How New Jersey Child Support Is Calculated (the Child Support Guidelines)

Quick answer: New Jersey child support is calculated under the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines, which are part of the state’s Court Rules (Rule 5:6A and Appendix IX). The Guidelines start from both parents’ incomes, estimate what an intact family with that combined income would spend on the children, and divide that amount between the parents in proportion to their incomes. Child care and health insurance are then added, and the number of overnights each parent has decides which worksheet is used.

This article explains how the Guidelines work in general terms. It is general information, not legal advice. The Guidelines are long, they are revised from time to time, and the right numbers depend on your family’s facts.

How does the income shares model work in New Jersey?

The Guidelines aim to give children the share of their parents’ income they would have received if the family had stayed together. The New Jersey Supreme Court explained in Caplan v. Caplan that the Guidelines simulate the percentage of parental net income spent on children in intact families, shared in proportion to each parent’s income.

In practice, the court adds the parents’ net incomes, finds the basic amount for that combined income and number of children in the Guidelines charts, and gives each parent a percentage. If one parent earns 60% of the combined income, that parent is responsible for 60% of the basic amount. The New Jersey child support program describes the steps this way: determine income and deductions, calculate both parents’ shares, add costs such as child care or health insurance, apply deductions such as other child support or alimony, and run poverty tests.

Input	What the court looks at	Why it matters
Each parent’s income	All recurring earned and unearned income, reduced to net income	Sets each parent’s percentage share
Imputed income	What a parent could earn, if voluntarily unemployed or underemployed without just cause	Can raise the income used for that parent
Number of children	The children covered by the order	Changes the basic amount from the charts
Overnights	Overnights with each parent, as the Guidelines define them	Decides sole or shared parenting worksheet
Child care	The children’s child care costs	Added on and shared
Health insurance	The children’s coverage (medical support)	Added on and shared
Other support	Other child support or alimony a parent pays	Treated as a deduction

What counts as income for New Jersey child support?

Gross income under the Guidelines includes all earned and unearned income that is recurring or that will increase the money available to a parent over an extended period. Wages count, and so can other recurring income. The calculation then works from net income, which is gross income minus income taxes and certain other required deductions.

When the Supreme Court quoted the Guidelines in Caplan, those deductions included income taxes, mandatory union dues, mandatory retirement contributions and previously ordered child support for other children.

If the court finds a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed without just cause, it can impute income based on that parent’s work history, occupational qualifications, education and job opportunities in the region. In deciding whether there is just cause, the court considers what the parent’s work would have looked like if the family had stayed together, the reason for the change, other assets available to pay support, and the ages of the children and child care options.

Expect to prove income. The child support program says you may be asked for pay stubs and other income information, and tells parents to bring all supporting documents to the hearing or conference.

Which worksheet applies: sole parenting or shared parenting?

The Guidelines use a sole parenting worksheet when one parent has the children most of the time and a shared parenting worksheet when the other parent has enough overnights. In a 2019 decision, the Appellate Division quoted the Guidelines’ threshold: the parent of alternate residence needs at least two overnights a week, or 28% of the year’s overnights.

In that case, L.S. v. M.S., the parents’ agreement gave one parent 104 overnights a year, so the Appellate Division sent the case back to be recalculated on the shared parenting worksheet.

What counts as an overnight also matters. In Collette v. Welsh, the Appellate Division said the Guidelines define an overnight as the majority of a 24-hour day, meaning more than 12 hours, not simply where the child sleeps. The same opinion noted that the Guidelines assume the parent of primary residence pays certain “controlled expenses,” such as clothing and personal care.

Because these thresholds can change when the Guidelines are revised, check the current Appendix IX before relying on any number. Schedule and support are linked, so read parenting time schedules in New Jersey and how New Jersey courts decide child custody alongside this guide.

How are child care and health insurance handled?

Child care and the children’s health insurance are generally added to the basic amount and shared between the parents. The New Jersey child support program lists child care and health insurance, which it calls medical support, as add-ons, and a support order can set a parent’s responsibility to provide health insurance for the children.

The child support program also notes that court-ordered medical support ends when the child support obligation ends.

When can a court depart from the Guidelines?

A New Jersey court must apply the Guidelines but may modify or disregard them when good cause is shown. Under Rule 5:6A, as Caplan explains, good cause means that some relevant consideration makes the Guidelines unsuitable and that applying them would cause an injustice. A judge who departs from the Guidelines must explain why.

Very high and very low incomes are two situations the Guidelines address. When combined income is above the highest level in the Guidelines charts, Caplan says the court applies the Guidelines up to that level and then adds a discretionary amount based on the remaining income and the factors in the child support statute. For low-income parents, the calculation includes poverty tests.

Those statutory factors, N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(a), as quoted by the Appellate Division in L.S. v. M.S., are:

• the needs of the child;
• the standard of living and economic circumstances of each parent;
• all sources of income and assets of each parent;
• each parent’s earning ability, including education, training, work experience, custodial responsibility and the cost of child care;
• the child’s need and capacity for education, including higher education;
• the age and health of the child and each parent;
• the income, assets and earning ability of the child;
• each parent’s responsibility for court-ordered support of others;
• reasonable debts and liabilities of each child and parent; and
• any other factors the court deems relevant.

How do you change a New Jersey child support order?

Either parent can ask the court to modify a child support order by filing an application. New Jersey courts, following Lepis v. Lepis, generally require the parent asking for the change to show changed circumstances, and they reject requests based on changes that are only temporary or that are expected but have not happened yet.

In weighing a request to change support, courts have looked at whether the change is temporary or permanent, whether it was voluntary, whether it was made in bad faith or to avoid payment, and whether it actually leaves the paying parent unable to pay. A court can also look realistically at a parent’s earning potential, not only current pay.

The child support program also sends a review notice every three years, and orders established or modified after September 1, 1998 are eligible for a cost-of-living adjustment every two years. For help changing an existing order, see our post-judgment practice.

Why talk to The Legal Assistance Center about child support in New Jersey

Danielle Joseph-Key, Esq. is the founder and managing attorney of The Legal Assistance Center. She graduated from Rutgers-Camden School of Law in 2001, has been a member of the New Jersey bar since 2001, has more than 25 years of experience, and is a former municipal prosecutor. She handles child support and other family law matters in the New Jersey Superior Court, Chancery Division, Family Part.

She meets clients in person at 722 Gaskill Ave in Mt. Ephraim and virtually across New Jersey. A free initial 30-minute consultation is available for full representation. If you are handling your own case, a virtual flat-fee Advice & Counsel session starts at $59 with no retainer required.

Every family’s numbers are different, so talk to a lawyer about your case: call (732) 642-5635 or send a message.