Parenting time and 50/50 custody in Georgia child support (2026)
Since 1 January 2026, Georgia adjusts child support for every day of court-ordered parenting time with the other parent, by a formula in O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15(g). Each parent's share of the table amount is weighted by their days raised to the power 2.5. With equal time and equal incomes the amount is zero; with equal time, the parent with the higher income pays.
How does Georgia’s parenting time adjustment work?
Under O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15(g)(2)(B), in force since 1 January 2026, the court “shall apply” a formula to each parent’s share of the table amount. With the other parent’s court-ordered days Nd, the days of the parent the children live with Cd, and the two parents’ dollar shares of the table amount Ns and Cs:
- Raise each parent’s days to the power 2.5.
- The other parent’s adjusted share is (Cd to that power × Ns, minus Nd to that power × Cs), divided by the sum of the two powers.
Days are overnights averaged over two years, or daytime hours divided by 24 (§ 19-6-15(a)(17.1)). There is no threshold: every court-ordered day changes the amount, a little at first and more near equal time.
The Child Support Commission's example: one child, 120 court-ordered days
In Georgia: 1 child; the parent the children live with earns $10,335 a month and the other parent $6,250, before tax; 120 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)
$10,335 + $6,250 = $16,585 a month. The other parent's share is $6,250 ÷ $16,585 = 37.68%.
37.68%Look up the schedule§ 19-6-15(b)(4) and (o), basic child support obligation table
$16,585 of combined income uses the nearest row, $16,600: the schedule's amount for 1 child.
$1,777.00Adjust for parenting time§ 19-6-15(g), parenting time adjustment
The other parent's share is $669.57 and the share of the parent the children live with $1,107.43. With 120 court-ordered days with the other parent and 245 with the parent the children live with: (245^2.5 × $669.57 − 120^2.5 × $1,107.43) ÷ (120^2.5 + 245^2.5) = $414.11.
$414.11 a month
The engine gives the same figure as the Commission’s guide for this example.
How much does each day change the amount?
With incomes of $4,000 and $6,000 and two children:
| Days a year with the other parent | Formula | Support a month | Paid by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 days | Parenting time formula | $1,143.60 | the other parent |
| 30 days | Parenting time formula | $1,139.04 | the other parent |
| 60 days | Parenting time formula | $1,111.44 | the other parent |
| 90 days | Parenting time formula | $1,033.56 | the other parent |
| 120 days | Parenting time formula | $869.60 | the other parent |
| 146 days | Parenting time formula | $636.10 | the other parent |
| 182 days | Parenting time formula | $197.13 | the other parent |
Who pays with 50/50 custody in Georgia?
The parent with the higher income, usually. With exactly equal time the formula comes down to the difference between the two shares, so with equal incomes the amount is zero. When the parent the children live with earns more, the result can go below zero, and that parent then pays the difference (§ 19-6-15(g)(1)(B)). Who is the parent the children live with is set by the time each has; with equal time, Georgia treats the parent with the lower income as that parent (§ 19-6-15(a)).
When the parent the children live with earns more, more time with the other parent can reverse who pays
| Days a year with the other parent | Formula | Support a month | Paid by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 days | Parenting time formula | $488.28 | the other parent |
| 100 days | Parenting time formula | $370.44 | the other parent |
| 146 days | Parenting time formula | $98.20 | the other parent |
| 165 days | Parenting time formula | $71.40 | the parent the children live with |
| 182 days | Parenting time formula | $239.20 | the parent the children live with |
Does time without a court order count?
No. The adjustment applies only to parenting time in a court order. Without a court order of parenting time, there is no adjustment (§ 19-6-15(g)(1)(C)).
What was the rule before 2026?
Until 31 December 2025, parenting time was a discretionary deviation: a court could depart from the guideline for extended parenting time, equal time or visitation not used, with no formula (former § 19-6-15(i)(2)(K), kept in use by SB 454 until 1 January 2026). The calculator applies the formula to dates from 1 January 2026, and only notes days for earlier dates.
What this guide does not cover
Different schedules for different children (the statute averages the days), split parenting, and parenting time actually used differing from the order. The engine also leaves out:
- Not modeled: deductions from income for half of self-employment tax (§ 19-6-15(f)(5)(A)), child support already paid under other orders ((f)(5)(B)), and the discretionary credit for other children living with a parent ((f)(5)(C)).
- Not modeled: deviations (Schedule E), including high income, extraordinary education, medical and special expenses, travel and alimony; uninsured medical costs, which are shared outside the monthly amount ((h)(3)); Social Security and VA benefits paid to the children ((b)(10)); and split parenting ((l)).
Run your own numbers
This guide's example: in Georgia, 1 child; the parent the children live with earns $10,335 a month and the other parent $6,250, before tax; 120 days a year with the other parent. The guideline amount is $414.11 a month. Change any number in the calculator and every step of the formula updates.
Open this family in the Georgia calculatorQuestions
Do you pay child support with 50/50 custody in Georgia?
Usually the parent with the higher income does. With equal time, incomes of $4,000 and $6,000 and two children, the guideline is $197.13 a month, paid by the other parent to the parent the children live with. With equal incomes and equal costs it is close to nothing.
How does the Georgia parenting time adjustment work?
It weighs each parent's dollar share of the table amount by the days each parent has, raised to the power 2.5, and reduces the other parent's share accordingly (§ 19-6-15(g)(2)(B)).
Does parenting time that is not in a court order count?
No. The adjustment uses court-ordered parenting time only; with no court-ordered parenting time there is no adjustment (§ 19-6-15(g)(1)(C)).
What was the parenting time deviation?
Until 31 December 2025, a court could deviate for extended parenting time, equal time or visitation not used, at its discretion and with no formula. From 1 January 2026 the parenting time adjustment replaced it.
Sources
- O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15(g), Parenting time 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, with the SB 454 editor's notes (archived)
- Parenting Time Formula Tool V2.0 (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
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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.
- 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.
- Self-employment and imputed income for child support in Georgia (2026)For a self-employed parent, Georgia counts gross receipts minus the ordinary and reasonable expenses needed to produce the income, leaving out excessive promotional, travel, vehicle or personal expenses, depreciation on equipment, home office costs and accelerated depreciation (O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15(f)(1)(B)). Half of self-employment tax is then deducted. A court can impute income when there is no reliable evidence of income, or when a parent is willfully or voluntarily unemployed or underemployed (§ 19-6-15(f)(4)).
- 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 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.
- 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 with shared or 50/50 custody in New York (2026)Yes, child support can still be owed with shared or 50/50 custody in New York. The guideline has no shared custody formula: the parent the children live with most is treated as the one who receives support, and the other parent's share is worked out with the usual percentages. When time is truly equal, the appellate courts treat the parent with the larger share of combined income as the paying parent, and a court can depart from the guideline for reasons the statute lists, including the costs of extended time with the children.
- Shared custody and child support in Texas (2026)Texas has no shared custody formula. The guideline is a percentage of the paying parent's net resources whatever the possession schedule, and joint managing conservators can still be ordered to pay each other support (Texas Family Code § 153.138). The time children spend with each parent is one of the factors a court weighs when it decides whether to order a different amount (§ 154.123(b)(4)).
- Shared custody child support in Virginia (2026)Virginia uses its shared custody formula when each parent has the children for more than 90 days a year. The schedule amount is multiplied by 1.4, each parent owes their share for the time the children spend with the other parent, and the difference is paid. The shared figure applies unless a parent shows the sole custody figure is lower.
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.