Changing a child support order in Florida (2026)
Either parent can ask the court to increase or decrease child support when the circumstances or financial ability of either party change (Fla. Stat. § 61.14(1)(a)). The guidelines can show a substantial change on their own when the difference between the existing order and the guideline amount is at least 15 percent or $50, whichever is greater (§ 61.30(1)(b)). A modification can apply back to the date the petition was filed.
When can a Florida child support order be changed?
The court that first entered the order keeps jurisdiction to modify it, among other reasons when there is a substantial change in the circumstances of the parties or a child reaches majority (Fla. Stat. § 61.13(1)(a)2). Under § 61.14(1)(a), when the circumstances or the financial ability of either party change, either party may apply for an order increasing or decreasing support, and a finding that medical insurance is reasonably available, or the guidelines schedule itself, may be the changed circumstance.
When do the guidelines alone show a substantial change?
Section 61.30(1)(b) sets the test: the difference between the existing monthly obligation and the guideline amount must be at least 15 percent or $50, whichever is greater. For a small order, the $50 figure is the larger one; for a larger order, the 15 percent.
For orders the Department of Revenue reviews under § 409.2564(11), the department seeks a modification when the award differs from the guideline amount by at least 10 percent but not less than $25, and no proof of a change in circumstances is needed (§ 61.30(1)(c)).
How much does a change in income change the amount?
For two children, with the parent the children live with earning $4,000 a month in gross wages and 100 overnights with the other parent:
| Other parent's income a month | 2 children |
|---|---|
| $3,000 | $369.08 |
| $4,000 | $581.45 |
| $5,000 | $769.05 |
| $6,000 | $933.82 |
| $7,000 | $1,075.34 |
| $8,000 | $1,201.28 |
Does a change in time-sharing change support?
It can. Crossing 73 overnights a year brings in, or ends, the substantial time-sharing formula, and above it every overnight counts. A parent’s failure to regularly exercise a time-sharing schedule that lowered support, when the other parent did not cause it, is a substantial change of circumstances, and the modification goes back to the date the failure began (§ 61.30(11)(c)). See time-sharing.
| Overnights a year with the other parent | Formula | Support a month | Paid by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 overnights | Sole time-sharing | $1,192.96 | the other parent |
| 72 overnights | Sole time-sharing | $1,192.96 | the other parent |
| 73 overnights | Substantial time-sharing | $1,164.84 | the other parent |
| 100 overnights | Substantial time-sharing | $933.82 | the other parent |
| 146 overnights | Substantial time-sharing | $540.24 | the other parent |
| 182 overnights | Substantial time-sharing | $232.22 | the other parent |
Is a modification retroactive?
The court may change the amount back to the date the petition to modify was filed, as equity requires and with due regard to the changed circumstances (§ 61.14(1)(a)).
What about children born later?
A parent with a support obligation may have later children living with them. That can only be raised in a proceeding to increase an existing award, never to decrease it; the court may then disregard income from a second job taken mainly to support the later children, and the later children may be raised as a reason to deviate, with the income of their other parent considered (§ 61.30(12)).
What this guide does not cover
Court procedure and filing, the Department of Revenue’s review process, and arrears. The figures are estimates of the guideline amount, not legal advice.
Run your own numbers
This guide's example: in Florida, 2 children; the parent the children live with earns $4,000 a month and the other parent $6,000, before tax; 100 overnights a year with the other parent. The guideline amount is $933.82 a month. Change any number in the calculator and every step of the formula updates.
Open this family in the Florida calculatorQuestions
How do you modify child support in Florida?
By a petition to modify in circuit court, with a financial affidavit showing income, deductions and net income (§ 61.30(14)). The court works out the guideline again with current figures and decides whether there is a substantial change in circumstances.
How much does income have to change to modify child support in Florida?
The statute does not set an income threshold. It looks at the result: the guidelines alone show a substantial change when the new guideline amount differs from the order by at least 15 percent or $50, whichever is greater (§ 61.30(1)(b)).
Is a Florida modification retroactive?
It can be, to the date the petition to modify was filed, as equity requires (§ 61.14(1)(a)). A modification for time-sharing not exercised can go back to the date the failure began (§ 61.30(11)(c)).
Sources
- Fla. Stat. § 61.30(1)(b) and (c), (11)(c), (12) and (14), modification, time-sharing not exercised and later children (2026 Florida Statutes)
- Fla. Stat. § 61.14(1)(a), Enforcement and modification of support, maintenance, or alimony agreements or orders (2026 Florida Statutes)
- Fla. Stat. § 61.13(1)(a)2, the court's continuing jurisdiction over child support (2026 Florida Statutes)
- Figures on this page are computed by the Coparent Math engine with Florida's rules in force on 3 Nov 2026 unless a table says otherwise, from:
- Fla. Stat. § 61.30, child support guidelines (2026 Florida Statutes), checked 3 Nov 2026
- Florida Family Law Form 12.902(e), Child Support Guidelines Worksheet (06/25), checked 3 Nov 2026
- Florida Family Law Form 12.902(c), Financial Affidavit, lines 18 to 27 (deductions and net income), checked 3 Nov 2026
- Quadrennial Review of the Florida Child Support Guidelines, report to the Legislature (Office of Economic and Demographic Research, 1 February 2026), checked 3 Nov 2026
- Texas OAG revised 2025 tax charts (standard deduction and brackets used), checked 31 Oct 2026
- IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments), checked 31 Oct 2026
- Social Security Administration: contribution and benefit base, and OASDI and HI tax rates, checked 31 Oct 2026
- HHS ASPE: 2026 poverty guidelines (one person, 48 contiguous states), checked 3 Nov 2026
Related guides
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Related
- Time-sharing and 50/50 custody in Florida child support (2026)When each parent has at least 20 percent of the overnights, 73 a year, Florida courts shall adjust child support under Fla. Stat. § 61.30(11)(b): each parent's share of the schedule amount is multiplied by 1.5, then by the other parent's percentage of the overnights, and the difference is paid, adjusted for child care and health insurance. With equal time, the parent with the higher net income usually pays.
- Child support at low incomes in Florida (2026): § 61.30(6)(a)Florida's guidelines set no minimum order. When the paying parent's own net income is below the schedule's lowest row, $800 a month, the court should order an amount set case by case, to establish the principle of payment, and the payment is the lesser of that parent's share and 90% of their net income above the federal poverty guideline for one person (Fla. Stat. § 61.30(6)(a)). At these incomes that cap comes to zero, so the calculator shows zero and flags that the court sets the amount.
In the same hub
- Back child support (arrears) in Florida: interest, enforcement and crime (2026)In Florida, a support installment that is due and unpaid becomes a final judgment by operation of law once the parent who owes it has been given notice and time to contest, and the depository charges interest on support judgments at the judgment rate set under § 55.03, which is 7.87 percent a year for judgments obtained in the quarter from 1 October 2026 (Fla. Stat. § 61.14(6)). Arrears are collected through income deduction, driver's license and vehicle registration suspension, liens, bank levies, credit reporting and tax refund and passport programs. Willfully not paying support that a parent is able to pay is a crime under § 827.06, and arrears that accrued before a petition to modify cannot be reduced.
- 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).
- How much is child support in Florida by income? (2026)In Florida the amount depends on both parents' net incomes, the number of children and the overnights with each parent. With the parent the children live with earning $4,000 a month in gross wages, fewer than 73 overnights with the other parent and no extra costs, a parent earning $6,000 pays $768.37 for one child and $1,192.96 for two.
- Child support for more than one child in Florida (2026)Florida's schedule gives one figure for all the children in the case, for 1 to 6 children, and each extra child adds less than the one before. With gross wages of $4,000 and $6,000 and no substantial time-sharing, the other parent pays $768.37 for one child, $1,192.96 for two and $1,496.65 for three.
- Self-employment and imputed income for child support in Florida (2026)For a self-employed parent, Florida counts business income as gross receipts minus the ordinary and necessary expenses required to produce it (Fla. Stat. § 61.30(2)(a)3), and deducts income tax and self-employment tax to reach net income (§ 61.30(3)(a) and (b)). Income is imputed to a parent whose unemployment or underemployment the court finds voluntary, and automatically, at a presumed median income, when a parent's income is unknown or the parent does not take part (§ 61.30(2)(b)).
- Health insurance and child care in Florida child support (2026)Florida adds child care for a parent's work, job search or education, and the children's health insurance, to the schedule amount, divides the total by net income, and takes what each parent already pays off that parent's share (Fla. Stat. § 61.30(7) and (8)). Child care counts in full: the 25 percent reduction was repealed from 1 January 2011. Uninsured medical, dental and prescription costs are added too, unless the court orders them split by percentage.
The same topic in other states
- Changing a child support order in Alabama (2026)An Alabama child support order changes only when a parent files a petition to modify and proves a material change in circumstances that is substantial and continuing since the last order. If the guideline amount differs from the existing order by more than ten percent, there is a rebuttable presumption that the order should be modified. The new amount applies only to payments due after the petition was filed (Rule 32(A)(3)).
- Changing a child support order in Georgia (2026)A Georgia parent can petition to modify child support only when there is a substantial change in either parent's income and financial status or in the child's needs (O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15(k)(1)). A parent may not file another petition within two years of the final order on their own previous petition, unless the other parent did not use, or used more than, the court-ordered parenting time, or the petition is based on an involuntary loss of income (§ 19-6-15(k)(2)).
- Changing a child support order in Texas (2026)A Texas court can modify a child support order in two cases: when the circumstances of the child or a person affected by the order have materially and substantially changed, or when it has been three years since the order was made or last modified and the monthly amount differs from the current guideline amount by either 20 percent or $100 (Texas Family Code § 156.401). Only a new order changes the amount; parents can apply to the Attorney General's Child Support Division for a review or file in court.
- Modifying a child support order in New York (2026)A New York child support order can be modified when there is a substantial change in circumstances, when three years have passed since it was entered, last modified or adjusted, or when either parent's gross income has changed by 15 percent or more since then (Family Court Act § 451(3); Domestic Relations Law § 236(B)(9)(b)(2)). Parents can opt out of the three-year and 15 percent grounds in a validly executed agreement or stipulation. Separately, the Child Support Program reviews orders it handles every two years for a cost of living adjustment.
- How a Virginia child support order is changed (2026)A Virginia child support order changes only when a court revises it, either on a parent's petition or after a review by the Division of Child Support Enforcement (DCSE), and the court needs a material change in circumstances. A change can reach back only to the date the other parent was given notice of the petition (Code of Virginia § 20-108). In DCSE reviews, a material change is deemed to exist when the guideline amount differs from the current order by at least 10 percent and at least 25 dollars a month (§ 63.2-1921 C).
Comparisons
- Florida vs Georgia child support: which state is higher? (2026)Neither is always higher. Without shared time the two are close at middle incomes: for two children with incomes of $4,000 and $6,000 a month, the guideline is $1,192.96 in Florida and $1,143.60 in Georgia. Time with the other parent makes the bigger difference: Georgia lowers support for every court-ordered day, while Florida changes nothing until 73 overnights a year and then drops faster. At low incomes Georgia's low-income table can bring support below Florida's.
- Florida vs Texas child support: which state is higher? (2026)It depends on the other parent's income and on time. Both states start from income after tax, but Texas takes a percentage of the paying parent's net resources only, while Florida adds both parents' net incomes, reads its schedule and splits it by income. For two children and a paying parent earning $6,000 a month, Texas is $1,239.21 whatever the other parent earns; Florida is $1,542.00 when the parent the children live with has no income and $1,192.96 when that parent earns $4,000. With 100 overnights a year with the other parent, Florida drops to $933.82; the Texas guideline does not change.