How we calculate

Data last reviewed 2026-11-11

Our process for every state

Read the state's current child support statute and any official tables, worksheets and agency publications.
Store every figure (percentages, schedules, caps, tax figures) in a data file with its source and effective date.
Write the formula exactly as the statute describes it, step by step.
Test it against the official tables and worked examples. A state is published only when the tests pass.
Review the data every year and when the law changes.

Net resources follow Texas Family Code §154.062. Social Security (6.2% up to $184,500 of wages), Medicare (1.45%) and federal income tax for a single filer with the 2026 standard deduction of $16,100 are worked out on an annual basis and divided by 12, as the Attorney General's 2026 tax charts do.
Guideline percentages from §154.125(b) and (c); multiple-family percentages from §154.129.
The cap is $11,700 of monthly net resources, effective September 1, 2025.
Tested: our Social Security, Medicare, federal tax and net income figures match the rows of the Attorney General's 2026 tax chart that we test, to the cent, including the $15,713.51 gross wage row that produces exactly $11,700 of net resources.
Not modelled: self-employment tax, the additional 0.9% Medicare tax (it only starts at incomes where net resources are already above the cap), support above the cap, and deviations under §154.123.

The full guidelines schedule from s. 61.30(6), $800 to $10,000 of combined net income in $50 steps, is copied by script from the official statute text and checked row by row for gaps.
Above $10,000 we add the s. 61.30(6)(b) percentages of the income over $10,000.
Child care and the children's health insurance are added and shared by income, with credit to the parent who pays them (s. 61.30(7), (8)).
When each parent has at least 20% of overnights we apply s. 61.30(11)(b): the basic obligation × 1.5, each parent's share × the other parent's overnight percentage, and the difference.
Low-income rule: if the paying parent's net income is under $800, s. 61.30(6)(a) leaves the amount to the court, capped at 90% of the gap between that parent's income and the federal poverty guideline for one person ($15,960 a year in 2026). We flag this rather than give a firm number.
Not modelled: deviations, imputed income, Social Security benefit credits and retroactive support.

Family Code 4055 (operative 1 Sept 2024): CS = K × [HN − (H% × TN)], with the K income-fraction bands and the multipliers for 2 to 10 children copied from the statute.
Tested against the statute's own K examples (K ≈ 0.21 at H% 20% and TN $1,000).
Low-income adjustment: presumed when the payer's net income is below full-time minimum wage ($2,929.33 a month at $16.90 an hour, DIR 2026); we show the lowest amount the court may set.
Not modelled: net income from gross pay, add-ons under 4062, hardship deductions.

Maximum = the lesser of $5,000 or 20% of the paying spouse's average monthly gross income (Family Code 8.055).
Maximum duration from 8.054: 5 years (10 to 20 years of marriage, or under 10 with family violence), 7 years (20 to 30), 10 years (30+), or while a disability or a disabled child's care continues. At exactly 20 or 30 years, where the statute's bands overlap, we use the longer limit.

Maximum durational alimony = the lower of the receiving spouse's need (if entered) or 35% of the difference in net incomes (s. 61.08(8)(c)).
Maximum length = 50%, 60% or 75% of the marriage for short (under 10 years), moderate (10 to under 20) and long (20+) marriages; none under 3 years (s. 61.08(5), (8)).
We flag when the maximum would leave the paying spouse with less net income than the receiving spouse (s. 61.08(9)).

Temporary support = 40% of the higher earner's net income (after child support) minus 50% of the lower earner's, from Santa Clara County Local Family Rule 3(C). The tax adjustment that court software applies is not modelled.
Duration: about half the marriage length for marriages under 10 years (Family Code 4320(l)); 10+ years is presumed long duration with no set end (4336).

Weekly temporary total disability = the state rate × average weekly wage, limited to the official maximum and minimum for the injury date.
Maximums used: Texas $1,271.00 (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026); Texas $1,314.00 (1 Oct 2026 – 30 Sep 2027); Florida $1,358.00 (on or after 1 Jan 2026); California $1,764.11 (on or after 1 Jan 2026); New York $1,222.42 (1 Jan – 30 Jun 2026); New York $1,281.50 (1 Jul 2026 – 30 Jun 2027).
Texas uses 70% (75% for the first 26 weeks under $10 an hour). California's minimum applies outright; elsewhere the minimum is limited to actual wages.
"Temporary benefits left" = weekly benefit × weeks remaining under the state's 104-week limit (New York has no fixed limit).

There is no legal formula. We show the multiplier method as Nolo describes it: pain and suffering = medical costs × 1.5 to 5, plus economic losses, reduced by the user's share of fault.
The severity bands that split the 1.5–5 range are our own convention and are labelled as such on the page.

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Figures checked against these sources on 2026-11-11. Found a mistake? Tell us and we will correct it.