How Child Support Works in New York

Child support in New York is governed by the Child Support Standards Act, found in Domestic Relations Law 240(1-b) and Family Court Act 413. It is a formula, and for most families the formula produces the number. This page explains the formula, the add-ons, the cap, and the situations that fall outside the formula.

What is the formula?

Step one. Determine each parent's income. Income means gross income as reported on the most recent tax return, plus a list of items the statute adds back, including workers compensation, disability and unemployment benefits, Social Security, veterans benefits, pensions, fellowships, and annuities. The court may also impute income from perquisites, from money or services provided by relatives or friends, and from a parent's earning capacity where the parent's reported income does not reflect it. In April 2026, the Second Department held in a Suffolk County case that a father's deferred income had to be included and that the Family Court had imputed too much income to the mother without support in the record.

Step two. Subtract the allowable deductions, principally FICA taxes, maintenance paid to the other spouse, and child support paid for other children.

Step three. Add the two adjusted incomes together and apply the percentage. Seventeen percent for one child. Twenty-five percent for two. Twenty-nine percent for three. Thirty-one percent for four. No less than thirty-five percent for five or more.

Step four. Divide the result between the parents in proportion to their incomes. The non-custodial parent pays their share to the custodial parent.

Step five. Apply the cap. As of March 1, 2026, the percentages are applied to combined parental income up to 193,000 dollars. Above that figure the court decides whether to apply the percentages, the statutory factors, or both. The cap adjusts every two years and was 183,000 dollars before March 2026.

An example. Two children. The father's adjusted income is 120,000 dollars and the mother's is 60,000 dollars. Combined income is 180,000 dollars, which is under the cap. Twenty-five percent of 180,000 is 45,000 dollars per year. The father earns two-thirds of the combined income, so his share is 30,000 dollars per year, or 2,500 dollars per month, paid to the mother.

What are the add-ons?

In addition to the basic obligation, the court allocates the following between the parents in proportion to their incomes.

Child care expenses when the custodial parent is working or attending school or training that will lead to employment.

The child's health insurance premiums and unreimbursed medical, dental, and similar expenses.

Educational expenses for post-secondary, private, special, or enriched education, in the court's discretion.

Extracurricular activities are not a statutory add-on. In July 2026, the Second Department struck a provision that required a Nassau County father to pay a share of extracurricular expenses because the trial court had not explained why it was deviating from the formula. If you want activities covered, negotiate it into the agreement.

What happens above the cap?

The Court of Appeals decided in Cassano v. Cassano in 1995 that for combined income above the cap the court may apply the percentages, apply the factors in paragraph (f) of the statute, or both, but it must articulate its reasons. The paragraph (f) factors include the financial resources of the parents and the child, the child's physical and emotional health and special needs, the standard of living the child would have had if the household had stayed together, tax consequences, the non-monetary contributions of each parent, the educational needs of either parent, a substantial disparity in income, the needs of other children, extraordinary visitation expenses, and any other relevant factor.

In practice, the Second Department has affirmed both outcomes. In May 2025, it affirmed a Nassau order applying the full percentage to income well above the cap given the father's substantially greater resources. In February 2024, it affirmed a Nassau order that stopped at the cap and added a small amount where custody was equal and the parents' incomes were similar. The result depends on the evidence of the child's needs and the parents' lifestyle, and that evidence has to be put in the record.

What about shared custody?

There is no shared custody formula in New York. The Court of Appeals held in Bast v. Rossoff in 1998 that the parent with physical custody for the majority of the time is the custodial parent and receives support calculated under the ordinary formula. Where the time is truly equal, the courts treat the parent with the higher income as the non-custodial parent, which is the rule from Rubin v. Della Salla in 2013. Equal time does not eliminate child support. A 2024 Second Department decision in a Nassau case affirmed a modest award where custody was equal and incomes were close, which illustrates both points.

Until what age?

Twenty-one, unless the child is sooner emancipated by marriage, military service, or becoming self-supporting. Since October 2021, a court can order support to age twenty-six for an adult child who has a developmental disability as defined in the Mental Hygiene Law, lives with the parent seeking support, and is principally dependent on that parent. A supporting diagnosis is required and the court can direct payment into a supplemental needs trust.

Can it be changed?

A support order can be modified on a substantial change in circumstances. In addition, unless the parties opted out in a written agreement, either party can seek modification three years after the order was entered or last modified, or where either party's income has changed by fifteen percent or more since then. A reduction in income has to be involuntary and the party has to have made diligent efforts to find work.

Enforcement

Support orders are enforceable by income execution through the Support Collection Unit, by money judgment with interest, by suspension of driver's, professional, and business licenses, and by contempt. In December 2025, the Second Department affirmed a civil contempt finding against a Kings County father who stopped paying support and maintenance under a stipulation and tried to attack the stipulation for missing statutory recitals. The court treated the collateral attack as no defense.

Call 516-928-5838 or use the contact form to schedule a free thirty-minute consultation.