Georgia’s child support guidelines rest on one foundational principle: a child is entitled to the same proportion of parental income the child would have received if the parents had remained together. The income shares model, codified at O.C.G.A. 19-6-15, operationalizes that principle through a structured worksheet that combines both parents’ incomes, identifies a presumptive obligation, allocates it between the parents, and then adjusts it for additional expenses and deviations. Understanding each step matters ‚ both for anyone navigating the system and for anyone advising them.
Step One: Gross Income
The calculation begins with each parent’s gross monthly income. Section 19-6-15 defines gross income broadly. It includes wages, salaries, commissions, fees, tips, bonuses, overtime, self-employment income, pension and retirement income, interest, dividends, trust income, capital gains, Social Security benefits (other than needs-based), veterans’ benefits, workers’ compensation, unemployment benefits, alimony received from a prior case, and fringe benefits that reduce living expenses significantly. Needs-based public assistance‚ TANF, SSI‚ is excluded.
Self-employment income is treated distinctly. Under 19-6-15(f)(1)(B), it is calculated as gross receipts minus ordinary and necessary business expenses. Courts examine self-employment income with care because the line between personal expenditures and legitimate business deductions is frequently contested.
When a parent fails to produce reliable income evidence, the court may impute income based on that parent’s earning capacity‚ typically the most recent employment history or the prevailing wage for work the parent is qualified to perform.
Step Two: Adjusted Income
Gross income is reduced by three categories of adjustments. First, self-employment taxes paid. Second, preexisting child support orders for other children‚ the parent must actually be paying the order, it must predate the current case, and payments are averaged over the prior twelve months. Third, a discretionary adjustment for qualified children living in the parent’s home. That third adjustment is permissive, not mandatory: the court may consider it only if declining to do so would cause substantial hardship, and five additional statutory requirements apply under 19-6-15(a)(20).
Step Three: Combined Income and the Basic Obligation
Each parent’s adjusted monthly income is added together to produce the combined adjusted income. That figure is then matched against the Basic Child Support Obligation table found at 19-6-15(o). The table reflects the presumptive cost of raising children at different income levels and for different numbers of children. It is the core empirical input to the model‚ the translation of combined parental income into a dollar amount representing the child’s presumed share of that income.
Each parent’s pro rata share of the basic obligation corresponds to their percentage of combined income. If one parent earns sixty percent of the combined total, that parent contributes sixty percent of the basic obligation. The noncustodial parent’s share is what actually appears as the payment obligation before further adjustments.
Step Four: Additional Expenses
Health insurance premiums covering the children and work-related childcare costs are added to the basic obligation under 19-6-15(h). These amounts are also allocated pro rata based on each parent’s income percentage. The parent who pays these expenses directly is credited; the other parent’s obligation is adjusted to reflect their proportional share.
Step Five: Parenting Time Adjustment
Schedule C adjusts the noncustodial parent’s obligation to reflect the actual number of court-ordered parenting days. The adjustment recognizes that a noncustodial parent who exercises more parenting time incurs more direct child-rearing costs and therefore has a reduced transfer payment obligation. As of January 1, 2026, the parenting time adjustment became mandatory under SB 454, courts must apply it rather than treat it as discretionary.
**Step Six: Deviations**
The presumptive amount that emerges from the worksheet is rebuttable. Schedule E allows the court to deviate upward or downward based on specific circumstances. Authorized categories include high income above the table’s ceiling, extraordinary educational expenses, extraordinary medical expenses, travel costs for parenting time, alimony paid to the other parent, and special child-rearing costs. Any deviation requires written findings that the presumptive amount would be unjust or inappropriate under the circumstances, that the deviation serves the child’s best interests, and that it would not leave the custodial parent unable to provide minimally adequate housing, food, clothing, and basic necessities.
**The Presumptive Amount and Modification**
The number that emerges from the completed worksheet is the presumptive child support amount. A court entering a different figure must explain why in findings of fact. That requirement is not procedural formality‚ it is an appellate record built to withstand review. Modification of an existing order requires showing a substantial change in circumstances under 19-6-15(k)(2), measured against the most recent order. A significant income change for either parent, a change in parenting time, or the elimination of a major expense can each constitute the required change.
The worksheet does not do the lawyering. Income characterization, imputation disputes, deviation arguments, and the interplay between modification and finality all require judgment the calculator cannot supply.
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