Shared custody child support in Virginia (2026)

When does Virginia use the shared custody formula?

Virginia switches from its sole custody formula to its shared custody formula when each parent has the children for more than 90 days a year. The test is on the parent with fewer days: that parent needs more than 90 of them.

The statute, Code of Virginia § 20-108.2 G 3, counts a day as a period of 24 hours. One overnight is treated differently: when the parent with fewer overnights has the children overnight but for less than 24 hours, each parent is presumed to get half a day for that period.

How is shared custody support calculated in Virginia?

The formula has four parts:

1. Income shares. Add both parents’ monthly gross incomes and work out each parent’s share of the total.
2. The shared need. Look up the basic obligation for that combined income and number of children in the schedule, then multiply it by 1.4.
3. What each parent owes. Each parent owes their income share of the shared need for the days the children spend with the other parent, plus their income share of the child care and health insurance the other parent pays.
4. The difference. The parent who owes more pays the difference.

Here is the whole calculation for one family, with the arithmetic written out by the engine:

How Virginia gets to $650.28 a month

In Virginia: 1 child; the parent the children live with earns $4,000 a month and the other parent $6,000, before tax; 146 days a year with the other parent; child care of $500 a month, paid by the parent the children live with.

1. Add the two incomesCode of Virginia § 20-108.2

   $4,000 + $6,000 = $10,000 a month. The other parent's share is $6,000 ÷ $10,000 = 60%.

   60%

2. Look up the schedule§ 20-108.2 B, schedule of support

   The schedule's amount for $10,000 of combined income and 1 child.

   $1,251.00

3. Work out the sole-custody figure§ 20-108.2 G, sole and shared custody

   ($1,251.00 + child care $500) × 60% = $1,050.60.

   $1,050.60

4. Check for shared custody§ 20-108.2 G, sole and shared custody

   146 days with the other parent is more than 90, and so is the rest of the year with the parent the children live with, so shared custody applies. Shared need = $1,251.00 × 1.4 = $1,751.40. The other parent's custody share is 146 ÷ 365 = 40%.

   $1,751.40

5. Work out the shared-custody figure§ 20-108.2 G, sole and shared custody

   The other parent: $1,751.40 × 60% income share × 60% of the year with the parent the children live with = $630.50, plus 60% of the costs the parent the children live with pays, $300.00, so $930.50. The parent the children live with: $1,751.40 × 40% income share × 40% of the year with the other parent = $280.22. Difference: $930.50 − $280.22 = $650.28, paid by the other parent.

   $650.28

6. Take the lower of the two§ 20-108.2 G, sole and shared custody

   When the other parent pays, the lower of the sole and shared figures applies when a party shows it.

   Sole custody $1,050.60Shared custody $650.28, applies
   $650.28 a month

What does “the lower of the two” mean?

Virginia works out two figures: what support would be under sole custody, and what it is under the shared formula. Section 20-108.2 G 3 says:

• The shared figure is the starting point. It is the support to be paid unless a parent shows that the sole custody figure is lower.
• If a parent shows that, the lower figure is the support.
• When the shared formula has the parent the children live with paying the other parent, the shared figure counts as the lower one.

The sole custody figure does not depend on the days. For the family above it is $1,050.60 a month, the amount the guideline gives at 90 days, where shared custody does not apply. The shared figure at the family’s 146 days is $650.28, so the shared figure is the lower one and applies.

How do the days with each parent change the amount?

The amount drops at the line where shared custody starts, then keeps falling as the time evens out. The same family at different numbers of days with the other parent:

Days a year with the other parent	Formula	Support a month	Paid by
60 days	Sole custody	$1,050.60	the other parent
90 days	Sole custody	$1,050.60	the other parent
91 days	Shared custody	$914.19	the other parent
120 days	Shared custody	$775.04	the other parent
146 days	Shared custody	$650.28	the other parent
182 days	Shared custody	$477.54	the other parent

The step between 90 and 91 days comes from the switch of formula, not from one extra day of costs. That is why the way days are counted, including half days for short overnights, matters to both parents.

Can the parent the children live with be the one who pays?

Yes. The shared formula looks at both incomes and both parents’ time, so when the parent the children live with most earns more and the time is close to even, that parent can owe the difference. With incomes of $8,000 for the parent the children live with and $4,000 for the other parent, one child and 182 days with the other parent, the guideline is $328.61 a month, paid by the parent the children live with to the other parent.

Open this family in the Virginia calculator

When does the shared figure not apply?

Section 20-108.2 G 3 sets limits on the shared formula that the calculator does not apply:

• If either parent’s gross income is at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level, the shared figure is not presumed correct, and the court may consider whether the sole or the shared figure is more just and appropriate.
• The shared formula may not create or reduce support to an amount that seriously impairs the ability of the parent the children live with most to provide minimal adequate housing and other basic necessities for the children.
• When one parent consistently does not exercise custody or visitation in line with their custody share, there is a rebuttable presumption that the support award should be modified.

What this guide does not cover

This guide covers one shared custody arrangement for all the children. Split custody (each parent has at least one child) and mixed arrangements, which the statute handles in G 2 and G 4 to G 6, are not covered, and the calculator does not compute them. The engine also leaves out these parts of Virginia’s guideline:

• Half of any self-employment tax paid is also deducted from income (not modeled).
• Reasonable and necessary unreimbursed medical and dental costs are shared in proportion to gross income as they are incurred, outside the monthly amount (§ 20-108.2 D, not modeled).
• Deductions for other children are not modeled: support paid for other children under an order or written agreement, and the schedule amount for a parent's own children living with that parent (§ 20-108.2 C).
• Disability benefits paid to the children from a parent's entitlement count as that parent's income and are credited against support (§ 20-108.2 C); not modeled.
• Low income is not modeled beyond the minimum: when the paying parent's gross income is at or below 150% of the federal poverty level, a court may set less than the statutory minimum, and the minimum does not apply to some parents (for example those imprisoned for life or totally and permanently disabled) (§ 20-108.2 B). Shared custody support is not presumed correct when either parent's income is that low (G 3 (d)).
• Days are counted as whole days; the half-day rule for an overnight of less than 24 hours (§ 20-108.2 G 3 (c)) is not modeled.
• Split custody, different schedules for different children, and mixes of sole, split and shared custody (§ 20-108.2 G 2, 4 to 6) 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.