Child support at high incomes in Alabama (2026)
Alabama's schedule runs to $30,000 of combined monthly gross income. Above that, Rule 32(C)(1) leaves the amount to the court's discretion, and the Committee Comments say the schedule should not be extrapolated, so there is no guideline formula. The calculator shows the top row of the schedule and marks the result as not a guideline figure.
Where does Alabama’s schedule stop?
At $30,000 of combined monthly gross income, the last row of the Schedule of Basic Child-Support Obligations, for 1 to 6 children. The schedule applies to cases filed from 1 May 2022.
What happens above the schedule?
“The court may use its discretion” in setting support (Rule 32(C)(1)). The Committee Comments add that above the schedule’s uppermost limit, the amount “should not be extrapolated from the figures given in the schedule, but should be left to the discretion of the court”. So there is no presumptive guideline amount above the schedule.
What does the calculator show above the schedule?
The top row of the schedule, split by income share as for any other family, marked as not confirmed because the rule leaves the amount to the court. It is shown for comparison, not as an estimate of what a court will order.
Combined income near and above the top row
| Other parent's income a month | 1 child | 2 children |
|---|---|---|
| $10,000 | $873.00 | $1,297.00 |
| $14,000 | $1,187.00 | $1,750.00 |
| $18,000 | $1,474.00 | $2,159.00 |
| $22,000 | $1,596.00 | $2,339.00 |
| $30,000 | $1,744.00 | $2,555.00 |
Do child care and health insurance still count?
Yes. They are added to the schedule amount and shared by income at any income (Rule 32(B)(7) and (B)(8)); see health insurance and child care.
What this guide does not cover
How courts decide amounts above the schedule, and trust or investment income in detail. The figures are estimates, not legal advice.
Run your own numbers
This guide's example: in Alabama, 2 children; the parent the children live with earns $12,000 a month and the other parent $18,000, before tax; 0 days a year with the other parent. The guideline amount is $2,159.00 a month. Change any number in the calculator and every step of the formula updates.
Open this family in the Alabama calculatorQuestions
Is there a maximum child support in Alabama?
No fixed cap. The schedule stops at $30,000 of combined monthly income; above it the court decides, without extending the schedule.
How is child support set above the schedule in Alabama?
At the court's discretion (Rule 32(C)(1)). Rule 32 gives no percentage or formula for income above the top row, and its comments say not to extrapolate.
What does the calculator show above the schedule?
The top row of the schedule, split by income share as usual, with a mark that the result is not a guideline amount because the court sets it.
Sources
- Rule 32(C)(1) and the 2022 Committee Comments, Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration (as amended effective 1 June 2023), archived copy
- Schedule of Basic Child-Support Obligations effective 5/1/2022, archived copy
- Figures on this page are computed by the Coparent Math engine with Alabama's rules in force on 3 Nov 2026 unless a table says otherwise, from:
- Rule 32, Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration, as amended effective 1 June 2023 (archived copy of the court's PDF), checked 3 Nov 2026
- Supreme Court of Alabama, order of 14 January 2022: Rule 32, Form CS-42 and the Schedule of Basic Child-Support Obligations, effective 1 May 2022 (archived copy), checked 3 Nov 2026
- Supreme Court of Alabama, order of 3 March 2023: shared 50% physical custody and Form CS-42-S, effective 1 June 2023 (archived copy), checked 3 Nov 2026
- Administrative Office of Courts: Schedule of Basic Child-Support Obligations effective 5/1/2022 (archived copy), checked 3 Nov 2026
Related guides
Up
In the same hub
- How much is child support in Alabama by income? (2026)In Alabama the amount depends on both parents' incomes and the number of children. With the parent the children live with earning $4,000 a month and no extra costs, a parent earning $6,000 pays $693.00 for one child and $1,020.00 for two.
- Child support for more than one child in Alabama (2026)Alabama's schedule gives a figure for 1 to 6 children at each combined income, and each extra child adds less than the one before. With incomes of $4,000 and $6,000, the other parent pays $693.00 for one child, $1,020.00 for two and $1,190.00 for three.
- Self-employment and imputed income for child support in Alabama (2026)For a self-employed parent, Alabama counts gross receipts minus the ordinary and necessary expenses the IRS allows, except accelerated depreciation, investment tax credits and other expenses the court finds inappropriate (Rule 32(B)(3)). Significant business perks that reduce living costs count as income. A court imputes income to a parent it finds voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, and calculates support on it (Rule 32(B)(5)).
- Child support with 50/50 custody in Alabama (2026): Form CS-42-SWhen a court orders shared 50/50 physical custody, Alabama uses Form CS-42-S: the schedule amount is multiplied by 1.5, child care and health insurance are added, each parent owes their income share of the total less their own costs and half the shared amount, and the parent who owes more pays the difference. Anything short of about half the time uses the ordinary worksheet; a court may deviate for extra time, but there is no formula for it.
- Health insurance and child care in Alabama child support (2026)Alabama adds the children's share of the health insurance premium and work related child care to the basic schedule amount, splits the total by income, and credits each parent with what they pay. Child care counts up to the cost of licensed care on the Department of Human Resources' schedule, and health insurance is reasonable in cost up to ten percent of the paying parent's gross income.
- Child support at low incomes in Alabama (2026): the self-support reserveAlabama protects a paying parent on a low income with a self-support reserve of $981 a month: support is capped at 85% of that parent's income above the reserve. When that leaves less than $50, a $50 minimum is presumed. A parent with no income who receives only means-tested assistance, or who is incarcerated or institutionalized for more than 180 days, is presumed to owe nothing.
The same topic in other states
- Child support at high incomes in Florida (2026)Florida's schedule runs to $10,000 of combined monthly net income. Above it, the obligation is the schedule's top amount plus a percentage of the income over $10,000: 5% for one child, rising to 12.5% for six (Fla. Stat. § 61.30(6)(b)). There is no cap: the amount keeps rising with income, and the court may deviate from it for the reasons in § 61.30(11)(a).
- Child support at high incomes in Georgia (2026)Georgia's table runs to $40,000 of combined monthly gross income, up from $30,000 before 1 July 2024. Above it, the court sets the basic obligation at the highest amount in the table, and the court or jury may deviate upward for high-income parents (O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15(i)(2)(A)). There is no percentage for the income above the table.
- Child support above New York's combined income cap (2026)New York applies its child support percentages to combined parental income up to $193,000 a year, the cap in force since 1 March 2026. On income above that, Family Court Act § 413(1)(c)(3) leaves the amount to the court, which decides using the factors in paragraph (f) and/or the child support percentage. The cap is not a limit on support: it is the point where the fixed formula stops.
- Child support above the income cap in Texas (2026)Since 1 September 2025 the Texas guideline applies to the paying parent's net resources up to $11,700 a month. For one child that caps the guideline at $2,340.00 a month. A court may order more than the guideline only depending on the parents' incomes and the proven needs of the child, and never more than the greater of the guideline amount or the child's proven needs (Texas Family Code § 154.126).
- Child support above the Virginia schedule (2026)Virginia's schedule stops at $42,500 of combined monthly gross income, but support does not. Above that, the schedule amount at $42,500 is increased by a fixed percentage of the combined income above it: 2.6% for one child, 3.4% for two and 3.8% for three. The total is then split by income share like any other Virginia case.