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).
What is the Texas child support cap in 2026?
The cap is $11,700 a month of net resources. Texas Family Code § 154.125(a) says the guideline percentages are designed for net resources up to the amount “most recently published by the Title IV-D agency in the Texas Register”. The Title IV-D agency is the Office of the Attorney General.
The cap is a figure of net resources, after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and the other deductions in § 154.062. On the Attorney General’s 2026 tax chart, an employed parent with no other income or deductions reaches it at $15,713.51 a month in gross wages.
How much is the maximum guideline amount?
At or above the cap, the percentage applies to the capped amount only:
Monthly gross wages of the paying parent. From the cap upwards the guideline amount stops rising.
| Other parent's income a month | 1 child | 2 children | 3 children | 4 children | 5 children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $12,000 | $1,828.17 | $2,285.21 | $2,742.25 | $3,199.29 | $3,656.33 |
| $15,713.51 | $2,340.00 | $2,925.00 | $3,510.00 | $4,095.00 | $4,680.00 |
| $20,000 | $2,340.00 | $2,925.00 | $3,510.00 | $4,095.00 | $4,680.00 |
| $30,000 | $2,340.00 | $2,925.00 | $3,510.00 | $4,095.00 | $4,680.00 |
When did the cap change, and when does it change next?
The cap is adjusted every six years to reflect inflation, using the change in the consumer price index over the 72 months before 1 March of the adjustment year, rounded to the nearest 50 dollars, and takes effect on 1 September (§ 154.125(a-1)). The Attorney General’s 2025 revised tax charts give the history:
| Adjusted on | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| 19 July 2013 | $7,500 | $8,550 |
| 12 July 2019 | $8,550 | $9,200 |
| 15 August 2025 | $9,200 | $11,700 |
The 2025 figure took effect on 1 September 2025. On the six year schedule the next adjustment would take effect on 1 September 2031; no figure has been announced.
Can a court order more than the guideline for a high earner?
Yes, within limits set by § 154.126:
- The court presumptively applies the percentage to net resources up to the cap.
- Without further reference to the percentage, it may order additional support “as appropriate, depending on the income of the parties and the proven needs of the child.”
- To do that, the whole guideline amount is subtracted from the child’s proven total needs, and the court allocates the remaining needs between the parents according to their circumstances.
- The paying parent can never be required to pay more than the greater of the guideline amount or 100 percent of the child’s proven needs.
An amount above the guideline is a variance, so the order must state both parents’ net resources, the percentage applied and the reasons (§ 154.130). The calculator does not estimate proven needs; it stops at the guideline amount.
Does the 2025 cap increase change existing orders?
Not by itself. An existing order changes only through a modification. Under § 156.401, a court may modify an order when circumstances have materially and substantially changed, or when it has been three years since the order was rendered or last modified and the monthly amount differs by either 20 percent or $100 from the current guideline amount. For an order made under the old cap, the higher cap can widen that difference. See the modifying an order guide.
What income counts for high earners?
All the resources in § 154.062(b): salary and bonuses, commissions, self-employment income, interest, dividends, royalties, net rental income, capital gains, trust income and other income actually received. The court may also assign deemed income to assets that do not produce income (§ 154.067). The calculator only takes wages; the self-employed and imputed income guide covers the other rules.
Open this family in the Texas calculatorWhat this guide does not cover
This guide does not estimate support above the cap, which depends on evidence of the child’s needs, and it does not cover how courts value business income or assets. The engine also leaves out these parts of the Texas guideline:
- For children in one household. Children in more than one household are computed with a credit for the other children (154.128), or with the alternative table in 154.129; not modeled.
- Dental support (up to 1.5% of the paying parent's resources, 154.1825), cash medical support when no health insurance is available (154.182(b)(3)) and uninsured medical costs (154.183(c)) are ordered on top of this, not modeled.
- Self-employment income is not modeled. The engine deducts an employee's Social Security and Medicare; for self-employment income the Attorney General's self-employed chart deducts self-employment tax instead, which gives lower net resources.
- Net resources here only count wages. Other income and some deductions (154.062) are not modeled.
The figures are estimates of the guideline amount. A court can order a different amount, and an existing order only changes when it is modified.
Run your own numbers
This guide's example: in Texas, 1 child; the other parent earns $20,000 a month before tax. The guideline amount is $2,340.00 a month. Change any number in the calculator and every step of the formula updates.
Open this family in the Texas calculatorQuestions
What is the maximum child support in Texas in 2026?
The guideline maximum is the percentage for the number of children applied to $11,700 a month of net resources: $2,340.00 a month for one child and $2,925.00 for two. A court can order more only for the child's proven needs (§ 154.126).
When did the Texas child support cap change?
On 1 September 2025, from $9,200 to $11,700 a month of monthly net resources. The Attorney General adjusts the cap every six years for inflation and publishes it in the Texas Register (§ 154.125(a-1)).
Does the new cap change an existing order?
No. An order changes only when it is modified. A higher guideline amount under the new cap can matter in a modification, where the tests are a material and substantial change, or three years since the order and a difference of 20 percent or $100 from the guideline (§ 156.401).
What are proven needs of the child?
Chapter 154 does not list them. Section 154.126 says that above the cap the court may order additional amounts depending on the parties' incomes and the child's proven needs, after subtracting the guideline amount from those total needs.
Can a high earner be ordered to pay more than the child's needs?
No. The paying parent cannot be required to pay more than the greater of the guideline amount or 100 percent of the child's proven needs (§ 154.126(b)).
Sources
- Texas Family Code § 154.125 and § 154.126 (guidelines, cap and additional net resources)
- 2026 Tax Charts (cap of 11,700 dollars effective 1 September 2025, citing 50 Tex. Reg. 5351)
- 2025 Revised Tax Charts (history of cap adjustments in 2013, 2019 and 2025)
- Texas Family Code § 154.130, Findings in child support order
- Texas Family Code § 156.401, Grounds for modification of child support
- Figures on this page are computed by the Coparent Math engine with Texas's rules in force on 2 Nov 2026 unless a table says otherwise, from:
- Texas Family Code chapter 154, checked 2 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
- Texas OAG 2026 tax charts (net resources cap effective 1 September 2025, in the chart's footnotes), checked 31 Oct 2026
Related guides
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Related
- Texas child support by income (2026)Texas child support is 20% of the paying parent's net resources for one child, 25% for two and 30% for three, so it rises with income until net resources reach $11,700 a month. On a salary of $50,000 a year, the 2026 guideline for one child is $705.92 a month; on $100,000 it is $1,319.67.
- 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.
In the same hub
- Back child support (arrears) in Texas (2026)In Texas, every missed child support payment is a final judgment, and the unpaid amount carries simple interest of 6 percent a year until it is paid or confirmed as a money judgment, which then carries the same rate (Texas Family Code §§ 157.261 and 157.265). Arrears can be collected by income withholding, liens, license suspension, federal tax refund intercept and passport denial, and enforced by contempt with jail. A court cannot forgive or reduce confirmed arrears, and the right to collect continues after the child turns 18.
- Self-employment, imputed income and what counts in Texas (2026)In Texas, self-employment income counts after the ordinary and necessary expenses needed to produce it, and a court may exclude depreciation or other expenses it finds inappropriate (Texas Family Code § 154.065). If a parent earns significantly less than they could because of intentional unemployment or underemployment, the court may apply the guideline to earning potential (§ 154.066); with no evidence of income at all, it presumes the federal minimum wage for a 40 hour week (§ 154.068).
- Child support for more than one child in Texas (2026)In Texas the guideline percentage rises with each child: 20% of the paying parent's net resources for one child, 25% for two, 30% for three, 35% for four and at least 40% for five or more (Texas Family Code § 154.125). When the paying parent also supports children in another household, the court gives a credit for those children first (§ 154.128) or uses the multiple family table (§ 154.129).
- 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.
- 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)).
- Health insurance, dental and child care in Texas child support (2026)Texas orders medical and dental support for the children in addition to guideline child support (Texas Family Code § 154.064). The court orders health insurance through a parent's job when it costs no more than 9 percent of the paying parent's annual resources; if the parent the children live with provides it, the other parent pays that cost as additional support. Child care and custody days are not part of the Texas formula, but both are listed reasons a court can vary from it (§ 154.123).
The same topic in other states
- 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 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.
Comparisons
- Texas vs New York child support: which state is higher? (2026)For a typical middle income family New York's guideline is higher than Texas's. For two children and a paying parent earning $6,000 a month, it is $1,385.25 in New York and $1,239.21 in Texas, and the gap widens when there is child care, which New York adds and Texas does not. At low incomes the order flips: New York's low income rules can bring support far below the Texas amount.
- Texas vs Virginia child support: which state is higher? (2026)It depends mostly on two things: the income of the parent the children live with, and custody time. Texas looks only at the paying parent's net income, so for two children and a paying parent earning $6,000 a month it is $1,239.21 whatever the other parent earns. Virginia uses both incomes and is $1,094.40 when the other parent earns $4,000, and $258.86 with 182 days a year of shared time. When the parent the children live with has no income, or at very high incomes, Virginia can be higher.
More about Texas
- Child support and your tax refund: the offset rules (2026)Yes. Under 42 U.S.C. § 664, the Treasury withholds a federal tax refund to pay past-due child support that a state child support agency has certified, and sends the money to that state. A case qualifies when at least $150 is owed on support assigned to the state for public assistance, or at least $500 in other cases (45 CFR 303.72). The state must send a notice first that explains how to contest the amount, and a spouse on a joint return can claim their share back with IRS Form 8379.
- Child support when parents live in different statesWhen parents live in different states, the court that sets support applies its own state's law and guideline (Texas Family Code § 159.303). A state can make an order against a parent who lives elsewhere only on one of the jurisdiction bases in the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (§ 159.201); otherwise the case is heard in the other parent's state, with the two states' child support agencies working together. An order from another state is registered to be enforced, and in Texas the other party has 30 days after notice to contest it (§ 159.605).
- Does 50/50 custody mean no child support? Texas, New York and Virginia (2026)No. In Texas, New York and Virginia, equal time with each parent does not by itself end child support. Only Virginia's guideline uses the number of days: above 90 days a year with each parent, a shared custody formula lowers support, and with equal time the parent who earns more usually pays the difference. Texas and New York apply their usual formula; in Texas, parenting time is a factor a court may weigh to depart from it, and New York's statute has no shared custody formula, but with truly equal time its appellate courts make the parent with the larger income share the paying parent.
- How child support is calculatedEvery state sets a guideline formula in law, and courts apply it unless they find it unjust or inappropriate. The formula takes the parents' income (gross or net, one parent's or both), turns it into a base amount with a percentage or a schedule, adds some costs such as child care and health insurance, and in some states adjusts for parenting time and very low or high incomes. Texas, New York and Virginia each do these steps differently, so the same family gets a different figure in each.
- Income shares vs percentage of income: how child support models differ (2026)A percentage of income model sets support as a fixed share of the paying parent's income, and the other parent's income does not enter the formula. An income shares model starts from both parents' combined income, finds the basic support amount the guideline sets for that income, and splits it in proportion to each parent's income. Texas uses a percentage of the paying parent's net resources, Virginia uses income shares, and New York applies a fixed percentage to both parents' combined income and splits it by income.
- Child support and taxes: what the IRS says (2026)Child support is neither taxable nor deductible under federal tax law: the IRS says child support payments are not deductible by the parent who pays them and not taxable to the parent who receives them. Who claims the child is a separate question. The IRS treats the parent the child lived with for more nights in the year as the one entitled to claim the child; that parent can release the child tax credit to the other parent with Form 8332, but head of household status, the earned income credit and the child care credit stay with the parent the child lived with.