Nebraska child support laws use an income shares formula that bases each parent’s payment on their share of the parents’ combined income, require support until the child turns 19, and give the state strong tools — wage withholding, license suspensions, tax intercepts, and contempt of court — to collect when a parent falls behind.1Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 42-371.01 – Termination of Duty to Pay Child Support
How the Amount Is Calculated
Nebraska’s child support guidelines are set by the state Supreme Court under statutory authority and use an income shares model.2Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 42-364.16 – Child Support Guidelines; Establishment; Use The court adds both parents’ incomes, determines what a family at that income level would typically spend on the child, and splits that cost proportionally. A parent earning 60% of the combined income is generally responsible for roughly 60% of the obligation.
Income includes wages, salaries, bonuses, commissions, rental income, and certain non-cash benefits. When a parent’s reported income doesn’t reflect what they could reasonably earn, the court can impute income based on work history, education, skills, age, health, and local job availability. One statutory limit matters here: incarceration cannot be treated as voluntary unemployment when setting or changing an order.3Nebraska Judicial Branch. Nebraska Child Support Guidelines 4-204 – Total Monthly Income
Health Insurance and Medical Costs
The court must include health coverage for the child in the order when it’s available at reasonable cost through either parent and the child can actually reach a provider. If no such coverage exists, the court orders cash medical support instead.4Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 42-369 – Health Care Coverage; Requirements Extraordinary medical expenses and childcare costs can also adjust the guideline number, and judges have discretion when a child has unusual needs.
Opening a Case
A child support case begins with a petition in the district court where the child lives. Either the custodial parent or the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) can file. The petition identifies both parents, the child, and the support being requested.
If paternity hasn’t been legally established, the court can order genetic testing before ruling on support and can allocate the cost.5Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 43-1411 – Complaint; Genetic Testing; Paternity Proceedings The other parent then has to be formally served. Parents who agree on terms can submit a written agreement for the judge’s approval and avoid a full hearing. Otherwise the case goes to a hearing where both sides file financial records and the judge applies the guidelines. Temporary support can be ordered while the case is pending.
When Support Ends
Nebraska child support ends when the child turns 19, which is later than in most states. It ends sooner if the child marries, dies, or is legally emancipated.1Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 42-371.01 – Termination of Duty to Pay Child Support The order itself can extend support past those events if it explicitly says so, which matters when a child has a disability or other circumstance that warrants continued help.
Aging out ends the ongoing obligation but not the debt. Any arrears that built up while support was owed remain fully enforceable.
Changing an Existing Order
Either parent can ask the court to modify support when circumstances shift meaningfully. Nebraska sets a specific threshold: applying the guidelines to the new circumstances must produce a figure at least 10% different from the current order, and the change must be at least $25 per month.6Nebraska Judicial Branch. Modification of Child Support Common triggers include a significant income change, job loss, changes in the child’s medical or educational needs, and custody changes.
Document the change with tax returns, pay stubs, medical records, or similar evidence. Courts scrutinize job losses to see whether the unemployment was involuntary or strategic, and the guidelines let a judge impute income when a parent is voluntarily underemployed.3Nebraska Judicial Branch. Nebraska Child Support Guidelines 4-204 – Total Monthly Income
Remarriage
A new spouse’s income doesn’t enter the calculation. The obligation runs between the child’s legal parents, and a stepparent has no duty to contribute. If a parent stops working or cuts hours after remarrying because a new spouse covers household expenses, however, the court can impute income based on what that parent could reasonably earn. Remarriage alone isn’t grounds for a modification; the financial changes that sometimes follow it can be.
How Payments Are Made
Most Nebraska support is collected by automatic income withholding. Every support order operates as an assignment of the paying parent’s income, directing the employer to deduct the amount and send it to the State Disbursement Unit.7Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 43-1718 – Support Order; Operate as Assignment of Income; Effect Withholding can be waived only when both parents agree to an alternative and the court finds good cause.8Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 43-1718.02 – Subject to Income Withholding; When; Notice
Parents who need to pay directly can use the Nebraska Child Support Payment Center, which runs self-service kiosks around the state and accepts cash, debit and credit cards, checks, and money orders.9Nebraska.gov. Nebraska Child Support Payment Center A parent whose employer withholds continuously isn’t treated as delinquent just because pay dates don’t line up perfectly with the order’s due date, as long as the annual totals match.7Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 43-1718 – Support Order; Operate as Assignment of Income; Effect
What Happens If a Parent Doesn’t Pay
Nebraska has an escalating set of enforcement tools, and they build on each other quickly.
License Suspensions
The state follows a set sequence. A delinquent parent’s driver’s license is suspended first. If compliance doesn’t follow within ten working days, recreational licenses go next. If nothing changes, professional, occupational, and commercial driver’s licenses come next.10Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 43-3318 – Certification to Relevant Licensing Authorities; When; Procedure; Effect The order isn’t accidental: losing a driver’s license is disruptive, but losing a professional or commercial license threatens the parent’s ability to earn at all.
Financial Collection Tools
Beyond licensing, Nebraska can intercept state and federal tax refunds through the Treasury Offset Program, place liens on property, and report arrears to credit agencies. Once arrears reach $2,500, the U.S. State Department can deny or revoke the parent’s passport, which blocks international travel.11Administration for Children and Families. Passport Denial Program 101
Contempt of Court
When a payment is a month or more late, Nebraska law creates a rebuttable presumption of contempt. If income withholding isn’t practical and no other collection is already running, the court appoints an attorney to bring contempt proceedings.12Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 42-358 – Child Support; Enforcement; Contempt Proceedings A contempt finding can bring fines and jail time. Judges usually give a delinquent parent a chance to set up a realistic payment plan before ordering incarceration, but repeated defiance narrows those options.
Bankruptcy Doesn’t Erase It
Filing for bankruptcy does not discharge child support. Federal law excludes domestic support obligations from discharge in both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 523 – Exceptions to Discharge The automatic stay that normally halts creditors also carves out major exceptions for support: courts can still enter and modify orders, employers can keep withholding wages, the state can still intercept tax refunds, and licensing agencies can still suspend licenses. Collecting from property inside the bankruptcy estate itself generally requires permission from the bankruptcy court, so bankruptcy may briefly shield a bank balance that existed on the filing date, but the ongoing flow of support from paychecks and the buildup of enforceable arrears continue.
If a Parent Lives Out of State
Nebraska courts can hear a case when at least one parent or the child lives in the state, and can reach an out-of-state parent with sufficient ties to Nebraska. Under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, the state that issued the original order keeps exclusive authority to modify it as long as one party still lives there; if everyone leaves Nebraska, that exclusive jurisdiction ends.14Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 42-709 – Continuing, Exclusive Jurisdiction DHHS coordinates interstate enforcement across state lines.