Pennsylvania child support calculator

How does Pennsylvania calculate child support?

Pennsylvania uses income shares: each parent pays a share of one combined support amount. The Basic Child Support Schedule uses combined monthly net income and the number of children to determine the basic obligation under Rule 1910.16-3. Rule 1910.16-4 divides that obligation according to each parent’s proportionate share of combined net income.

Income can include wages, bonuses, business income, pensions, unemployment compensation, and other listed payments. Public assistance and Supplemental Security Income are excluded under Rule 1910.16-2. Deductions include federal, state, and local income taxes; unemployment compensation taxes and Local Services Taxes; FICA payments; non-voluntary retirement payments; mandatory union dues; and alimony paid to the other parent.

The explanatory comment to Rule 1910.16-3 describes schedule coverage through combined net income of $30,000 a month; that range’s applicability to the current edition is being verified. The Pennsylvania Child Support Program is a source for official calculation information for income above the schedule. For low income, Rule 1910.16-2 provides a self-support reserve of $1,255 a month for the parent who pays; this is reserved income for basic needs, not a minimum support order.

How does parenting time change support?

At 40% of annual overnights, or 146 overnights a year, a presumption arises that the parent who pays qualifies for a shared-custody reduction under Rule 1910.16-4. The presumption can be challenged. The adjustment reflects that parent’s increased direct spending during parenting time.

The formula divides that parent’s overnights by 365 and multiplies by 100, then subtracts 30 percentage points. It subtracts that difference from the parent’s percentage share of the basic obligation under Rule 1910.16-4. Use the parenting time calculator to organize an overnight count before comparing scenarios.

Equal parenting time does not automatically eliminate support. Rule 1910.16-4 does not allow the lower-income parent to be required to pay basic support to the higher-income parent in equal custody, and it includes an income-equalization limit. The rule’s explanatory comment excludes self-support-reserve cases from the shared-custody reduction.

What else changes the support amount?

The schedule amount is only the starting point. Rules 1910.16-4 and 1910.16-6 address additional expenses, including situations where no basic support award is appropriate.

• Child care: Reasonable expenses necessary for employment or appropriate education in pursuit of income are allocated in proportion to net income. Subsidies and an available federal child care tax credit can affect the expense allocated under Rule 1910.16-6.
• Health insurance: If the parent who receives support pays the qualifying premium, the other parent’s share is added. If the parent who pays support pays it, the other parent’s share is deducted under Rule 1910.16-6.
• Unreimbursed medical expenses: The first $250 per child per calendar year is built into basic support. Expenses above that amount may be allocated separately under Rule 1910.16-6.
• Split custody: When different children live with each parent and each owes support to the other, Rule 1910.16-4 offsets their respective basic obligations and awards the net difference.
• Low-income adjustments: Rule 1910.16-6 permits consideration of a deviation from the usual allocation when additional expenses would reduce a parent’s monthly net income below the self-support reserve.

When does support end or change?

§4321 states that parents are liable for support of unemancipated children age 18 or younger. §4323 bars an order for an emancipated child. The domestic relations section can provide official information about how age and high school attendance affect an order’s ending date.

Rule 1910.16-2 requires income adjustments for substantial, continuing, involuntary decreases caused by circumstances outside a parent’s control, such as illness or job elimination. Voluntary decreases in income under a parent’s control do not receive the same adjustment. A calculator result does not itself change an existing order.

The Pennsylvania Child Support Program offers an official guideline calculator. The domestic relations section makes support guidelines available under §4322 and is a place to seek official calculation information or review. The official links on this page provide access to state resources.