Pennsylvania combines both parents' monthly net income, reads the obligation off the Basic Child Support Schedule, and splits it in proportion to what each parent earns. The schedule used here is the one that took effect on 1 January 2026. The rule that catches most people out is the overnight threshold — see below, because it is a cliff rather than a slope.
Four questions. The estimate updates as you type, and you can open the working to see which figure drives it.
Net income, not gross: take gross pay and subtract tax, mandatory retirement, union dues, health-insurance premiums and any court-ordered support already being paid.
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 231 Pa. Code Rules 1910.16-2 to 1910.16-4, last checked 2026-08-25.
Income shares: combined monthly net income is read against a published schedule, then split by each parent's share of that income.
Nadia and Owen have one child. Nadia's monthly net income is $4,000 and Owen's is $2,000. The child spends 20% of overnights with Nadia.
About $791 a month. Had Nadia reached 40% of overnights, her share would have dropped from 66.7% to 56.7%, taking the order to about $672 — a $119 difference for one extra overnight a fortnight, and no change whatsoever at 39%.
Pennsylvania gives no overnight credit at all until the paying parent reaches 40% of the year's overnights — and then the reduction is measured from 30%, so crossing the line is worth ten percentage points of their share at once. At 39% of overnights the adjustment is nothing. This is the single most consequential number in a Pennsylvania custody discussion.
Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-4(c)(1)On an exactly equal split the adjustment formula cannot be applied unless the paying parent is also the higher earner. So 50/50 does not automatically mean a reduced order, and which parent benefits depends on income.
Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-4(c)(2)(i)The schedule is built on monthly net income. Subtract tax, FICA, mandatory union dues and any support already being paid under another order before entering a figure.
Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-2An order may not reduce the paying parent below $1,255 of monthly net income. Where income and children fall in the schedule's shaded band, the court takes the lower of two calculations — this estimator shows the conservative one.
Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-2(e)(1)The current schedule was amended on 11 August 2025 and took effect on 1 January 2026. Previous versions ran from 2022, 2019, 2017 and 2013. A calculator using an older schedule will be low.
231 Pa. Code Rule 1910.16-3Kidtime 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.
File a support complaint with the Domestic Relations Section of the Court of Common Pleas in the county where the child lives. There is no filing fee, and the office will schedule a conference where both parents provide income evidence.
Either parent can file to modify when circumstances change materially — a change in income, custody schedule, or the child's needs. Pennsylvania also reviews orders periodically. A modification generally takes effect from the date of filing, not from when the change happened.
146 — that is 40% of 365. Below that the guideline gives no reduction at all, and at exactly 40% the adjustment starts from a 30% baseline, so the drop is immediate rather than gradual. It is worth counting overnights precisely.
No. An equal split gets the adjustment only when the paying parent is also the higher earner, and even then it reduces the order rather than removing it. A meaningful income gap usually still produces an order.
Net. Pennsylvania's schedule is built on monthly net income, so subtract tax, FICA, mandatory union dues and any other support order you already pay. Entering gross pay will overstate the result substantially.
The schedule stops at $30,000 of combined monthly net income. Above it the court uses the high-income formula in Rule 1910.16-3.1 rather than the table, so treat an estimate at the cap as a floor.
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 231 Pa. Code Rule 1910.16-3, compare against the state's own calculator, and consult a licensed Pennsylvania family-law attorney about your situation. Last reviewed 2026-08-25.