Florida rewrote the rules for custody and child support when HB 1301 took effect on July 1, 2023. The new Florida child support laws start from a presumption that each parent gets equal, 50/50 timesharing, and that single change pushes most support calculations into the state’s shared-custody formula, alters what it takes to modify an older order, and creates tax questions parents didn’t have to think about before.1Florida Senate. House Bill 1301 (2023)
The 50/50 Timesharing Presumption Now Drives Support
Before 2023, Florida judges built each timesharing schedule from scratch, with no default split. Now every case begins with the assumption that the child will spend roughly 182 or 183 overnights a year with each parent.2Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 61.13 (2025) – Support of Children; Parenting and Time-Sharing of Minor Children
That presumption is rebuttable. A parent who wants an unequal schedule must prove by a preponderance of the evidence — a “more likely than not” standard — that equal timesharing is not in the child’s best interests. It’s not a sky-high burden, but the parent asking for anything other than 50/50 carries the proof, and if the judge orders an unequal split, the order has to include written findings explaining why.3Florida Senate. Florida House of Representatives Staff Final Bill Analysis – CS/HB 1301
Why does this matter for support? Because the number of overnights each parent has drives the child support formula. When the default schedule changed, the default calculation changed with it.
How Child Support Is Calculated When Timesharing Is Equal
Florida’s guideline formula lives in Statute 61.30. The court takes both parents’ net monthly incomes, uses the statutory schedule to produce a combined obligation, and splits that obligation between the parents according to each one’s share of total income.4Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 61.30 – Child Support Guidelines
The Substantial Timesharing Formula
Once a parent has the child for at least 20% of overnights in a year — 73 or more nights — the calculation shifts to a shared-custody method. Each parent’s base obligation is multiplied by 1.5, then cross-multiplied by the percentage of overnights the other parent has. The difference between those two figures is the amount that flows from one parent to the other. Daycare and health insurance costs are added on top, apportioned by each parent’s income share.4Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 61.30 – Child Support Guidelines
Under the new presumption, most cases now trigger this formula automatically. When both parents earn similar incomes and truly share time equally, the base transfer before add-ons can be small. When one parent earns substantially more, that parent will still owe meaningful support even at a 50/50 schedule.
Deviations from the Guideline Amount
The guideline number isn’t always the final one. A judge can adjust the total up or down by as much as 5% without any explanation. Anything beyond 5% requires a written finding that the guideline amount would be unjust. Extraordinary medical or educational costs, a child’s special needs, seasonal income swings, the child’s own income, and the tax effects of who claims the dependency exemption can all justify a deviation.4Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 61.30 – Child Support Guidelines
One deviation catches people off guard. If a parent spends real time with the child but falls short of the 20% overnight threshold, the court can still reduce support to reflect the direct spending during those visits.
Imputed Income When a Parent Won’t Work
A parent who quits a job or takes a lower-paying position to shrink a support obligation will not get far in a Florida court. When a judge finds a parent voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, the court can assign income based on work history, qualifications, and prevailing local wages for similar workers. A parent who refuses to participate or provide financial records is presumed to earn at least the median income of full-time workers in U.S. Census data.4Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 61.30 – Child Support Guidelines
There are limits. Courts can’t use income records older than five years, and they generally can’t impute at a level the parent has never earned, unless the parent has just picked up a new degree or professional license. Incarceration doesn’t count as voluntary unemployment. A parent who stays home to care for the child at issue in the case may also be spared imputation.
Modifying an Existing Order Under the New Law
If your order predates July 2023, the changes may open a door.
Parenting Plan Modifications Got Easier
HB 1301 dropped the requirement that a parent show an “unanticipated” change in circumstances to modify a parenting plan. The standard used to be substantial, material, and unanticipated. Now it’s just substantial and material, plus a finding that the change serves the child’s best interests.1Florida Senate. House Bill 1301 (2023)
Whether the new 50/50 presumption itself qualifies as a substantial change that reopens a pre-2023 order is a question Florida courts are still sorting out. A parent with less than equal timesharing under an older order can argue the law now sets a different baseline, but the outcome will turn on the specific facts and how the trial court applies the statutory factors.
Support Modifications
Child support modifications run on their own track under Statute 61.14. A parent seeking a change has to show changed circumstances or a change in either party’s financial ability. The clean trigger: if the current order differs from what today’s guidelines would produce by at least 10% and at least $25, that gap by itself counts as changed circumstances. No other proof required.5Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 61.14 – Enforcement and Modification of Support Orders
If a timesharing change gives you more overnights, your support number almost certainly needs recalculating. A jump from 30% to 50% of overnights meaningfully changes the formula output. Ask for the support recalculation at the same time you seek the parenting plan change.
Tax Consequences of Equal Custody
Equal timesharing creates a tax puzzle that many parents don’t see coming. Only one parent can claim a child as a dependent in a given year, and valuable tax benefits ride on that claim.
When a child spends the same number of nights with each parent, the IRS treats the parent with the higher adjusted gross income as the custodial parent for dependency purposes. That parent claims the child tax credit unless they sign IRS Form 8332 releasing the claim to the other parent.6Internal Revenue Service. Claiming a Child as a Dependent When Parents Are Divorced, Separated, or Live Apart Form 8332 only transfers the child tax credit, additional child tax credit, and credit for other dependents. Head of household filing status, the earned income credit, and the dependent care credit stay with the custodial parent no matter what.
Head of household requires that the child live with you for more than half the year and that you pay more than half the cost of keeping up the home.7Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Taxes – Filing Status In a true 50/50 arrangement, only one parent can pass that test. Parents with two or more children sometimes split the dependency claims, each claiming one child, so both file as head of household. If you have a single child, coordinate with your co-parent, or spell out the dependency exemption in your parenting plan.
What Happens If Payments Fall Behind
Florida’s enforcement tools are aggressive, and the paying parent should know what’s at stake.
Automatic Income Deduction
Every new or modified support order carries an automatic income deduction order, directing the paying parent’s employer to withhold support from paychecks. It’s the default, not a penalty. A court can delay it only on written findings of good cause, including that immediate deduction isn’t in the child’s best interest and that the paying parent has a track record of on-time payments.8Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 61.1301 – Income Deduction Orders
License Suspensions
A parent who falls behind and ignores notice from the Florida Child Support Program can lose a driver’s license, professional license, business license, or recreational license. You have 20 days after notice to act on a driver’s license suspension and 30 days for professional or business licenses.9Florida Department of Revenue. Florida Child Support Program – Suspension Actions
Passport Denial
At the federal level, a parent who owes more than $2,500 in past-due support will be denied a U.S. passport. The threshold has been in place since 2006 and applies whichever state issued the underlying order.10Congressional Research Service. The Child Support Enforcement Passport Denial Program
When Child Support Ends
In Florida, the obligation to pay current support generally ends when the child turns 18 or is otherwise emancipated, unless the court order or settlement agreement says otherwise. If the child has a mental or physical disability that began before age 18, the court may extend support past that age. Florida law does not require parents to fund college through the child support system. Parents can agree to do so in a parenting plan or settlement, but no one is going to order it against a parent’s will.