Georgia Child Support: How the 2026 Worksheet Works

Georgia child support is built from gross pay, not take-home pay. A single mom earning $3,200 a month before taxes, raising two kids whose father grosses $4,800, would get a presumptive figure near $1,415 a month under the statute's formula once day care, insurance and his 80 court-ordered days are counted. That number comes from a table in the statute and a worksheet with five schedules.

This guide walks the worksheet in the order a judge reads it, then covers the parts that come after an order: getting paid, chasing missed payments and changing the amount. Every rule here was read on the state agency or court page linked beside it, mostly the Georgia Child Support Commission and the Division of Child Support Services (DCSS), on October 27, 2026. It is written by a researcher, not a lawyer, and it is not legal advice.

What changed recently

• July 1, 2024: a new obligation table, the first rewrite since 2006, with the top raised to $40,000 of combined monthly income
• January 1, 2026: the old "parenting time deviation" became a required parenting time adjustment with a formula
• January 1, 2026: the low-income deviation became an automatic low-income adjustment
• Worksheets made before those dates show old figures and need a fresh copy
• November 16, 2026: the Commission's calculator deletes worksheets created before November 15, 2021, per its home page notice, so print any you still need

Those dates come from the Commission's summary of the guideline updates. A Georgia child support worksheet in your file that predates them may not match what a court would calculate today.

Georgia child support starts with gross income

Georgia's guidelines do not start from take-home pay. Under O.C.G.A. 19-6-15, each parent lists monthly gross income from nearly every source: wages, overtime, tips, bonuses, self-employment profit, unemployment, workers' compensation, Social Security disability and retirement, and recurring pension income.

Means-tested help is left out. TANF, PeachCare for Kids, SNAP, SSI and energy assistance do not count as income for either parent. So a single mother receiving SNAP does not see her side of the worksheet rise because of it.

When he hides his pay, the court can impute income. Judges look at his work history, skills, education, health, assets and the local job market. If he is in prison, the court cannot assume he still earns his old wage. On a later modification, a parent who refuses to show income can be treated as earning at least 10% more for each year since the last order.

Schedules A through E: the five pages behind every order

The Georgia child support worksheet is a cover sheet fed by five schedules:

• Schedule A, gross income. Every source of income for each parent, monthly.
• Schedule B, adjusted income. Gross income minus half of any self-employment tax, support he already pays under an older order for another child, and, if the judge allows it, a credit for other children living in a parent's home.
• Schedule C, parenting time. The new 2026 formula that lowers the paying parent's share for court-ordered days.
• Schedule D, additional expenses. Work-related child care and the children's health insurance premiums.
• Schedule E, deviations. Any reason a judge moves the amount up or down, with written findings.

The schedules and worksheet get filed with the court and attached to the final order. You do not need a lawyer to build one: the Commission's Georgia Child Support Calculator lets any parent create an account, enter numbers and print a worksheet. Version 2.1, released January 2, 2026, includes the new adjustments.

Reading the obligation table

Every case uses the same lookup. Add the two adjusted incomes, then find that combined figure on the basic child support obligation table. It runs in $50 steps from $800 to $40,000 a month and has columns for one to six children. If your total falls between rows, the statute says to use the closest bracket.

The table amount is what the parents together are presumed to spend on the children. It is not what he pays. Each parent owes a share equal to their share of combined income. As the chart shows, the table amount takes a smaller percentage of income as income rises:

Combined income above $40,000 a month is treated as a high-income case. The court starts at the top row and may add more by deviation.

One family, worked line by line

Take a single mom in Macon with two children. She earns $3,200 a month gross and pays a licensed day care $600 a month so she can work. The kids' health insurance through her job costs $150 a month for their share of the premium. Their father earns $4,800 gross, and the parenting plan gives him 80 days a year, averaged over two years. Neither parent is self-employed or pays support for other children.

Worksheet line	Mom	Dad	Combined
Gross and adjusted monthly income (A, B)	$3,200	$4,800	$8,000
Share of combined income	40%	60%	100%
Table amount, two children at $8,000			$1,723.00
Each parent's share of it	$689.20	$1,033.80
Parenting time adjustment at 80 days (C)		minus $69.05
Dad's adjusted basic share		$964.75
Child care $600 + insurance $150 (D)	$300.00	$450.00	$750.00
Presumptive support dad pays mom		$1,414.75

Her own $300 share of the add-ons is never paid to anyone. She already pays the day care and insurance bills, so his $450 share flows to her inside the monthly payment. Without any court-ordered parenting time, the same Georgia child support figure would be $1,483.80.

Schedule C and the 2.5 exponent

Before 2026, a judge could lower support for visitation but had no formula and had to write findings. Now subsection (g) sets one. Each parent's yearly days are raised to the power of 2.5, the two results weight each parent's share of the table amount, and the outcome trims the paying parent's share. Only court-ordered time counts, and a day means an overnight, or for daytime-only schedules, total hours divided by 24.

The exponent keeps small schedules from moving the number much. Every-other-weekend time barely registers. The adjustment grows quickly past about 100 days:

At equal time, 182.5 days each, the parent with more income pays the difference. If a single mom out-earns her ex and splits time evenly, the formula can make her the payer. The calculator only accepts a noncustodial parent with 182.5 days or fewer, per the Commission's guide to the 2026 changes. Schedules like those in this site's 50/50 custody schedule guide sit right at that line.

The days used are the ones in the order, not the ones he actually shows up for. If he skips most of his time, that is grounds to ask the court for more support, and a custodial parent who wins that kind of upward change is entitled to her reasonable attorney's fees under subsection (k)(5).

Day care, insurance and doctor bills

Schedule D adds two costs the table leaves out. Child care counts when a single mom, or the other parent, needs it to work, go to school or train for a job. If a public subsidy pays part of it, only what you actually pay goes in. Care from a parent or a free relative counts as zero, and a paid sitter needs receipts.

Only the children's slice of a health insurance premium is added. If the policy also covers adults and the children's cost cannot be shown separately, divide the premium by everyone covered and multiply by the children in the case. Medicaid or PeachCare for Kids satisfies the requirement that the order cover health care, though a judge can still order private coverage.

Copays, braces and other uninsured bills are not in the monthly figure. The order splits them by income share unless it says otherwise, so the single mom in the example can bill the father for 60% of each one.

When he earns very little, or says he does

The 2026 low-income adjustment to Georgia child support works in the background. If a parent's adjusted income is low enough to appear on a separate table in subsection (p), that parent's support is the lesser of the presumptive amount, add-ons included, or the table figure. A father with two children and $2,000 a month in adjusted income, for example, owes no more than $522 a month.

At $1,500 a month or less, the cap is a straight percentage of income: 19% for one child, 24% for two, and up to 28% for six. A single mother should know the cap exists before a hearing, since it can lower what she receives. The calculator applies it automatically on line 11.

The cap only uses income the court accepts. If he claims to earn little while working cash jobs, imputed income still applies, and you get 90 days to bring new evidence if you believe an imputed figure is too low.

Schedule E: when a judge moves the number

In Georgia child support cases, the worksheet result is a presumption, not a ceiling. A judge or jury may raise or lower it for listed reasons: high income, vision or dental insurance, life insurance, the child care tax credit, long-distance travel for visits, alimony, a mortgage he pays on the children's home, or extraordinary costs. Any deviation needs written findings explaining why the standard amount would be unjust.

Activities such as band, sports and camp are partly built into the table. They support a deviation only when they exceed 7% of the table amount, and then only the excess. One protection matters most: no deviation may leave the custodial parent unable to keep minimally adequate housing, food and clothing for the children.

Pregnancy bills and the LIFE Act

Georgia child support law is unusual here. Since the LIFE Act, the statute counts an unborn child with a detectable heartbeat as a child. Before birth, the most a court can order the father to pay is the mother's direct medical and pregnancy-related costs; after birth, the full guidelines apply.

DCSS says expectant mothers, and mothers who gave birth after July 20, 2022, can seek reimbursement if they kept records of the costs, but federal funding rules bar it from helping collect them (DCSS, pregnancy-related expenses). For that piece, it points mothers to free civil lawyers.

Applying through DCSS, or filing on your own

A single mom can get a Georgia child support order two ways. One is a private case in superior court, usually inside a divorce, a legitimation or a custody action, where parenting time is decided too. The other is DCSS, which locates the father, establishes paternity, sets and enforces support, and adds medical support, but does not handle custody or visitation.

If you receive TANF or certain Medicaid, DFCS refers you and no application is needed. Everyone else applies online or at the county office and pays a $25 fee (DCSS, understanding child support). The DCSS FAQ calls the fee nonrefundable and lists a certified check or money order as the form of payment (DCSS, frequently asked questions).

Once he is located, DCSS has 90 days to get a court order, though local court calendars vary. A free consult can help you decide whether DCSS alone is enough; this site's list of legal aid for single mothers includes Georgia options.

Paternity is not legitimation

For a single mother who was not married at the birth, there is no legal father for support purposes until paternity is set. Parents can sign a Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgment at the hospital or later at a Vital Records office before a notary. Either parent can cancel it within 60 days, or until a court order sets paternity if that comes first; after that it is a legal finding (DCSS, paternity establishment).

In new DCSS cases where paternity is not already set, genetic testing is required. The test fee is $40 per person, charged to the father if he is the match and to the mother if the man she named is excluded, but never to mothers on TANF or Family Medicaid.

Paternity creates the duty to pay. Custody and visitation are separate court matters, including legitimation, and DCSS does not handle them. The difference shapes how custody gets labeled in Georgia orders.

The Family Support Registry, Way2Go cards and direct deposit

Since July 1, 2000, Georgia child support payments have run through the Family Support Registry, which processes court-ordered payments in DCSS cases and in private cases with an income deduction order (DCSS, Family Support Registry). His employer usually withholds support from each paycheck. Allow four to six weeks after withholding starts for the first payment to post.

DCSS no longer mails paper checks. You choose direct deposit or the DCSS debit card, which the card page calls the Way2Go Debit Mastercard (DCSS, debit card and direct deposit) and the DCSS FAQ still calls the EPPI card. As of October 27, 2026, the card page says online direct deposit updates are temporarily unavailable, so call 1-877-423-4746. DCSS sends deposits within two business days of the payment date.

Some fees fall on him, not you. The registry fee of 5% or $1.50 per payment, whichever is less, and the $35 annual fee on cases that never received TANF are charged to the paying parent (DCSS fees).

TANF families and the gap payment

When a single mother receives TANF in Georgia, her right to Georgia child support is assigned to the state by law, per the TANF manual, section 1320, and DCSS collects it. She can receive a "gap payment," child support that fills the space between the state's standard of need for her family size and the maximum TANF grant. DHS policy says DCSS keeps support collected above that gap amount (DHS policy manual, child support glossary).

Cooperation with DCSS is a TANF condition, and refusing without good cause ends the family's cash grant. Good cause covers a risk of physical or emotional harm to her or the child, a pregnancy from rape or incest, and a pending or planned adoption. She can claim it at any time, so raise safety concerns with DFCS.

Other cash help is in the guide to grants for single mothers in Georgia. Rent help is in a separate guide to Georgia housing assistance.

Tools DCSS uses on missed payments

A missed Georgia child support payment can trigger several actions. DCSS lists these:

• Tax refunds. His federal refund can be taken at $500 owed, or $150 on a TANF case; his state refund at $500 (DCSS, tax offset programs).
• Driver's license. Certification starts after about 90 days behind. He can release it by paying in full, paying 20% of the past-due balance, proving a new job or signing an Enforcement Deferral (DCSS, license suspension and reinstatement).
• Passport and lottery. Owing more than $2,500 can block a passport, and lottery wins over $2,500 can be intercepted.
• Credit reports, liens and bank accounts. Delinquency can be reported and matched accounts seized.
• Contempt. A judge can fine or jail him, or send him to a Parental Accountability Court.

For a single mother counting on the money, collection is uneven. In federal fiscal year 2024, DCSS managed 295,500 cases and reported that 60.46% of parents made consistent payments, while distributing $660 million to Georgia children (DCSS overview fact sheet). If he is behind and incarcerated, the guide to help when a father is in jail may fill some gaps.

Two clocks for changing an order

A Georgia child support order can be changed in court or through DCSS, on different timelines. In court, either parent can ask to modify for a substantial change in income, finances or the children's needs. But the same parent cannot file again within two years of a final order on an earlier modification, unless the noncustodial parent skipped court-ordered time or took more than ordered, or the request rests on an involuntary income loss of 25% or more.

Through DCSS, either parent can request a review three years after an order takes effect, or sooner with a substantial change. The review can take up to six months and never changes past-due support (DCSS, review and modification). The $100 fee is waived for parents on TANF or Medicaid and for those earning $1,000 a month or less.

Birthday 18, or up to 20 for a high school senior

Georgia child support normally ends when a child reaches 18, marries, dies or becomes emancipated. A judge can order support to continue for a child still in high school, but never past age 20.

Before you file: a paperwork checklist

Gather these before a Georgia child support application or filing

1. Each child's birth certificate and any signed paternity acknowledgment
2. His full name, birth date, Social Security number if known, last address and employer
3. Your last three pay stubs and last year's tax return
4. Day care invoices and the children's share of your insurance premium
5. Any existing order, parenting plan or calendar of the days he actually kept
6. A printed worksheet from the Commission calculator with your closest estimate of his income
7. Pregnancy and delivery bills, if your child was born after July 20, 2022

Free legal information from Atlanta Legal Aid and Georgia Legal Services is collected on GeorgiaLegalAid.org. If a parenting schedule is still in dispute, custody mediation often comes before the support hearing.

Quick questions from Georgia moms

Can he and I simply agree on an amount?

You can agree, but a judge still has to see the worksheet. Any figure different from the presumptive amount counts as a deviation, so the order has to state the guideline amount, the reason for the difference, and why it serves the children. The statute also requires the worksheet and schedules to be attached to the final order.

Do I pay anything to DCSS once my case is open?

Most costs land on the paying parent. You pay the $25 application fee unless TANF or certain Medicaid opened the case. You could owe the $100 review fee if you request a review and earn over $1,000 a month. A $40 genetic test fee applies to you only if the man you named is excluded.

What if the father is self-employed?

His business profit counts as gross income, but the judge reviews it closely. Excessive travel, vehicle, home office or personal expenses, and accelerated depreciation, can be added back. He then deducts only half of his self-employment tax, 6.2% for Social Security up to the wage cap plus 1.45% for Medicare, on Schedule B.

What if the order was set before 2026?

It stays in force exactly as written. The new parenting time and low-income formulas apply to orders calculated now. A change in the obligation table is a reason to ask DCSS for a review, but the statute's normal rules still apply, including the three-year review cycle and the two-year limit on repeat court petitions.

He lives in another state. Can Georgia still collect?

Yes. DCSS has a separate application, Packet III, for parents whose ex lives in another state, and that case can cover paternity, a new order, enforcement and review. Expect delays, since locating him, serving papers and coordinating with another state's agency all add time. Give DCSS every address, employer and phone number you have for him.

Sources

• Georgia Child Support Commission. O.C.G.A. 19-6-15, Child support guidelines, current through the 2025 Regular Session (posted January 2, 2026). csc.georgiacourts.gov (retrieved October 27, 2026)
• Georgia Child Support Commission. 2024 Updates to the Child Support Guidelines. csc.georgiacourts.gov (retrieved October 27, 2026)
• Georgia Child Support Commission. Georgia Child Support Calculator, Version 2.1. csconlinecalc.georgiacourts.gov (retrieved October 27, 2026)
• Georgia Child Support Commission. Changes to the Georgia Child Support Calculator, effective 01/01/2026. csc.georgiacourts.gov (retrieved October 27, 2026)
• Georgia Child Support Commission. Basic Child Support Obligation Table, effective July 1, 2024. csc.georgiacourts.gov (retrieved October 27, 2026)
• Georgia Division of Child Support Services. Understanding child support. childsupport.georgia.gov (retrieved October 27, 2026)
• Georgia Division of Child Support Services. Frequently asked questions. childsupport.georgia.gov (retrieved October 27, 2026)
• Georgia Division of Child Support Services. Paternity establishment. childsupport.georgia.gov (retrieved October 27, 2026)
• Georgia Division of Child Support Services. Pregnancy-related expenses. childsupport.georgia.gov (retrieved October 27, 2026)
• Georgia Division of Child Support Services. Family Support Registry. childsupport.georgia.gov (retrieved October 27, 2026)
• Georgia Division of Child Support Services. Debit card and direct deposit. childsupport.georgia.gov (retrieved October 27, 2026)
• Georgia Division of Child Support Services. DCSS fees. childsupport.georgia.gov (retrieved October 27, 2026)
• Georgia Division of Child Support Services. Federal and state tax offset programs. childsupport.georgia.gov (retrieved October 27, 2026)
• Georgia Division of Child Support Services. Driver's license reinstatement. childsupport.georgia.gov (retrieved October 27, 2026)
• Georgia Division of Child Support Services. Review and modification of support order. childsupport.georgia.gov (retrieved October 27, 2026)
• Georgia Division of Child Support Services. DCSS overview fact sheet, revised January 2025, FFY 2024 data. childsupport.georgia.gov (retrieved October 27, 2026)
• Georgia Department of Human Services. TANF policy manual, section 1320, Child Support Enforcement. pamms.dhs.ga.gov (retrieved October 27, 2026)
• Georgia Department of Human Services. Policy manual, Appendix L, Child Support Services Glossary. pamms.dhs.ga.gov (retrieved October 27, 2026)
• Georgia Child Support Commission. Home page, calculator maintenance notice. csc.georgiacourts.gov (retrieved October 27, 2026)
• Atlanta Legal Aid Society and Georgia Legal Services Program. GeorgiaLegalAid.org. georgialegalaid.org (retrieved October 27, 2026)