Child support at low incomes in Georgia (2026): the low-income adjustment
Since 1 January 2026, a Georgia parent whose own adjusted income is below the low-income table's limit for the number of children pays the lesser of the guideline amount and the table amount (O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15(i.1)). At or below $1,500 a month the table is a percentage of that parent's income, 19% for one child; above it the table runs in rows. There is no flat minimum order.
How does Georgia’s low-income adjustment work?
Under O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15(i.1), in force since 1 January 2026, a parent whose monthly adjusted gross income, that parent’s own and not the combined income, is less than the highest amount shown in the low-income adjustment table for the number of children pays the lesser of the presumptive amount of support and the amount from the table. It is applied after deviations.
What does the low-income table say?
At or below $1,500 of the parent’s monthly income, the table is a percentage of that income:
| Children | Share of the parent’s income |
|---|---|
| 1 | 19% |
| 2 | 24% |
| 3 | 25% |
| 4 | 26% |
| 5 | 27% |
| 6 | 28% |
From $1,550 it gives an amount in rows of $50, ending at $2,450 for one child, $2,950 for two, $3,350 for three, $3,550 for four, $3,750 for five and $3,950 for six. The statute does not say how an income between two rows is matched; the calculator uses the nearest row and marks the result as not confirmed.
One child, the other parent earning a low income
In Georgia: 1 child; the parent the children live with earns $0 a month and the other parent $2,000, before tax; 0 days a year with the other parent.
Add the two incomesO.C.G.A. § 19-6-15 as in force on 1 January 2026 (Georgia Child Support Commission copy, archived)
$0 + $2,000 = $2,000 a month. The other parent's share is $2,000 ÷ $2,000 = 100%.
100%Look up the schedule§ 19-6-15(b)(4) and (o), basic child support obligation table
The schedule's amount for $2,000 of combined income and 1 child.
$390.00Work out the other parent's share§ 19-6-15(g), parenting time adjustment
$390.00 × 100% = $390.00. No court-ordered days with the other parent, so there is no parenting time adjustment.
$390.00Check the low-income table§ 19-6-15(i.1) and (p), low-income adjustment
The other parent's income is below the table's limit for 1 child; the table gives $381.00. That is lower than $390.00, so it applies.
$381.00 a month
How much is child support at low incomes?
With the parent the children live with earning nothing:
The other parent's income, within and above the low-income table
| Other parent's income a month | 1 child | 2 children |
|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | $190.00 | $240.00 |
| $1,500 | $285.00 | $360.00 |
| $2,000 | $381.00 | $522.00 |
| $2,400 | $457.00 | $656.00 |
| $3,000 | $562.00 | $857.00 |
| $4,000 | $733.00 | $1,116.00 |
What was the rule before 2026?
Until 31 December 2025, the low-income deviation was discretionary: a court could reduce support for a parent on a low income, but to no less than $100 a month for one child and $50 more for each additional child (former § 19-6-15(i)(2)(B)). SB 454 kept it in use until 1 January 2026.
Can a court impute income to a parent who is not working?
Yes. When a parent produces no reliable evidence of income, or is willfully or voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, the court can base support on imputed income, looking at the parent’s assets, work history, skills, education, health, criminal record and the local job market (§ 19-6-15(f)(4)). See self-employed and imputed income.
What this guide does not cover
Arrears and enforcement, and the Division of Child Support Services’ programs. The figures are estimates of the guideline amount, not legal advice.
Run your own numbers
This guide's example: in Georgia, 1 child; the parent the children live with earns $0 a month and the other parent $2,000, before tax; 0 days a year with the other parent. The guideline amount is $381.00 a month. Change any number in the calculator and every step of the formula updates.
Open this family in the Georgia calculatorQuestions
What is the minimum child support in Georgia?
There is no flat minimum in the 2026 guideline. A parent on a low income pays no more than the low-income table allows: with $1,200 a month and one child, $228.00.
How does the Georgia low-income adjustment work?
When the paying parent's own adjusted income is below the table's limit for the number of children, that parent pays the lesser of the guideline amount and the table amount. At or below $1,500 a month the table is a percentage of income; above it, an amount per income row.
What was the low-income deviation?
Until 31 December 2025, a court could reduce support for a low-income parent at its discretion, to no less than $100 a month for one child and $50 more for each additional child (former § 19-6-15(i)(2)(B)). The low-income table replaced it on 1 January 2026.
Sources
- O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15(i.1) and (p), Low-income adjustment, as in force on 1 January 2026, Georgia Child Support Commission copy (archived)
- O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15 in force until 1 January 2026, former (i)(2)(B), low-income deviation (archived)
- Figures on this page are computed by the Coparent Math engine with Georgia's rules in force on 3 Nov 2026 unless a table says otherwise, from:
- O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15 as in force on 1 January 2026 (Georgia Child Support Commission copy, archived), checked 3 Nov 2026
- Georgia Basic Child Support Obligation Table effective 1 July 2024 (Georgia Child Support Commission, archived), checked 3 Nov 2026
- Georgia Child Support Commission: 2024 updates to the child support guidelines (archived), checked 3 Nov 2026
Related guides
Up
Related
In the same hub
- Back child support (arrears) in Georgia: interest, enforcement and jail (2026)In Georgia, child support expressed in a money amount accrues interest at 7 percent a year, starting 30 days after each installment is due, without any need to turn it into a judgment first; the court can apply, reduce or waive past-due interest after weighing four factors (O.C.G.A. § 7-4-12.1). The Division of Child Support Services collects arrears through income withholding, liens and bank levies, state and federal tax refund intercepts, license suspension, credit reporting and passport denial, and a court can find a parent in contempt, with a fine or jail. Past-due support cannot be reduced retroactively, and Georgia child support judgments entered after 1 July 1997 do not go dormant.
- 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)).
- 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.
- How much is child support in Georgia by income? (2026)In Georgia the amount depends on both parents' incomes, the number of children and court-ordered parenting time. With the parent the children live with earning $4,000 a month, no parenting time and no extra costs, a parent earning $6,000 pays $771.00 for one child and $1,143.60 for two.
- Child support for more than one child in Georgia (2026)Georgia's table 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 incomes of $4,000 and $6,000 and no parenting time, the other parent pays $771.00 for one child, $1,143.60 for two and $1,345.20 for three.
- Health insurance and child care in Georgia child support (2026)Georgia adds work related child care and the children's share of the health insurance premium to the guideline amount, divides them between the parents by income, and credits each parent with what they pay (O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15(h)). Child care is averaged to a monthly amount, only what parents actually pay counts, and uninsured medical costs are shared outside the monthly amount.
The same topic in other states
- 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.
- 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.
- Low-income child support in New York: the minimum and the self-support reserve (2026)If paying the guideline amount would leave the paying parent's income below the federal poverty guideline for one person ($15,960 a year), New York sets the basic obligation at $25 a month. If it would leave that parent below the self-support reserve ($21,546 a year) but above the poverty line, the basic obligation is $50 a month or the income above the reserve, whichever is greater. Both come from Family Court Act § 413(1)(d).
- Child support on a low income in Texas (2026)When the paying parent's net resources are under $1,000 a month, Texas uses a low-income table: 15% of net resources for one child instead of 20% (Texas Family Code § 154.125(c)). When there is no evidence of a parent's income, the court presumes the federal minimum wage for a 40 hour week (§ 154.068), which the 2026 tax charts put at $1,256.67 a month gross.
- Child support at low incomes in Virginia (2026)At low incomes Virginia uses the bottom rows of its schedule, and when the sole custody amount would fall below what § 20-108.2 B calls the statutory minimum, that minimum is presumed instead. The subsection does not state a dollar figure; the words stand for the schedule's lowest amount for the number of children, $68 a month for one child. A court can set a lower amount when the paying parent's gross income is at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level and there is no ability to pay, and some parents are exempt from the minimum altogether.
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.
- Georgia vs Alabama child support: which state is higher? (2026)For most families without shared time, Georgia's guideline is higher. Both states start from the two parents' gross incomes, but their tables differ: for two children with incomes of $4,000 and $6,000 a month, it is $1,143.60 in Georgia and $1,020.00 in Alabama. Georgia lowers support for every court-ordered day with the other parent, while Alabama changes its formula only for a court order of 50/50 custody. At low incomes the order can flip, because Alabama's self-support reserve and Georgia's low-income table cut in at different points.