Nebraska child support & parenting time calculations
In divorces and breakups, one parent usually pays child support to the other. This process enables each of them to financially support their child according to their abilities to pay.
The basics of Nebraska child support
You'll each be responsible for supporting your child in proportion to your combined incomes. For example, if one of you earns $3,000 per month and the other earns $1,000 per month, the first parent will owe 75% of the support amount and the second will owe the remaining 25%. The higher-income parent will send money to the lower-income parent.
However, your parenting time can affect your support order if you have joint physical custody and close to equal time.
Choosing not to earn as much as you could isn't an excuse for not financially supporting your child. If you're voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, the court may consider your earning capacity rather than your actual earnings.
Your support order will also address:
- Health care: Who pays for your child's health insurance and other medical expenses
- Travel: Who pays for long-distance transport (if any) of your child between your homes
How to calculate child support
Consult the Nebraska Child Support Guidelines, which are part of the Supreme Court rules (Chapter 4, Article 2).
The guidelines recommend a total monthly support amount based on your combined monthly income, any deductions that apply to you, and the number of children who will be covered by this support order. Look at Table 1 and find where those two numbers (your combined income and your number of children) intersect in the table.
Your support amount will follow the guidelines unless the court finds a reason why that would be "unjust or inappropriate." Typical reasons include expenses for long-distance travel to exchange the child or for the child's healthcare or disability support. A parent's medical expenses could count too.
Nebraska considers what each parent pays for their own health insurance as well as any existing support orders you have for other children.
The guidelines recommend support amounts based on your incomes:
- High-income parents. If co-parents together earn more than $20,000 per month, they're off the chart. The recommended amount of their support order will be at least what's suggested for the $20,000 monthly income level (and could be more).
- Very low-income parents. The minimum support amount is $50 per month or 10% of income, whichever is greater. The court may deviate from this minimum guideline if the parent is disabled or incarcerated.
Find child support forms on the Nebraska Judicial Branch website. Complete Worksheet 1 for the basic income and support calculation.
There may be other worksheets specific to your situation.
A document known as Worksheet 3 helps you determine the parenting time adjustment:
- If both parents have more than 142 overnights per year, i.e., close to a 50/50 time split, you're required to fill out this worksheet.
- If one parent has 109–142 overnights per year, e.g., a 70/30 or 60/40 time split, the court may order you to complete this worksheet.
- However, you don't fill out this worksheet if one parent has fewer than 109 overnights per year — e.g., a schedule of alternating weekends, or every weekend at most. The parenting time adjustment won't apply.
How to seek child support
Be ready to present the last two years of your tax returns and financial statements, as well as your current pay stubs.
If you were never married to the other parent, establish paternity before seeking child support.
As part of a family case
When filing a divorce or custody case in Nebraska, along with your parenting plan, you'll submit information related to child support. Usually you can discuss the support amount during your divorce or custody case, but if your child support issue is assigned a separate case number, you may need to treat the two cases separately.
On its own
Apply online or on paper through the state Department of Health and Human Services. Have your child's Social Security number and health policy information. If you already have a court order and you're applying for enforcement services, have a copy of the court order.
At the request of the state
The state of Nebraska can open a child support case for you, which it would do if it's trying to recover public assistance funds. Much of the paperwork would be handled for you, but you should still participate when prompted. See "If you receive public assistance" below.
If both of you agree on an amount
You're allowed to negotiate with your co-parent and present your agreement to the court. If you deviate from the support amount recommended by the state guidelines, you must explain why.
If the state is a party to your child support case (usually because it's trying to recover the public assistance funds it gave to one of you), the court will also consider the state's opinion on your proposal.
Nebraska child support referee
In Nebraska, a child support referee is an attorney who's empowered to:
- Hear testimony and consider the evidence
- Accept a parent's acknowledgment of paternity and support liability
- Accept co-parents' agreements on a support amount
- Make recommendations to the judge, including for a default order (for an absent parent) or to enforce payment
Not all counties have a referee. Douglas County referees have authority different from those in other counties.
If you're scheduled for a hearing before a referee, it will have a similar format as a court hearing: it will be recorded, and you can request a transcript. You'll be entitled to a copy of the referee's recommendation, and you'll have 14 days to raise any objections by filing a Notice of Exceptions. If you take no action, the recommendation will automatically become final, and it will become enforceable when a judge turns it into a court order.
If you receive public assistance
If you've ever received certain kinds of public assistance, your support order is considered to be under Title IV-D.
If you've received Aid to Dependent Children (ADC), Nebraska may keep all the child support the other parent pays until the ADC has been paid back. However, beginning in 2027, Nebraska will allow you to keep part of the other parent's support payments.
If you can't get Medicaid or any other health insurance for your child, some Nebraska counties may increase the child support amount to help ensure there's money for your child's healthcare. This is called cash medical.
How you pay child support
It's likely that your employer will withhold funds from your paycheck and send them to the Nebraska Child Support Payment Center (NCSPC), which will send them to the other parent.
If you don't have that arrangement with your employer, you have to send funds to the NCSPC yourself. You can pay online, mail a check or money order, charge it to your credit card (although you'll pay extra for credit) or pay cash at a walk-up window in Lincoln.
Directly paying the other parent isn't recommended. You'd need to file your receipts with the district court. If the state is involved in your support order, the court would then have to communicate with the state payment center. If the payment center doesn't get the record of your payment, the state might attempt to enforce the order, including penalties.
If your child lives with a third party (like a relative), both you and your co-parent may be ordered to pay support to the third party. If your child is placed in foster care, you both may still owe support, but the court may deviate from the guidelines.
If you're struggling to pay child support
Nebraska keeps track of noncustodial parents to hold them financially accountable. The district court clerk keeps records of what you owed, whether you paid, and what you may still owe as arrearage. They send this information to the state, which sends you a monthly statement.
Your support amount should be affordable for you. You're allowed to keep a certain amount of your income to live on. If you find that you can't pay support, you may qualify to have the order changed (see below).
Try to negotiate a solution with the other parent, and (if the state was involved in your support case) communicate with the support office. Ask for a payment plan. Garnishment, aka income withholding, is one way for the state to collect child support or alimony. Your unemployment benefits, lottery winnings and tax returns can be withheld too.
Be aware:
- The other parent is entitled to information about your financial situation and can subpoena you for that information if you're uncooperative.
- The other parent can file a motion for accounting or a declaratory judgment action so the court can recognize what's been paid and what's still owed.
- Sometimes Nebraska "closes enforcement," i.e., stops actively pursuing collection of the debt. However, technically you still owe it, as support usually isn't modified or terminated retroactively.
- If the other parent — or the state — seeks to hold you in contempt of court for nonpayment, you'll have a hearing, and you could face up to six months in jail.
- Your property could be auctioned off at a sheriff sale.
Changing a support order
At any time, you can ask to modify support if recalculating according to the guidelines would change your order by at least 10% (and if the dollar amount of the change would be at least $25). The modification usually takes effect from the day the judge orders it, though sometimes it's retroactive to the first day of the month after you request it.
If your support order went through the state, you're entitled to ask for a review every three years. If you don't meet certain criteria, the Department of Health and Human Services may choose not to review your support order, and you'll have to wait one year before submitting another request.
If the parent who pays support later has another child, that can be a reason not to raise the support amount for the first child, but it isn't a reason to reduce it. If they become a stepparent, it's up to the judge whether to raise the support amount for their first child.
When support ends
As each child turns 19 (the age of majority in Nebraska), support won't be owed for them anymore. Example: If you have a support order for three minor children, once the oldest becomes a legal adult, support will only be owed for the two younger children. The termination is automatic. The court will use the guidelines to recalculate the amount.
If you have another reason to terminate support, file a request with the court or the state agency.
If your child moves to another state, your Nebraska support order will likely remain valid. Nonetheless, if you're discussing the move in court, ask the court to clarify when support will end.
Calculating parenting time accurately
Parenting time can be an important factor in Nebraska child support calculations.
Lawyers (and even the court) usually estimate a parent's number of overnights because manually calculating is tedious.
But estimating can affect your support order by thousands of dollars a year. The Custody X Change app lets you quickly and accurately calculate your exact overnights.
Try this with Custody X Change.
Don't merely guess at your parenting time. Calculate it exactly to get a fair child support payment.