Connecticut calculates child support using an income shares model: the guidelines estimate the amount of money that would be used to support the child if both parents lived together and pooled their incomes, then divide that amount between the parents based on their respective earnings. The formula is designed to apply consistently across cases, regardless of either parent’s earning capacity. This article walks through the calculation step by step and flags the substantive changes that took effect under the guideline revisions effective August 1, 2026.
Calculating a weekly child support order requires careful calculations from gross to net income. Physical custody arrangements, low-income status, and the number of parents involved in the case can all change which rule applies at a given step. Below is the process outlined in the Connecticut General Statutes Section 46b that practitioners need to walk clients through, along with a summary of what’s new in the 2026 update.
Determine Each Parent’s Weekly Net Income
Every case starts with the Worksheet for the Connecticut Child Support and Arrearage Guidelines (form CCSG-1, or CCSG-1A for cases involving more than two legally recognized parents). Each parent discloses gross income on a weekly basis and applies allowable deductions to arrive at net income under Regs., Conn. State Agencies §46b-215:
Gross income includes:
- Salary, wages (capped at 45 paid hours per week, so as not to discourage a party from working more than that), commissions, bonuses, and tips
- Self-employment earnings, rental income, and pension or retirement income
- Workers’ compensation, unemployment, and disability insurance benefits received in place of earned income
- Social Security dependency benefits paid on behalf of the child (with a narrow $5-per-week cap when a parent receives both SSI and Social Security disability or retirement benefits)
- Lottery and gambling winnings, prizes, and regularly recurring gifts
- Taxable education grants, fellowships, and subsidies
Gross income excludes:
- Support already received on behalf of a child living in the parent’s home
- Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments
- Federal, state, or local public assistance grants
- The Earned Income Tax Credit
- A spouse’s or domestic partner’s income or recurring gifts
From gross income, the worksheet subtracts allowable deductions to reach net income, including:
- Federal, state, and local income taxes
- Social Security and Medicare taxes (or a comparable mandatory retirement deduction)
- Health insurance premiums for the parent and dependents, including coverage through HUSKY Health
- Court-ordered life or disability insurance for the child’s benefit
- Union dues and mandatory uniform or tool costs deducted by the employer
- Court-ordered alimony and child support for individuals outside the current case (subject to the arrearage and downward-modification limitations in the regulation)
- Mandatory contributions to the state’s paid family and medical leave insurance program (Public Act 19-25) now specifically recognized as a deduction under the 2026 amendments
Combine the Parents’ Net Weekly Incomes
The formula then adds both parents’ net weekly incomes together to produce the combined net weekly income. This figure represents the pooled income the household would theoretically have if the parents lived together.
Find the Basic Child Support Obligation on the Schedule
Cross-reference the combined net weekly income against the number of children on the Connecticut Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations to find the basic child support obligation as updated for August 1, 2026, cases under Regs., Conn. State Agencies §46b-215a-2c(e).
Assume two parents are divorcing and have one minor child. The higher-earning parent has a net weekly income of $3,000, while the other parent has a net weekly income of $1,000, resulting in a combined net weekly income of $4,000. Under the child support schedule, the basic support obligation for one child, at a combined net weekly income of $4,000 would be $622.
Prior to the 2026 statute, this would have been an example of a high-income case.
What has changed in 2026: The schedule’s upper income boundary was raised from $4,000 to $6,000 in combined net weekly income to reflect updated economic data. Above $6,000, support continues to be determined case by case under the applicable statutory criteria, rather than by strict application of the schedule. Family Law Software continues to have a tool to help extrapolate child support above the guideline schedule for very high-income cases.
Allocate the Obligation Between the Parents
Each parent’s share of the basic obligation is calculated by determining each parent’s percentage of the combined net weekly income and applying that percentage to the schedule amount.
Continuing our example: the higher-earning parent contributed $3,000 of the $4,000 combined income (75%), and the other parent contributed $1,000 (25%). Applied to the $622 basic obligation:
Higher-earning parent: 75% × $622= $466
Lower-earning parent: 25% × $622= $156
The noncustodial parent’s share becomes the presumptive current support order. For shared physical custody, the presumptive support amount is the amount that the parent with higher income would pay to the other parent. In the above case, the higher income parent would owe $466 to the lower income parent. Shared physical custody can be grounds for deviating, as under prior guidelines. These guidelines add an additional consideration where a deviation might be warranted in a shared physical custody situation where the parents have substantially equal income.
Health Care Coverage and Child Care Contributions
Beyond the basic obligation, the award must address health care coverage and, where applicable, child-care contributions, allocated using the same pro rata percentages (based on each parent’s share of combined net disposable income). Once these components are added to the basic obligation, the total becomes the presumptive child support award, subject to any deviation.
Health insurance premiums are deducted directly from gross income under Regs., Conn. State Agencies §46b-215a-1(1)(D).. This deduction applies to premiums paid by either parent for themselves and their legal dependents. Because this deduction is taken before net income is calculated, it directly affects the income figures used in the presumptive support calculation, a change in premium cost therefore changes the presumptive child support amount.
Unreimbursed medical expenses and child-care costs are calculated separately, after the presumptive support order has been determined, under Regs., Conn. State Agencies §46b-215a-2c(f) and (g).
Both are apportioned based on each parent’s percentage share of combined net disposable income, calculated under the same subsection.
For unreimbursed medical expenses, a low-income obligor’s share is capped at the lesser of their percentage share or 50% of combined net disposable income (or, in cases involving more than two parents, 100% divided by the number of parents).
Child-care contributions follow the same percentage-share method, but with these special cases:
If the non-custodial parent’s net disposable income falls within the shaded region of the table, making them a low-income obligor, then…
- If the custodial parent is also a low-income obligor, then the non-custodial parent’s share of child-care expenses is their income share, but not above 50%.
- If the custodial parent is not a low-income obligor, then the non-custodial parent’s share of child care expenses is 20%.
Qualifying child-care costs must be reasonable, necessary to allow a parent to maintain employment, not otherwise reimbursed or subsidized, and consistent with the cost of quality licensed care.
Family Law Software includes dedicated data-entry sections and worksheets for Connecticut practitioners to calculate and evaluate child-care expenses and unreimbursed/out-of-pocket medical expenses for the current case.
Consider Deviations
A judge or family support magistrate may deviate from the presumptive amount but must state the reason in writing. Recognized bases for deviation include:
- Shared physical custody, where the arrangement measurably shifts each parent’s expenses
- An extraordinary disparity in parental income that would otherwise limit a lower-income parent’s ability to maintain a relationship with the child
- A presumptive award that would exceed 55% of the obligor’s net income
- Best interests of the child
- The child having more than two legally recognized parents
- Other equitable factors identified by the court
When Does Child Support End?
In Connecticut, a parent’s child support obligation continues until the later of:
- The child graduates from high school (if graduation occurs after the child turns 18), or
- The child reaches age 19.
Child support may also terminate earlier if the child becomes emancipated. Emancipation may occur through marriage, enlistment in the military, a court order declaring the child emancipated, or, in limited circumstances, a court determination that the child is financially self-supporting.
Other Changes in the 2026 Update
A few additional changes are worth flagging for practitioners preparing worksheets or advising clients:
- Judges and family support magistrates now have discretion to set monthly arrearage payments between 20% and 100% of an imputed support obligation when the parents no longer have a present duty to support the individual for whom the arrearage is owed.
- Specific criteria now govern how income may be imputed to an obligor for deviation purposes including assets, residence, work history, education, health, and local job market conditions, and full-time employment for these purposes is defined as 32 hours per week.
- New rules address arrearage and current support calculations when a custodial parent receives a dependency benefit tied to a noncustodial parent’s Social Security Disability Insurance award.
- Consistent with the Connecticut Parentage Act (Public Act 21-15), the guidelines now include a dedicated worksheet, CCSG-1A, for cases involving more than two legally recognized parents.
- Union dues and fees no longer need to be mandatory to qualify as a deduction.
- An obligor may deduct court-ordered child support owed for another child (excluding arrearage payments) regardless of whether the obligor is currently making that payment.
- Various technical corrections were made to the worksheet and cross-references throughout the regulations.
Key Takeaways
The core mechanics of Connecticut’s income shares model are unchanged, but the 2026 update meaningfully raises the income ceiling for calculations, formalizes support determinations for children with more than two legal parents, and tightens the rules around imputed income and arrearages.
Practitioners and financial professionals working on support calculations after August 1, 2026 should confirm they are using the current version of Family Law Software.
If you are using the cloud version, you are always using the current version. If you are using the desktop software, you may update here until September 30, 2026. After that, the desktop software is being phased out.
Helpful Resources
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