How Kentucky Child Support Is Calculated

Child Support in Kentucky Starts With a Formula

Almost every Kentucky child support order starts with the guidelines in KRS 403.212. Under KRS 403.211(2), the guideline amount is a rebuttable presumption when an order is first set, temporary or permanent, and when an order is modified. The court starts with the formula and needs a reason, stated in writing or on the record, to order something different. This guide walks through each step.

The Income Shares Model

The guidelines table lists one total monthly obligation based on the parents' combined monthly adjusted parental gross income and the number of children they share. KRS 403.212(5)(a) divides that obligation between the parents in proportion to each one's share of the combined income. This is commonly called the income shares model: a parent who earns most of the combined income carries most of the obligation.

What Counts as Gross Income

KRS 403.212(3)(b) counts income from almost any source, including wages, commissions, bonuses, retirement and pension payments, interest, dividends, Social Security, workers' compensation, unemployment, disability insurance benefits, gifts, prizes, and maintenance received. Benefits from means tested public assistance programs, including food stamps, are excluded.

For a parent who is self employed or runs a business or farm, gross income means gross receipts minus ordinary and necessary business expenses, and KRS 403.212(3)(c) allows only straight line depreciation. Business perks such as a company vehicle or housing are counted when they are significant and reduce personal living expenses.

If a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, KRS 403.212(3)(e) allows support to be based on potential income, considering work history, skills, education, health, and the local job market. That finding cannot be made for a parent who is incarcerated, incapacitated, or caring for a child age three or younger whom the parents share. Before the table is used, KRS 403.212(3)(i) subtracts maintenance actually paid and support paid or provided for children born earlier.

Reading the Guidelines Table

The table in KRS 403.212(9) covers combined monthly adjusted income from $0 to $30,000, for one child through six or more. Above the highest amount on the table, KRS 403.212(7) leaves support to the court's discretion. The minimum order is $60 a month under KRS 403.212(6), except where the shared parenting time credit applies.

When the paying parent's own monthly adjusted gross income is at or below a set level, from $1,100 with one child to $1,600 with six or more, KRS 403.212(5)(b) figures support from that parent's income alone using a self support reserve of $915 a month. The numbers go on a worksheet that KRS 403.212(2) directs the Office of the Attorney General to set by regulation.

Health Insurance, Medical Bills, and Child Care

Some costs are added to the table amount. Under KRS 403.211(6), reasonable and necessary child care costs for work, a job search, or schooling that leads to work are divided between the parents in proportion to income.

KRS 403.211(7) and (8) require the court to order health care coverage for the child when it is reasonable in cost, meaning no more than five percent of the responsible parent's gross income, and accessible, meaning providers within 60 minutes or 60 miles of the child's home. The cost is split in proportion to income. The insuring parent pays the first $250 of medical expenses each calendar year unless the parents agree otherwise, and uninsured expenses beyond that are divided in proportion to income under KRS 403.211(9) and (10).

The Shared Parenting Time Credit

Under KRS 403.2122, added in 2024, a parent who has the child at least 88 days a year, under court ordered parenting time or time the parents agree to and actually follow, may ask the court for a credit. A day generally means more than 12 consecutive hours with that parent. The statute's chart runs from a 15 percent adjustment at 88 to 115 days up to 50 percent at 182 to 182.5 days.

The court may weigh whether the schedule is really followed, the paying parent's ability to keep a home for the child, distance between homes, military deployment, and health insurance or medical care either parent provides. The credit and the self support reserve cannot both be applied.

When a Court Can Depart From the Guidelines

KRS 403.211(2) lets the court deviate when the guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate, with a written finding or a specific finding on the record. KRS 403.211(3) lists reasons, including:

• a child's extraordinary medical, dental, educational, or special needs
• a parent's own extraordinary needs, such as medical expenses
• the child's own financial resources
• combined income above the guidelines table
• an informed agreement between the parents, unless public assistance is being paid for the child
• one parent not consistently following the court ordered parenting schedule

Changing a Child Support Order

Under KRS 403.213(1), an order may be modified only upon a showing of a material change in circumstances that is substantial and continuing, and only for payments that come due after the motion is filed. A rise or drop in income does not change what is owed until a motion is filed.

Under KRS 403.213(2), if applying the guidelines to current circumstances changes the monthly amount by 15 percent or more, the change is rebuttably presumed to be material; less than 15 percent is rebuttably presumed not to be. KRS 403.2122(5) also allows a request after a 15 percent change in parenting time days.

How Enforcement Works Through the County Child Support Offices

Since July 1, 2025, Kentucky's child support program has been run by the Department of Child Support Services in the Office of the Attorney General, which took it over from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. The state says older forms that still name the Cabinet remain valid.

KRS 15.802(6) makes the local county attorney the program's designee in each county unless the county attorney declines. The program can help establish paternity, set and seek changes to support, collect payments, and enforce orders. KRS 403.211(15) says no wage or income is exempt from attachment for child support, and KRS 15.802(9) provides for denying or suspending driver's and professional licenses when unpaid support equals or exceeds what would be owed after six months of nonpayment.

Under KRS 15.802(7), the county attorney on a child support case represents the state program and has no attorney client relationship with the parent who applied. Find your county's office with the state's child support office locator, or see the Fleming County office on our Flemingsburg family law page.

Estimating Support and Getting Advice

The state offers an online Kentucky child support estimator. It is a useful first look, but the result is only as good as the numbers you enter, and a court works from the evidence and the official worksheet.

Support is often decided alongside a Kentucky divorce or a child custody case, and parents who can still talk may settle it through mediation. Our Kentucky family law resources page collects official links. We cannot predict what a court will order, but we can help you understand the numbers before you sign or file anything.

Frequently Asked Questions About Kentucky Child Support

Child Support Help Across Our Twelve Counties

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