How Is Child Support Calculated in New York?

How is child support calculated in New York? Two statutes do the work. Domestic Relations Law §240(1-b), and Family Court Act §413. Together they are called the Child Support Standards Act. The formula has three moves. Add both parents' incomes together. Multiply the combined income by a fixed percentage set by the number of children. Then split that obligation between the parents in proportion to what each one earns. For one child the percentage is 17%. The non-custodial parent pays their share to the other parent, and that third step is the one people get wrong. This video was written by Pieter Weinrieb, a divorce and family law attorney in Williamsville, New York, admitted in 2005, and it's read by a synthetic narrator.

Step one is income, and this is where the real fights happen. Income starts with what is on the tax return. Wages, salary, overtime, bonuses, commissions, self-employment income, rental income. From that the statute allows specific deductions. Social Security and Medicare taxes actually paid. New York City or Yonkers income tax actually paid. Maintenance you actually pay, and child support you actually pay for other children. Notice what is not on that list. Federal and state income tax are not deductions, so support is calculated closer to gross income than most parents expect. And if a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, the court can impute income from what that parent is capable of earning. After more than twenty years in front of Erie County support magistrates, I can tell you the math takes minutes. The argument is about the overtime that supposedly will not happen again, and the side work.

Step two multiplies the combined income by a percentage fixed in the statute. 17% for one child. 25% for two children. 29% for three. 31% for four. For five or more children, no less than 35%. Those numbers are not in the judge's discretion and they do not change from one county to the next. The result is the basic child support obligation, what both parents together are expected to contribute each year. Nobody writes a check for that whole number. It is the pot that step three divides.

Step three splits that pot in proportion to income. Here is a plain example. Two parents, one child, and a combined income of $120,000. 17% of the combined income is $20,400 a year, and that is the obligation for both parents together. Say the non-custodial parent earns $72,000 of that combined total. 60% of the income means 60% of the obligation, so their share is $12,240 a year, or about $1,020 a month. The other parent's 40% is presumed to be spent on the child at home. The mistake I see most often is a parent who thinks they owe the whole $20,400. That overstates the number by two thirds. There is also a shortcut hiding in the arithmetic. Under the cap, your pro rata share of the combined amount works out to the same percentage applied to your own income.

The percentages do not run forever. They apply to combined parental income up to a statutory cap, and that cap is $193,000, effective March 1, 2026, and it holds through February 2028. New York adjusts the cap every two years, not every year. Above the cap the court has discretion. It can apply the same percentages to the excess, it can work from the ten factors listed in the statute, or it can do some of both. Two figures here run on different clocks. The cap moves every two years. The self-support reserve, which is $21,546, and the federal poverty level both move every year.

The formula produces basic support. Three add-ons sit on top of it, shared in the same pro rata proportions. First, child care, when a parent needs it to work, to look for work, or to go to school. Second, the cost of health insurance for the children. Third, unreimbursed medical and dental expenses. Educational costs, private school, tutoring and college, are discretionary rather than mandatory, and they are one of the most negotiated items in any agreement. Add-ons are why the number on the order is often higher than the percentage alone suggests.

The formula is a presumption, not a ceiling. A court can order a different amount if the formula result would be unjust or inappropriate, and when it does, it has to state the reasons on the record. The factors include the financial resources of each parent and of the child, the child's physical and emotional health and any special needs, parenting time that is close to equal, educational needs, and tax consequences. The self-support reserve protects a low-income payor. And if the two of you want to agree on a different number, the agreement has to state what the formula amount would have been and the reason you are departing from it. An agreement that skips that language is one a court can refuse to approve.

If you want your own number before you talk to anybody, there is a free child support calculator on our website that runs this formula, add-ons included. Bring last year's tax return, your most recent paystubs, and the child care and insurance invoices. Then book a free consultation, in person at 5555 Main Street in Williamsville, or online. Call (716) 759-4529.

This video is attorney advertising and general information about New York law. It is not legal advice for your situation. Weinrieb Law, 5555 Main Street, Williamsville, New York.