Run the numbers
Texas guideline child support, worked out properly
Most online calculators apply the percentage to gross pay and get a number that is too high. Texas applies it to net resources, which is a defined statutory figure. Here is the real calculation.
What net resources means
Section 154.062 defines net resources, and it is neither gross pay nor take-home pay. It is all of the income listed below, minus a short and closed list of deductions. Your 401(k) contribution, your car payment and your rent are not on the deduction list.
Counted as resources
- Wages, salary, commissions, overtime, tips and bonuses
- Self-employment income net of ordinary and necessary business expenses
- Rental income net of ordinary expenses, excluding depreciation
- Interest, dividends and royalty income
- Severance pay, retirement benefits, pensions and annuities
- Unemployment, disability and workers compensation benefits
- Gifts and prizes, spousal maintenance received, and trust distributions
Deducted from resources
- Social security taxes, or the equivalent mandatory retirement contribution
- Federal income tax for a single person claiming one personal exemption and the standard deduction
- State income tax, where the obligor pays one
- Union dues
- The child's health insurance premium and dental insurance premium
- Non-discretionary retirement contributions where social security is not withheld
The two percentage tables
Section 154.125 gives the percentages where the obligor has no other children to support. Section 154.129 gives the reduced multiple-household table where the obligor has a legal duty to support children in another household, and you have to prove that duty rather than assert it.
Single household, section 154.125
| Children before the court | Percentage of monthly net resources |
|---|---|
| 1 | 20% |
| 2 | 25% |
| 3 | 30% |
| 4 | 35% |
| 5 | 40% |
| 6 or more | Not less than 40% |
Multiple households, section 154.129
| Children in this case | 0 other | 1 other | 2 other | 3 other | 4+ others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20% | 17.5% | 16% | 14.75% | 13.6% |
| 2 | 25% | 22.5% | 20.63% | 19% | 18.33% |
| 3 | 30% | 27.38% | 25.2% | 24% | 23.14% |
| 4 | 35% | 32.2% | 30.33% | 29% | 28% |
| 5 | 40% | 37.33% | 35.43% | 34% | 32.89% |
| 6 or more | 40% | 37.71% | 36% | 34.67% | 33.6% |
Percentages are applied to monthly net resources up to the statutory cap.
The cap, and what sits above it
Guideline percentages apply only up to a capped amount of monthly net resources. On this site that cap is shown as $11,050, which is a sample figure. Sample cap figure. The Office of the Attorney General adjusts the cap on monthly net resources for inflation every six years, and the current figure must be confirmed before you rely on it.
Above the cap, section 154.126 allows a court to order additional support only on evidence of the proven needs of the child. That is a genuine evidentiary exercise: private school tuition, a documented medical need, an established standard of living. It is not simply a higher percentage of a higher income.
Medical support and dental support are ordered separately from the percentage. Uninsured medical expenses are usually split fifty-fifty, with a written notice deadline for presenting the receipt to the other parent.
Five mistakes we see every month
- Using gross income. The percentage is never applied to gross pay. Using gross produces a number roughly a quarter too high.
- Forgetting overtime and commission. Variable pay is included, usually averaged over the trailing twelve months, and leaving it out understates resources.
- Assuming 50/50 possession means no support. Texas does not automatically reduce guideline support for equal possession. Parties frequently agree to an offset, but it is an agreement, not a rule.
- Claiming other children without proof. The multiple-household table requires a legal duty of support for the other children, evidenced by an order or by establishing parentage.
- Paying the other parent directly. Payments that do not route through the state disbursement unit may be treated as gifts, and the arrearage stands.