A Georgia child support worksheet is completed one schedule at a time, and each schedule feeds the next.
The Schedules in Order
OCGA 19-6-15(b) sets the sequence. Schedule A records each parent’s monthly gross income. Schedule B subtracts the three allowed adjustments: one-half of self-employment taxes, preexisting child support orders, and a theoretical order for other qualified children the court allows. The two adjusted incomes are added together, and the basic child support obligation is read from the table in subsection (o) for the combined figure and the number of children. That figure is divided between the parents pro rata. Schedule C adjusts the noncustodial parent’s share for court-ordered parenting time. Schedule D adds the child’s health insurance premium and work-related child care, prorated between the parents, which produces the presumptive amount. Schedule E records any deviation, and the worksheet then shows each parent’s final amount.
The Calculator
Under OCGA 19-6-15(m)(2), the worksheet and schedules “shall be promulgated by the Georgia Child Support Commission,” and the Commission’s online calculator produces them. The calculator does the arithmetic; the parties supply the inputs, and the court decides any deviation.
Errors Courts Have Sent Back
In Marlowe v. Marlowe, 297 Ga. 116 (2015), the worksheet used the table figure for two children when support was owed for three, and the award was vacated. In Hulsey v. Hulsey, 300 Ga. 45 (2016), $3,480 a month was entered as “salary and wages” for a retired father who had none; if the court meant to impute income, it had to label the figure “imputed income.” Conversely, in Eldridge v. Eldridge, 291 Ga. 762 (2012), a $32 credit on Schedule D for health insurance the husband actually paid “was not a ‘deviation’” and needed no findings. Anything else that changes the presumptive amount must go on Schedule E with written findings. Stowell v. Huguenard, 288 Ga. 628 (2011).
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!