Child support for high incomes: table tops, caps and extrapolation

Child support schedules are built from studies of what families spend on children, and those studies thin out at high incomes. So every schedule stops somewhere. Below that point, the guideline amount follows a table or formula. Above it, states take very different approaches: some cap the income that counts, some extend the formula with a percentage, and many hand the question to the court. For a family with high earnings, which approach applies can matter more than the income figure itself.

This guide sets out where each state’s schedule ends, what happens above it, and what records courts look at. If the child support calculator shows a note that income is above the state’s table, this is the situation it is describing.

Where the schedules stop

Schedule-based states list the guideline amount for each level of combined parental income, up to a final row. The table below shows the combined income at that last row, the period it is stated in, and the state’s basic rule above it. Where a schedule is printed in income brackets, the last row is shown at the start of its bracket.

“Court decides” covers a range of rules. In several of those states, the amount at the top of the schedule is the minimum presumptive figure and the court adds to it. In others the court sets support from the children’s needs with no floor written into the rule. “Top amount applies” means the top figure is the presumption, though a court can still deviate upward when the facts support it.

Income caps in percentage-of-income states

Percentage-of-income states handle the problem differently: they cap the income the percentage applies to. In Texas, the percentages apply to the paying parent’s net resources up to $11,700 a month; above that, a court may order more based on the children’s proven needs. The effect shows clearly in an example. With two children, Parent A earning $400,000 a year and Parent B earning $100,000, the Texas guideline amount is $2,925 a month. Raise Parent A’s income to $600,000 and it is still $2,925.

New York caps combined parental income instead, at $193,000 a year. Above that, the court may apply the percentage to more income or set support from the factors in the statute. Wisconsin takes a third route, allowing lower percentages for the portion of income above $7,000 a month.

Extrapolation and formula states

Some states extend the schedule with a formula instead of stopping it. Virginia, for example, takes the amount at the top of its schedule and adds a percentage of income above it: 3.4% of the excess for two children, as set out in Va. Code § 20-108.2. For the family above, that gives $3,778 a month at the lower income and $4,569 at the higher one. Pennsylvania uses a similar formula and requires the court to consider the children’s reasonable needs, under Pennsylvania Rule 1910.16-3.1.

A formula does not always mean no ceiling. Tennessee adds a percentage of income above its schedule but limits the presumptive order, to $3,200 a month for two children, unless more is shown to be reasonably necessary. That is why the same family’s Tennessee figure stops at $3,200 a month.

States that use a formula rather than a schedule have their own versions. California’s formula has no income cap; extraordinarily high income is a reason the court may deviate. Massachusetts’s formula runs to $8,654 a week of combined available income, and the amount at that level is the minimum presumptive order above it.

What courts weigh above the guidelines

When the guideline leaves the amount to the court, the question becomes what the children reasonably need. Courts typically look at:

• the children’s actual expenses, and what they would be in a household with this income;
• the standard of living the children enjoyed, or would have enjoyed if the parents lived together;
• each parent’s resources and the time the children spend in each home;
• special needs, education costs, activities and travel;
• whether part of the support should be set aside, for example in a trust or education account.

Courts also guard against support that goes well beyond the children’s needs. Some states require written findings before support goes above the table; Washington is one. A deviation in either direction needs reasons on the record; when courts deviate from the guidelines explains how that works.

Documentation that matters

High-income cases are often decided on the quality of the financial records. Expect to exchange:

• complete tax returns for several years, with all schedules, including partnership and S corporation income statements;
• pay records showing salary, bonuses, commissions and deferred compensation;
• records of stock options, restricted stock and other equity awards, including vesting dates;
• business financial statements if either parent owns a business, along with how salary and distributions are set;
• a monthly budget of the children’s expenses, with receipts for the larger items, including childcare and health insurance.

Irregular income is the usual source of disagreement. A large bonus in one year, equity that vests unevenly, or business income that can be kept in the company all raise the question of what a parent’s income really is. What counts as income and self-employed parents cover those rules.

Using the estimate

For incomes above the schedule, the calculator follows the state’s own rule: the top row, the cap or the extrapolation formula, and it tells you which. That figure is a reasonable reference point for discussion, especially in states where the top amount is the minimum. It is still an estimate of the guideline amount, and courts can deviate from it. If you are working from monthly or hourly pay records, the income converter gives the yearly figures the calculator expects. For the opposite end of the income range, see low-income parents.