Ohio sets child support from a statewide schedule that starts with both parents' incomes added together, then divides the result in proportion to what each parent earns. The estimate below follows that schedule and shows every step, so you can see which figure drives the number rather than just the total.
Four questions. The estimate updates as you type, and you can open the working to see which figure drives it.
Gross pay before deductions — wages, overtime, bonuses, commissions, self-employment profit and benefits.
Count the nights the children sleep at your home. This matters financially: 90 overnights is the threshold for an automatic 10% reduction.
Enter both incomes to see an estimate.
Estimate onlyBasic support before health insurance, child care and medical costs are added. Courts can depart from the guideline figure. Based on Ohio Rev. Code ch. 3119 and ODJFS form JFS 07767, last checked 2026-07-29.
Ohio uses the income-shares model: both parents' incomes count, and the schedule reflects what two parents at that combined income would ordinarily spend on their children.
Dana earns $4,500 a month and Marcus earns $3,000. They have two children, and the children stay with Dana most of the time — Marcus has the children 95 overnights a year.
Marcus pays Dana about $563 a month in basic support. Had he had 85 overnights instead of 95, the same incomes would produce about $626 — the ten overnights are worth roughly $63 a month.
Gross income from nearly every source — wages, overtime, bonuses, commissions, self-employment profit, rental income, unemployment and workers' compensation, and spousal support received. Means-tested benefits such as Ohio Works First are excluded. Overtime and bonuses are generally averaged over three years rather than taken at last year's peak.
ORC 3119.01(C)A paying parent whose court-ordered parenting time reaches 90 overnights a year gets an automatic 10% reduction. Courts can deviate further at higher overnight counts, but 90 is the only threshold that applies automatically — which is why an accurate overnight count matters financially, not just practically.
ORC 3119.051The schedule runs from $8,400 to $336,000 of combined annual income. Below $8,400 the court applies a minimum order. Above $336,000 the court decides case by case, but generally not less than the amount at the top of the schedule — Ohio's own online calculator refuses to run at all above that point.
ORC 3119.021, 3119.04; JFS 07767The floor is $80 per month for all children on the order. A court can go below that, or order nothing, in limited circumstances such as a documented disability or institutionalisation.
ORC 3119.06Whoever provides the children's health coverage is named in the order, and a cash medical support amount is split between the parents by income share. Uninsured and extraordinary medical costs are allocated by the same proportion rather than halved.
ORC 3119.30 to 3119.34The schedule figure is presumed correct, but a court can deviate if it finds the amount unjust or not in the child's best interest — citing factors such as extraordinary travel costs for parenting time, a child's special needs, or either parent's other dependants. Any deviation has to be written into the order with reasons.
ORC 3119.22, 3119.23Kidtime records every overnight, swap and handover as it happens, so the parenting-time figure behind your support order is evidence rather than an estimate. Free to start.
You can ask for child support as part of a divorce, dissolution or custody case in the domestic relations or juvenile court in the county where the child lives, or you can apply through the county Child Support Enforcement Agency without going to court first. The CSEA route is free and can establish paternity, set an administrative order and arrange income withholding; either parent can then ask a court to review the administrative figure.
Either parent can ask for a review, usually once every 36 months without needing a reason, or sooner if circumstances have changed. A recalculation that differs from the current order by more than 10% is treated as a change of circumstances substantial enough to justify modifying it. Job loss, a significant raise, a change in the parenting schedule or a child ageing out are the common triggers. Support does not change until the order does — an informal agreement between parents leaves the old order enforceable, arrears and all.
Usually, but not automatically to zero. Equal time takes the paying parent well past the 90-overnight threshold, so the 10% reduction applies, and a court can deviate further. But the income-share split still stands: if one parent earns substantially more than the other, they will normally still pay something even on an even schedule, because the schedule is about what each parent contributes, not about who has the children on a given night.
There is no flat figure, because Ohio starts from both incomes combined rather than from the paying parent's income alone. As a rough sense of scale, a combined income of $60,000 produces a basic obligation of about $828 a month for one child, which is then split in proportion to each parent's earnings — so the parent providing 60% of that income is responsible for about $497 of it.
Yes, overtime, bonuses and commissions all count as gross income. They are normally averaged over the previous three years, so an unusually strong or weak single year does not set the figure on its own. If overtime is genuinely non-recurring, a court can decline to count it.
Support does not simply stop. A court can impute income — assign a figure based on what the parent could earn given their work history, qualifications and local job availability — rather than calculating from zero. Genuine involuntary unemployment is a reason to seek a modification, but the order stays enforceable until it is modified.
Generally until the child turns 18, extending to the end of the school year if the child is still enrolled full-time in high school, and to a maximum of 19. Support can continue indefinitely for a child who cannot support themselves because of a disability that began before adulthood.
You can propose one, but a court has to approve it. The schedule figure is presumed correct, so a judge will want written reasons why a different amount is in the children's best interest before accepting it into an order. Parents who simply agree privately and never change the order remain bound by the old one.
This calculator gives an estimate of basic guideline support for general information. It is not legal advice and it is not the figure a court will order — judges can and do depart from the guideline, and the calculation leaves out health insurance, child care and medical costs. For the controlling text see Ohio Rev. Code ch. 3119, compare against the state's own calculator, and consult a licensed Ohio family-law attorney about your situation. Last reviewed 2026-07-29.