Child Support in Delaware
Child support is money for the child's needs. Generally, the parent who spends less time with the child pays support to the other parent. If parents have almost equal time with the child, the parent with the higher income pays.
The parent who pays support is called the obligor. The parent who receives support is the obligee.
Getting a support order
You can apply for support through your local family court by filling out a Petition for Child Support. You might have to pay a filing fee. Child support forms are available online.
Or you can apply through Child Support Services (CSS) to start a support case. You'll need to pay a $25 application fee and a $35 annual processing fee unless you receive Medicaid, TANF or SNAP.
After you apply for support, you'll go to mediation, or a court hearing if your case is not fit for mediation (usually due to domestic violence). The mediator or hearing officer will use the child support formula to determine the support amount.
You can calculate support on your own using Delaware's child support calculator. To get a quick estimate, use the calculator at the top of this page. These tools are helpful if you're negotiating a support agreement.
In any case, you'll need to hand in a Child Support Financial Disclosure Report. Attach proof of income, like a W-2, recent paystubs and proof of social security payments. Also, attach proof of child-related expenses for daycare, school tuition, health insurance and other necessities.
Factors in the support amount
Number of children
Support is paid for any child who's under 18 — or under 19 and still in high school — that parents have together.
Income
Income includes your work pay and earnings from other sources, like social security.
The formula deducts the following from each parent's income:
- A self-support allowance (the amount a parents needs to support themself, set by the court each year)
- Money paid to support other children who are not part of the case
- Other qualifying deductions, like child-related expenses
How much the obligor pays is based on their portion of the parents' incomes added together. For example, if the support obligation is $2,000 and the obligor makes 50% of the combined income, they will pay $1,000 in support.
Standard of living adjustment
The standard of living adjustment (SOLA) may increase the child support amount. It's meant to give the child a lifestyle similar to what they would have if their parents were together.
SOLA applies if the obligor has income left over after the self-support allowance and child support are deducted. A percentage of that income is added onto the support amount.
- 1 child: 12% of remaining income
- 2 children: 17% of remaining income
- 3 children: 21% of remaining income
- More than 3 children: Add 2% for each child
Here's an example: An obligor with one child has $1,000 of remaining income. That means they pay an additional $120 in child support.
Parenting time adjustments
When each parent has at least 164 overnights a year, it's called shared placement. It decreases the child support amount significantly. (Where your child support form asks how many of your children live in each home, write half your number of children in each box, e.g. .5 and .5 for one-child families.)
When one parent has less than 164 nights a year, parenting time may still decrease the support amount somewhat. If you have 80 to 124 overnights, your additional support amount based on SOLA is reduced by 10%. If you have 125 to 163 overnights, it is reduced by 30%.
Other adjustments
By court decision or parental agreement, support can also include the cost of health insurance, medical expenses, daycare, private schooling and more.
Paying and receiving child support
Most commonly, the obligor pays support via wage attachment. This means the support amount is automatically deducted from their pay.
If the court doesn't order wage attachment, the obligor can choose a different payment method, like:
- Check or money order
- iPayOnline
- TouchPay Kiosk
Obligees can have support deposited to their bank accounts or loaded onto a debit card.
Enforcing child support
CSS automatically takes enforcement action when an obligor is behind on support payments.
If you don't have a case with CSS, file a Petition for Child Support Arrears (owed support) with the court.
CSS or family court can suspend the obligor's driver's license if they're $1,000 behind on support and haven't made a full payment in the last 30 days. The obligor could also have their income tax refund taken or spend time in jail.
If you've fallen behind in support payments, do one of the following to avoid penalties:
- Pay what you owe
- Make a payment equal to two months of support
- Request a CSS administrative hearing in writing
You could request to modify your order if you can no longer afford to pay. If approved, the modified order might include a repayment schedule for any arrears.
Modifying child support
You can modify a child support order after two and a half years. File a Petition for Modification to request a change.
A modification can happen sooner if there's a significant change in circumstances, like losing your job or a getting a new custody schedule — but only if the recalculation would change your support amount by at least 10%.
Getting an accurate child support order
Estimating your number of overnights, rather than calculating them exactly, can impact your child support order by thousands of dollars a year.
Still, attorneys and the court usually estimate because manually tallying days is time-consuming.
The Custody X Change app lets you quickly calculate your overnights with your child.
Try this with Custody X Change.
Whether you're paying or receiving child support, use Custody X Change to make sure your calculation is exact. The number will affect you, your child and the other parent for years to come.