Child support for twins and multiples

Twins, triplets and other multiples arrive together, and so do their costs: two cribs, two car seats, two places at daycare. Parents often ask whether child support for twins works differently from support for two children born years apart. Under the guidelines it doesn’t. Schedules and percentages count children, not births, so twins are two children, triplets are three, and the guideline amount comes from the column or rate for that number.

What changes with multiples is everything around the basic amount. Child care for two babies at once and medical bills in the first months can move the total more than the extra schedule column does. Every figure below is an estimate computed from each state’s current rules, not a prediction of an order, and courts can deviate from the guidelines.

Twins count as two children

Tex. Fam. Code § 154.125 sets support as a percentage of the paying parent’s net resources according to the number of children before the court: 20% for one child, 25% for two and 30% for three. Twins fall under the two-child rate and triplets under the three-child rate, as siblings of different ages would. Income shares states do the same through their schedules: the North Carolina Child Support Guidelines give a basic obligation in columns for one to 6 children, and the worksheet uses the column for the number of children in the case.

The table shows monthly guideline amounts in seven states for one family: Parent A earns $60,000 a year, Parent B earns $40,000, and the children live mainly with Parent B.

Across all 51 jurisdictions, the median guideline amount at these incomes is $697 a month for one child, $1,042 for twins and $1,242 for triplets.

Child support for twins in every state

The next table gives the monthly guideline amount for two children in every state at three pairs of gross yearly incomes. Each state links to its two-children page.

With Parent A at $60,000 and Parent B at $40,000, the highest amounts for twins are in Massachusetts ($1,473), California ($1,332) and Hawaii ($1,311) and the lowest are in Idaho ($705), Oregon ($764) and Oklahoma ($801). For triplets at the same incomes, the top of the list is Hawaii ($1,839), Massachusetts ($1,764) and California ($1,644).

How much the second and third child add

The step from one child to twins is set by the state’s model. In a percentage state the step is written into the rates. In Texas, the amount for twins is 25% higher than for one child, and triplets add another 20%. In Wisconsin, whose percentage standard applies to the paying parent’s gross income, twins bring 47% more than one child and triplets 16% more than twins.

Income shares schedules come from estimates of what families spend on children at each income level and family size. In North Carolina, twins bring 50% more than one child and triplets 19% more than twins. In Florida, the steps are 53% and 24%.

In each of these states the second child adds less than the first, and the third adds no more than the second. In income shares states the steps also shift with income. With Parent A at $150,000 and Parent B at $100,000, twins in North Carolina bring 45% more than one child. The guide to child support for multiple children explains why schedules scale this way.

Child care for twins and triplets

Child care is where multiples differ most from siblings of different ages: two babies need two daycare places at once, often at infant rates. Most states add work-related child care to the basic obligation and divide it by income share, so the cost of care for all the children is shared.

Suppose Parent B pays $1,600 a month in daycare for the twins.

• In North Carolina, the guideline amount for twins rises from $1,056 to $2,016 a month.
• In Florida, Fla. Stat. § 61.30 adds child care for work, job search or education and shares it by income. The amount rises from $1,088 to $1,982.
• In Texas, child care is a factor the court can weigh in deviating, not a worksheet line, so the guideline amount stays at $1,050.

Among the states this site covers, child care is not added as its own line in Alaska, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming. The federal child and dependent care credit described in IRS Publication 503 allows a higher expense limit for two or more children than for one, and 18 states reduce child care by a tax credit in the worksheet. The childcare costs guide compares the methods.

Health insurance and medical costs

Federal rules require every state’s guidelines to address how the parents will provide for the children’s health care needs, through health insurance or other means (45 CFR 302.56). Many employer plans price dependent coverage by tier rather than per child, so twins or triplets may cost no more to insure than one child.

If Parent B pays $300 a month to cover the twins, the guideline amount in Florida rises from $1,088 to $1,256, and in North Carolina from $1,056 to $1,236. In Texas, where a premium the receiving parent pays is added as additional support, it becomes $1,350.

Some multiples need extra care in their first months, and uninsured bills add up quickly. Most states divide uninsured medical costs by income, some only above a yearly threshold, and lasting special needs can be a reason to deviate from the guidelines. The guide to health insurance and medical support covers each state’s method.

Quadruplets and larger families

Most schedules go beyond triplets, but every table stops somewhere: Oregon’s goes to 10 children. For quadruplets in our example family, the North Carolina guideline amount is $1,403 a month.

Above the table, the states this site covers take one of four approaches:

• The largest family size applies in 22 states, including Texas and North Carolina.
• The court decides in 25 states, including Florida and Georgia.
• A set amount is added for each further child in Alaska, Montana and Nevada. Alaska Civil Rule 90.3, for example, adds 3% of income to the percentage for each child after the third.
• The table is extended in Pennsylvania, where Rule 1910.16-4(b) adds the difference between the last two columns for each further child.

When support ends, and twins in a new family

Twins reach the state’s end age on the same day, so support for both usually ends at once and the order needs no step-down. There are exceptions: if one twin is still in high school, a state with a high school extension may continue support for that twin only, and support for an adult child with a disability can go on longer. The guides to when child support ends and adult children with disabilities cover the rules by state.

Siblings of different ages are different. Texas § 154.127 requires an order for more than one child to provide for support of the remaining children when support for one ends. For our example family with twins and an older child, that is a step from $1,260 for three children to $1,050 for the twins.

Twins can also change support in another case. If a paying parent has twins with a new partner, most states take children in the paying parent’s home into account, and twins count as two. In Texas, which applies the multiple-family rule in § 154.128, the guideline amount for one child from an earlier relationship is $840 with no other children, $735 with one other child and $672 with twins at home. Whether that justifies changing an order is covered in how to modify child support.

Estimating support for twins or triplets

The child support calculator runs each state’s rules for any number of children. Enter the number of children, the total monthly child care for all of them and the children’s share of the health insurance premium. The modification calculator compares an existing order with the current guideline amount, for example after an older sibling’s support ends. State pages such as Texas with two children and North Carolina with three children show the figures at a range of incomes.

The result is the guideline amount, an estimate, not a court order, and courts can deviate from the guidelines. The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) lists every state child support agency, which can open a case or review an order.