Georgia adds the cost of work-related child care to the basic child support obligation and divides it between the parents in proportion to income; it is part of the presumptive amount, not a deviation.
What the Statute Says
Under OCGA 19-6-15(h), “[t]he basic child support obligation table does not include the cost of the parent’s work related child care costs,” so they are added on Schedule D. OCGA 19-6-15(a)(23) defines them as “expenses for the care of the child for whom support is being determined which are due to employment of either parent.” Under OCGA 19-6-15(h)(1)(A), costs “necessary for the parent’s employment, education, or vocational training” that fit the parents’ finances and the child’s lifestyle are averaged monthly, entered under the parent who pays them, and prorated. Because they are an adjustment rather than a deviation, no Schedule E findings are needed. Kennedy v. Kennedy, 309 Ga. App. 590 (2011). The child and dependent care tax credit is a separate deviation under OCGA 19-6-15(i)(2)(D).
Proving the Cost
Under OCGA 19-6-15(h)(1)(D), when a paid provider gives the care, “proof of actual cost or payment shall be shown to the court,” while care by a parent, or care given free, counts for nothing. In Taylor v. Taylor, 293 Ga. 615 (2013), a father’s testimony that he paid a nanny $1,500 a month was enough, and the nanny was reasonable even though he worked from home. But the figure must be complete, and it must be child care. In Bridger v. Franze, 348 Ga. App. 227 (2018), the trial court counted a mother’s morning nanny but not the daycare her child attended for the rest of her workday, and the award was reversed. In Wilson v. Guerrero, 353 Ga. App. 501 (2020), a $4,195 figure lumping summer care, school care, and extracurricular activities together was vacated, because activities that are not child care belong on Schedule E as a deviation.
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