Connecticut child support & parenting time calculations
In Connecticut, if your family case involves custody, the court always considers child support. If you don't have a family case, you can open a case just for child support.
Child support is intended to pay one parent's share of the basics of raising a child, including housing.
A child support obligation will last until your child is 18, or — if they continue to attend high school — until their 19th birthday. If your child has special needs, your child support obligation may continue into their 20s.
If you'll ask the court to adjust child support based on your parenting time, be prepared with the numbers. Calculate your exact parenting time, bring it to negotiations and print it for court.
The basics of calculating child support
A few important things to know about how Connecticut courts decide a support amount:
- Your incomes are the biggest factor.
- The more children you have together, the higher your support amount will be.
- It matters who pays for child care and your child's health care (and one of you will be ordered to pay for the child's health insurance through an employer or HUSKY Health). The child support guidelines help inform this.
The Custody X Change calculator above can give you a quick sense of what you may pay or receive.
For a more precise estimate, consult the Connecticut Child Support and Arrearage Guidelines and complete the worksheet. The guidelines cover co-parents whose combined net weekly income is under $4,000. If you make more than that, the court will customize the amount.
Requesting an adjustment for parenting time
The Connecticut child support guidelines assume that one parent has significantly more time with the child. Specifically, it assumes that one parent may have "two overnights on alternate weekends" and an occasional weekday overnight, plus some holiday and vacation time, but not much more than that. This schedule would be approximately an 80/20 split.
If you and the other parent have closer to equal time, the court may decide that you have shared physical custody for purposes of the child support calculation. This could be an every weekend schedule, which is more like a 70/30 split. If you expect to split your time this way, when you fill out the support worksheet, tick off the "shared physical custody" checkbox under Deviation Criteria.
Many parents have a 50/50 schedule, like alternating weeks. The court may consider this even more reason to adjust the amount.
However, be aware that equal parenting time isn't an excuse to avoid a child support order altogether. The court will primarily look at your incomes, and it may or may not make any adjustments based on parenting time. The court hopes you'll propose the parenting schedule that's best for your child, not one you expect will change your support amount.
Other reasons the court may adjust the amount or duration
It's common for Connecticut judges to deviate from the support guidelines for other reasons too. On the support worksheet, under Deviation Criteria, you can check boxes saying you'd like the court to examine your alimony, taxes, visitation expenses, earning capacity or anything related to the best interests of your child.
If your child has special needs, that may be a reason to continue child support until your child:
- Turns 26, if you were divorced or received your initial child support order after October 1, 2023, or
- Turns 21, if you were divorced or received your initial child support order before October 1, 2023
Support can also be ordered retroactively, looking back up to three years. The parent who wants this may have to request it.
How to seek child support
As part of a family case
Child support is addressed as part of the divorce or custody process in Connecticut.
If you're financially dependent on the other parent, you may also ask for temporary child support or alimony, which you'd receive while your divorce or custody case is ongoing (called pendente lite). File a motion for the financial support like normal, along with this affidavit confirming that you can't wait until the end of the case for support.
On its own
Complete an application and give it to your local support office, either by email or in person. Once the request is open, you can look up your case online. Both parents may be asked to appear in Family Support Magistrate Court.
If you're pregnant, wait until your child is born to apply. If you aren't sure who the father is, it may take a few extra months for the state to help you establish paternity.
If both of you agree on an amount
You and the other parent can agree on an amount and submit it to the court. This is known as a deviation from the presumptive amount. Common reasons include a shared parenting plan or the total coordination of family support (i.e., you'll pay an amount meant to cover spousal maintenance and child support). If the court decides that the amount is fair to your child, it will likely approve your agreement.
However, you and the other parent can't simply decide you don't want the court to consider support at all.
You can reach additional financial agreements apart from standard support. For example, you can request an order for who will pay for college until your child turns 23. Similarly, the court may order you to split specific expenses like medical bills, child care or extracurricular activities.
If you receive public assistance
If you receive support and you've ever received Temporary Family Assistance (aka Connecticut TANF), the state may keep some of the support it collects. Learn more through the Connecticut Child Support Enforcement Program.
If you're struggling to pay child support
The parent who pays support typically has funds taken out of their paycheck so they don't forget to pay or make excuses for not paying. This is called income withholding.
If you change jobs, you're likely to receive a new withholding order. Let the support office know as early as possible when you change jobs or have new contact information so they know you're trying to cooperate — and let them know if you're having trouble affording child support.
Whether you owe back support, current support or both, Connecticut can't take more than 55 percent of your net income. If you can prove you aren't earning enough to pay your support order, you may get a new order for a different amount.
Changing a support order
Once you have a court order, you have to follow it. You can file a Motion for Modification if at least one of the following is true:
- Either parent has had a substantial change in income or circumstances.
- The cost of caring for your child has changed significantly.
- Applying the current Connecticut support guidelines would change your order by at least 15 percent.
You'll have to submit an updated financial affidavit.
Calculating parenting time accurately
Parenting time can change the amount of your child support order in Connecticut — and the difference can be thousands of dollars a year.
Don't merely estimate your time. The Custody X Change app lets you quickly and accurately calculate your time.
Use exact numbers to get a fair child support payment.