What Percentage of Child Support Do You Pay in Florida?

There is no single percentage of your paycheck that answers this question in Florida. Instead of assigning a flat share of one parent’s income, Florida uses an income shares model that looks at both parents’ net incomes together, the number of children, and the timesharing schedule, then pulls a specific dollar figure from a schedule written into the statute. The only place a true percentage appears is at the top of the schedule: once combined monthly net income passes $10,000, the formula adds a percentage of the excess, ranging from 5% for one child to 12.5% for six.¹ So the honest short answer is: your payment is a dollar amount set by a worksheet, and the percentage of your own income it represents depends on what the other parent earns and how often the child stays with you.

How Florida Actually Sets the Number

The framework lives in Section 61.30 of the Florida Statutes.² The guiding idea is that a child should receive roughly the same share of parental income they would have gotten if both parents still lived in one household. Both incomes are treated as a shared pool, and a portion of that pool is allocated to the child based on a legislative schedule.

Parents and courts run the calculation on the Child Support Guidelines Worksheet, Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.902(e).³ The figure the worksheet produces is presumptively correct. A judge starts from the assumption it is the right number, and specific justification is required to depart from it.

The sequence is more mechanical than complicated. Each parent’s gross monthly income is reduced by allowable deductions to produce a net figure. The two nets are added. That combined net is looked up on the schedule to find the basic monthly obligation for the number of children involved. Health or dental insurance for the child and work-related child care are added on top. Each parent is then responsible for a share of that total that matches their share of the combined income. If you earn 60% of the combined net, you owe 60% of the total obligation. That is why no fixed percentage of your paycheck tells the full story: the split depends on the other parent’s earnings too.

What Counts as Income, and What You Can Subtract

Florida defines gross income broadly. It covers wages, salary, bonuses, commissions, overtime, and tips, along with self-employment earnings, disability and workers’ compensation benefits, pension and retirement income, Social Security, spousal support from a previous marriage, rental income, dividends, and interest.²

The deductions that bring gross down to net are limited to specific statutory categories: federal and state income taxes, Social Security contributions, health insurance premiums for the parent’s own coverage, mandatory union dues, and any existing court-ordered child support for children from other relationships.² Credit card bills, car loans, and ordinary living expenses do not come off.

A parent who quits a job or works below their ability does not get a lower number by doing so. The court can impute income based on recent work history, education and training, professional licenses, and prevailing local wages for similar work.¹ If there is not enough evidence to pin down a specific figure, the statute presumes the parent could earn full-time pay at minimum wage, using whichever is higher between the federal and state minimum.

Dollar Amounts from the Schedule

The schedule inside Section 61.30 maps combined monthly net income and number of children to a basic monthly obligation. A few points along the chart give a realistic sense of the figures:¹

At $3,000 combined monthly net income: $644 for one child, $1,001 for two.
At $5,000: $1,000 for one child, $1,551 for two.
At $7,000: $1,212 for one child, $1,885 for two.
At $10,000: $1,437 for one child, $2,228 for two.

The schedule begins at $800 in combined monthly net income (where one child draws $190) and tops out at $10,000. These are the total amounts the two parents share, not the check one parent writes. Divide by each parent’s income share to see what each actually owes.

Income Above $10,000 Per Month

Once combined monthly net income exceeds $10,000, the formula takes the $10,000 obligation and adds a percentage of the income above that line:¹

One child: 5% of income above $10,000.
Two children: 7.5%.
Three children: 9.5%.
Four children: 11%.
Five children: 12%.
Six children: 12.5%.

So for one child with $15,000 in combined monthly net income, the basic obligation is $1,437 (the $10,000 figure) plus 5% of the $5,000 above, or $250, for a total of $1,687 before health insurance and child care are added.

How Timesharing Shifts the Payment

When a child spends real time at each home, each parent is already spending money directly on the child during their nights. The worksheet accounts for this. If either parent has at least 20% of the overnights in a year, which works out to 73 nights or more, a substantial timesharing adjustment reduces the paying parent’s obligation.¹ The adjustment grows as the overnight split evens out. When parents are near a 50/50 schedule and earn similar incomes, the payment can drop significantly.

When a Judge Can Deviate

The worksheet number is a presumption, not a cap or a floor. A court can move the amount up or down by up to 5% after considering the child’s needs, the family’s standard of living, and each parent’s financial situation, with no detailed written explanation required for that range.¹

Beyond 5%, the judge has to make a written finding that the guideline amount would be unjust or inappropriate.¹ A parent asking for a larger adjustment files a Motion to Deviate from Child Support Guidelines (Form 12.943).³ Grounds that courts recognize include extraordinary medical or educational expenses, a child with independent income, and large seasonal swings in a parent’s earnings.²

The practical takeaway for anyone trying to estimate what they will pay: get both parents’ net incomes on paper, add them, find the row on the schedule for the right number of children, apply your proportional share, and then adjust for insurance, child care, and overnights. That gives a number tied to Florida’s actual formula rather than a percentage that does not exist.

1
Florida Statutes. Florida Statutes 61.30 – Child Support Guidelines; Retroactive Child Support
2
Justia. Florida Code 61.30 – Child Support Guidelines; Child Support Work Plan
3
The Florida Bar. Amendments to the Family Law Forms