health care coverage for the child when it is accessible and reasonable in cost.5Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Michigan IV-D Child Support Manual Section 6.06 – Medical Support
Coverage is “reasonable” if it costs no more than 6% of the providing parent’s gross income under the current MCSF. Both parents can be ordered to carry coverage only if both already have it or both agree to. When no affordable coverage is available, the court can instead order cash medical support — a set monthly amount to help cover the child’s health expenses.5Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Michigan IV-D Child Support Manual Section 6.06 – Medical Support
How Payments Are Made and Received
All Michigan child support flows through the Michigan State Disbursement Unit (MiSDU), which records every transaction.6Michigan State Disbursement Unit. Michigan State Disbursement Unit The most common collection method is an income withholding order sent to the paying parent’s employer. The employer deducts the amount from each paycheck, much like a tax withholding, and forwards it to MiSDU. State law lets employers charge the paying parent a processing fee of up to $2 or $4 per month for handling the withholding.
Self-employed parents, and parents between jobs, can pay directly through the MiSDU website by credit or debit card, or by other accepted methods.
Payments go out electronically. The first payment to a receiving parent arrives as a paper check; after that, the parent chooses between direct deposit into a checking or savings account and a prepaid Mastercard called the Way2Go card. Parents who make no choice are automatically enrolled on the debit card.7Michigan State Disbursement Unit. Receiving Payment
Opening a Case
To open a case with the state, a parent files the IV-D Child Support Services Application (form OCS-1201, still labeled DHS-1201 in some older publications).8Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. IV-D Child Support Services Application/Referral (OCS1201) Case information and new applications are also available through the MiChildSupport online portal.9Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Child Support The application asks for Social Security numbers for both parents and the children and for the other parent’s employer. Once the state receives it, the case is referred to the local Friend of the Court for investigation.
Michigan does not charge parents an application fee. Federal law imposes a $35 annual service fee on IV-D cases where the custodial parent has never received public assistance and has collected at least $550 that year, but Michigan pays it from MDHHS funds rather than passing it to parents.10Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Michigan IV-D Child Support Manual – Federal Annual Fee
For unmarried parents, legal parentage has to be in place before a support order can issue. Both parents can sign an Affidavit of Parentage at the hospital at birth, at a later date through MDHHS or the county Registrar’s Office, or the family court can order DNA testing when a parent disputes it.11Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Establish Parentage
When Child Support Ends
Support in Michigan generally ends when the child turns 18. A court can extend it when the child is attending high school full-time with a reasonable expectation of graduating, in which case it continues until graduation or the child’s 19 years and 6 months, whichever comes first.12Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552.605b – Child Support After Age 18
A parent who wants that extension must file the request before the child reaches 19 years and 6 months, and the resulting order has to state the termination month regardless of the actual graduation date. Michigan does not require parents to pay for college or to support adult children by default.12Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552.605b – Child Support After Age 18
Modifying an Existing Order
Either parent can ask to modify a support order by showing a substantial change in circumstances — meaning a change big enough that the current amount is no longer fair. Typical triggers are a major increase or decrease in a parent’s income, a significant shift in the parenting schedule, or new expenses like medical costs for the child.13Michigan Courts. Requesting a Change in Child Support – Frequently Asked Questions
Even without a specific change, any parent can request a Friend of the Court review once every 36 months. If a parent is on public assistance, the Friend of the Court must conduct that review automatically. The review is free, and if the current order differs from the formula amount by more than the minimum modification threshold, the Friend of the Court will recommend an adjustment.13Michigan Courts. Requesting a Change in Child Support – Frequently Asked Questions
Incarceration Does Not Pause Support
A costly misconception: child support keeps running during incarceration. Arrears pile up unless the order is modified. Federal regulations now bar states from treating incarceration as voluntary unemployment and bar them from blocking an incarcerated parent’s modification request. When the state learns a noncustodial parent will be locked up for more than 180 days, it must either initiate a review itself or notify both parents within 15 business days of their right to request one. An incarcerated parent who takes no action can come home to a crushing balance.14Office of Child Support Enforcement. Modification for Incarcerated Parents
Enforcement When a Parent Falls Behind
Michigan’s enforcement tools escalate. They start with paperwork and end with jail.
Money and License Actions
The Friend of the Court can have the Office of Child Support intercept state and federal tax refunds and apply them to the arrears.15Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552.624 – Offset Proceedings Against Delinquent Payer’s Tax Refunds Past-due support also creates an automatic lien on the owing parent’s real and personal property, including insurance settlements, workers’ compensation awards, and estate distributions, lasting until the arrears are paid in full or the IV-D agency terminates it.16Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552.625a – Lien for Past Due Support
The state can suspend a delinquent parent’s driver’s license, professional or occupational license, and recreational licenses. An employer cannot fire or refuse to hire someone solely because of a support-related license suspension unless that license is legally required for the job.17Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552.623 – License Suspension At the federal level, arrears of $2,500 or more are reported to the U.S. State Department, which will deny or revoke the parent’s passport.18Federal Register. Passport Procedures – Amendment to Restriction of Passports Regulation
Contempt and Jail
When administrative measures fail, the Friend of the Court can bring contempt proceedings. The judge sets a show-cause hearing, and a parent found in contempt faces up to 45 days in jail for a first offense and up to 90 days for any later contempt finding. The commitment lasts until the parent meets the court’s conditions, usually a payment toward the arrears, but cannot exceed those limits.19Michigan Courts. Failure to Pay Child or Spousal Support – Traditional Contempt Proceedings
When the Other Parent Lives in Another State
Michigan enforces across state lines through the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA), which every state has adopted. UIFSA keeps only one support order in force at a time, called the controlling order, so no two states issue conflicting amounts.
Michigan can send an income withholding order directly to an out-of-state employer without going through that state’s courts. In harder cases, such as a parent hiding income, the order can be registered in the other state for enforcement, which unlocks that state’s own tools — hearings, license suspensions, contempt. Modification follows a clear rule: as long as one parent or the child still lives in the state that issued the controlling order, only that state can modify it. If everyone has moved away, the order has to be registered for modification in the state where the non-requesting parent lives. A state modifying another state’s order applies its own guidelines to set the new amount but cannot change when the obligation ends.
Taxes and Bankruptcy
Child support is tax-neutral under federal law. The parent receiving it does not report it as income, and the parent paying it cannot deduct it, regardless of amount or filing status.20Internal Revenue Service. Alimony, Child Support, Court Awards, Damages This differs from older alimony rules; the two are easy to confuse but the child support rule is straightforward.
Bankruptcy does not erase child support. Domestic support obligations, including child support, spousal support, and related debts, are excepted from discharge in both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13.21Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge A Chapter 13 plan must pay ongoing support in full as a condition of completion, and any pre-filing arrears must be paid in full as well. The automatic stay that halts most collection does not stop child support enforcement.