Alabama child support: the Rule 32 guideline from start to finish (2026)

How is child support calculated in Alabama?

Rule 32 of the Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration sets the guideline, and Form CS-42 lays it out line by line:

1. Income. Each parent’s monthly gross income, from all sources (Rule 32(B)(2)), less child support and alimony already paid under an earlier order.
2. Income shares. The two incomes are added, and each parent’s share of the total is rounded to the whole percent.
3. The schedule. The Schedule of Basic Child-Support Obligations gives the basic amount for the combined income and the number of children. Between two rows the nearer row applies, the higher one from halfway (Rule 32(C)(1)).
4. Costs. Work related child care and the children’s health insurance are added to the basic amount.
5. The other parent’s share. The other parent owes their income share of the total, less the child care and health insurance they already pay.
6. The self-support reserve. That amount is capped at 85% of the other parent’s income above $981 a month, with a rebuttable minimum of $50.

Every amount is rounded to the dollar, as the forms do.

Two children, sole custody, with child care

In Alabama: 2 children; the parent the children live with earns $4,000 a month and the other parent $6,000, before tax; 0 days a year with the other parent; child care of $400 a month, paid by the parent the children live with.

1. Add the two incomesRule 32, Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration, as amended effective 1 June 2023 (archived copy of the court's PDF)

   $4,000 + $6,000 = $10,000 a month. The other parent's share is $6,000 ÷ $10,000 = 60%.

   60%

2. Look up the scheduleRule 32(C)(1) and the Appendix, schedule of basic child-support obligations

   The schedule's amount for $10,000 of combined income and 2 children.

   $1,700.00

3. Work out the other parent's shareRule 32(C)(2), (C)(5) and (C)(7); Forms CS-42 and CS-42-S

   ($1,700 + child care $400) = $2,100; $2,100 × 60% = $1,260.

   $1,260.00 a month

How much is child support in Alabama by income?

The schedule rises with combined income and with the number of children, but more slowly than income. With the parent the children live with earning $4,000 a month:

Other parent's income a month	1 child	2 children	3 children
$2,000	$281.00	$419.00	$497.00
$4,000	$514.00	$760.00	$891.00
$6,000	$693.00	$1,020.00	$1,190.00
$8,000	$863.00	$1,260.00	$1,459.00
$12,000	$1,214.00	$1,787.00	$2,087.00
$20,000	$1,717.00	$2,541.00	$2,982.00

Child support by income in Alabama has more incomes, and more than one child the effect of each extra child.

What counts as income?

Income from any source: wages, commissions, bonuses, self-employment, pensions, Social Security, unemployment and disability benefits, gifts, prizes and alimony from an earlier marriage (Rule 32(B)(2)). Child support received for other children and means-tested public assistance do not count. A court imputes income to a parent who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed. See self-employed and imputed income.

How do health insurance and child care change the amount?

The children’s share of the health insurance premium and work related child care are added to the schedule amount and shared by income; each parent is credited with what they pay. See health insurance and child care.

How does 50/50 custody change child support?

Only a court order for shared 50/50 physical custody changes the formula. Form CS-42-S multiplies the schedule amount by 1.5, credits each parent with half of it and with the costs they pay, and the parent who owes more pays the difference. Less time than that has no formula, though a court may deviate for time well above the usual schedule. See shared custody.

Days a year with the other parent	Formula	Support a month	Paid by
0 days	Sole custody	$1,260.00	the other parent
120 days	Sole custody	$1,260.00	the other parent
182 days	Shared custody	$495.00	the other parent

Is there a minimum or maximum in Alabama?

At low incomes the self-support reserve caps the amount, with a rebuttable minimum of $50 a month (low incomes). Above $30,000 of combined monthly income the schedule stops and the court sets the amount (high incomes).

How long does child support last in Alabama?

Until the child turns 19, Alabama’s age of majority (Code of Alabama § 26-1-1). Since Ex parte Christopher (2013), a court cannot order a parent to pay college costs for a child over 19. See how long child support lasts.

How is an Alabama child support order changed?

A parent files a petition to modify and must prove a material change in circumstances that is substantial and continuing since the last order. When the guideline amount differs from the existing order by more than ten percent, there is a rebuttable presumption that it should be modified (Rule 32(A)(3)). The change applies only to payments due after the petition is filed. See changing an order.

What this guide does not cover

Enforcement, arrears and interest, and the state child support agency’s services are not covered here. The engine also leaves out these parts of Alabama’s guideline:

• Not modeled: deductions for child support and alimony a parent already pays under another order (Form CS-42, lines 1a and 1b), and the discretionary deduction for other children living with a parent (Rule 32(B)(6)).
• Not modeled: the cap on child care at the Department of Human Resources' licensed-care rates, the 10%-of-income test for health coverage, benefits paid to the children on a parent's record, split custody, extraordinary medical, dental and education costs, and deviations (Rule 32(A)).

The figures are estimates of the guideline amount, not legal advice. A court can order a different amount, and an existing order only changes when it is modified.