Updated for 2026 guidelines
Maryland Child Support Calculator 2026
Maryland has a detail most calculators get wrong: between schedule rows, the statute does not average. It jumps to the next higher amount. This page runs that rule, the $30,000 schedule for cases filed since July 2022, and the 92-overnight shared custody math, with a citation on every step.
Reviewed by SupportDecode Editorial Team Page content reviewed Sources Methodology Update log
Estimate Maryland child support
Estimated monthly child support: $637.71
The paying parent pays this amount to the receiving parent each month.
Assumptions
- Actual incomes are taken as given; the § 12-201(b) inclusions and exclusions (means-tested benefits stay out, self-employment nets ordinary expenses) are not recomputed.
- Voluntary impoverishment and potential income (§ 12-204(b)) are court findings this tool does not make.
Continue with this income in the PayDecode take-home calculator
PayDecode is a separate site. The link may not carry your numbers over; if its form opens blank, enter the income there again.
Estimate only. The court or state agency calculation controls.
Maryland guidelines, effective 2022-07-01.
Maryland guideline facts
- Guideline model
- Income shares on both parents’ adjusted actual (gross-based) incomessource
- Statute
- Md. Code, Fam. Law §§ 12-201 to 12-204; presumption in § 12-202source
- Current schedule
- 577 rows to $30,000 per month; cases filed on or after July 1, 2022source
- Between rows
- Round UP to the next higher schedule amount (§ 12-204(c)), never interpolatesource
- Shared custody line
- At least 92 overnights with each parent; 1.5 multiplier with a 92-109 phase-insource
- Self-support reserve
- 110% of the 2019 federal poverty level, baked into the asterisked rowssource
- Official calculator
- Maryland DHS publishes one on the myDHR portal; worksheets CC-DR-034/035 control in courtsource
- Parameter set effective
- July 1, 2022 (cases filed on or after this date, 2020 chs. 383/384 as delayed by 2021 ch. 305)source
- Next scheduled data review
- January 1, 2027source
How the Maryland guidelines work
Maryland child support lives in Family Law sections 12-201 through 12-204. It is an income shares model: each parent’s monthly actual income is adjusted for a few specific items, the two adjusted incomes are combined, and the combined figure is looked up on the section 12-204(e) schedule of basic obligations. Each parent then covers a slice of that obligation in proportion to income. Courts must presume the result is correct (section 12-202), though the presumption can be rebutted with written findings.
Actual income is broad and gross-based: wages, bonuses, self-employment receipts net of ordinary expenses, pensions, Social Security, workers’ compensation, alimony received, and more. Means-tested benefits such as SSI and food assistance stay out. From actual income, the law subtracts preexisting child support actually paid and alimony actually paid, shifts alimony awarded in the current case from one column to the other, and grants a multifamily allowance: 75 percent of the basic obligation for other children living in a parent’s home, figured on that parent’s income alone.
The schedule itself runs from a $0 to $1,200 band up to $30,000 a month in $50 steps, 577 rows in all, with columns for one through six children. It reached $30,000 through 2020 legislation that took effect for cases filed on or after July 1, 2022; before that it stopped at $15,000. Here is the quirk: when combined income falls between two rows, section 12-204(c) says the amount "shall be extrapolated to the next higher amount". Not interpolated. A family at $7,225 uses the $7,250 row, full stop. Calculators that average between rows are running a rule Maryland never adopted.
The lowest rows carry asterisks. Those cells already include the self-support reserve: an adjustment that leaves the paying parent at least 110 percent of the 2019 federal poverty level after support, taxes, and FICA. That is why the $0 to $1,200 band produces orders of only $50 to $60 a month.
Custody time changed in 2020 too. Shared physical custody now starts when each parent keeps the children overnight more than 25 percent of the year, at least 92 overnights, down from 128. In shared cases the basic obligation is multiplied by 1.5, split by income share, and weighted by the time the children spend with the other parent. Between 92 and 109 overnights the law phases the change in with graduated increases of 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 percent on the lesser-time parent’s side, and the final answer can never exceed what plain sole custody math would order.
Above $30,000 a month combined, the schedule simply ends. Section 12-204(d) leaves the amount to the discretion of the court, and this tool says so instead of extending the table on its own.
Worked example: the 92-overnight boundary, with the cap doing its job
- Take one child. The receiving parent earns $3,000 a month adjusted actual income and keeps the child 273 overnights; the paying parent earns $5,000 and has exactly 92 overnights, the minimum that counts as shared physical custody.
- Combined income is $8,000. The schedule row for $8,000 and one child is $1,221. Because this is shared custody, the basic obligation is multiplied by 1.5: an adjusted basic obligation of $1,831.50.
- The paying parent earns $5,000 of the $8,000, a 62.5 percent share, so that parent’s slice of the adjusted obligation is $1,144.69. Weighted by the 273 nights the child spends with the other parent, the theoretical obligation is $856.16. The receiving parent’s slice, weighted by the 92 nights with the paying parent, is $173.11.
- With only 92 overnights, the paying parent sits in the first phase-in band, so that theoretical obligation is increased by 10 percent, to $941.78. The difference between the two sides comes to $768.67.
- Then the cap steps in. Section 12-204(m)(5) says shared custody can never cost the payer more than sole custody would: $1,221 times 62.5 percent, which is $763.13. The order is $763.13 a month, the capped figure, not the raw difference.
The steps above follow the calculation method described on our methodology page.
Maryland guideline history
- The schedule was extended to $15,000 a month of combined income (2010 ch. 476).source
- 2020 ch. 142 lowered the shared custody threshold from 35 percent (128 overnights) to 25 percent (92 overnights) and added the graduated 92-109 overnight phase-in.source
- The current schedule took effect for newly filed cases: $30,000 ceiling, the self-support reserve at 110 percent of the 2019 poverty level, and the 75 percent multifamily allowance (2020 chs. 383/384, delayed by 2021 ch. 305).source
Maryland child support FAQs
How is child support calculated in Maryland?
Both parents’ adjusted actual incomes are added, the combined figure is found on the section 12-204(e) schedule for the number of children, and each parent owes a share of that basic obligation in proportion to income. Work-related child care and health insurance costs join the obligation before it is divided. The noncustodial parent pays their share as support; the custodial parent is presumed to spend theirs directly.
Why does Maryland round up between schedule rows?
Because the statute says to. Section 12-204(c) provides that between schedule amounts the basic obligation "shall be extrapolated to the next higher amount". A combined income of $7,225 therefore uses the $7,250 row, not a blend of the rows on either side. Many online calculators interpolate anyway, which understates the obligation by a few dollars in most bands. This one follows the text.
How many overnights trigger shared custody in Maryland?
Ninety-two, for each parent. Since October 2020, shared physical custody means each parent keeps the children overnight more than 25 percent of the year, and the statute itself translates that to at least 92 overnights. Between 92 and 109 overnights the shared formula phases in with graduated increases of 10 down to 2 percent on the lesser-time parent’s theoretical obligation, so a single extra overnight near the line changes the number, but not violently.
Can shared custody make the payment larger than sole custody?
No. The shared computation multiplies the basic obligation by 1.5, which can push the raw difference above the sole custody figure, especially right at 92 overnights. Section 12-204(m)(5) caps the result: the shared custody order may not exceed what section 12-204(l) sole custody math would produce. This calculator applies the cap and shows you when it binds.
What is the self-support reserve in the Maryland schedule?
A floor for the paying parent, built into the printed numbers. The 2020 legislation set the reserve at 110 percent of the 2019 federal poverty level for an individual: the asterisked cells in the low-income rows are already adjusted so the payer keeps that much after child support, income taxes, and FICA. That is why the bottom band orders are $50 to $60 a month, and courts can still deviate downward or decline an order for obligors with no ability to pay.
What happens above $30,000 a month in combined income?
The guidelines stop. Section 12-204(d) says the court may use its discretion in setting support when combined adjusted income exceeds the highest schedule level. There is no statutory percentage and no published floor in that subsection, so this tool declines to print a number there rather than inventing an extension of the table.
Is there an official Maryland child support calculator?
Yes. The Child Support Administration in the Department of Human Services publishes a guidelines calculator through the myDHR portal, and the People’s Law Library, run by the Maryland Thurgood Marshall State Law Library, explains how to use it. The court instruments are worksheets CC-DR-034 (primary custody) and CC-DR-035 (shared custody) under Rule 9-206. Use this page to understand each step; use theirs to file.
Does alimony change the child support number in Maryland?
Yes, and the order of operations is fixed: alimony is decided first. An award in the same case is subtracted from the paying spouse’s income and added to the receiving spouse’s income before the guideline runs (section 12-204(a)(2)). Alimony actually paid in other cases also comes off the payer’s income. This calculator has a field for the in-case award.
Good to know in Maryland
- The multifamily allowance is new with the 2022 schedule: 75 percent of the basic obligation for each parent’s other in-home children, figured on that parent’s income alone. Courts may decline it where it would be unjust.
- Incarcerated parents may not be treated as voluntarily impoverished, and no income is imputed to a parent caring for a child under two for whom both parties are responsible (12-204(b)).
- DHS reviews the guidelines at least every four years under section 12-202(e); the schedule now in force came out of the 2020 cycle, so watch the mid-2020s review for the next change.
- A handful of the 577 schedule rows are transcribed here. When your combined income rounds up past the official next $50 row, the tool tells you the figure may run high and points you to the official calculator for the exact row.
How to use this estimate
Enter each parent’s actual monthly income from all sources, before taxes. If the paying parent already pays child support for other children under another order, or pays alimony to the other parent in this same case, use the dedicated fields; the statute adjusts income for both before the schedule lookup. Other children living in the paying parent’s home earn the 75 percent multifamily allowance automatically.
Pick the worksheet by overnights. Worksheet A covers primary physical custody. Worksheet B applies only when each parent has the children at least 92 overnights a year, and near that line, counting matters: 91 overnights is a different formula than 92, and between 92 and 109 the result phases in by steps.
Work-related child care and the children’s share of a health insurance premium are Worksheet A add-ons, split by income share with credit to whoever pays the bill. In shared custody Maryland handles those costs as separate reimbursements between the parents, so this tool keeps them out of the Worksheet B transfer instead of blending two payment streams into one number.
Treat the output as the guideline figure a court starts from. The judge can deviate with findings, and for filings the CC-DR-034 or CC-DR-035 worksheet or the DHS calculator is what the court will look at.
What this estimate includes
- The section 12-204(e) schedule at the rows our fixtures verify, with the statutory round-up between rows
- The 92-overnight shared custody test, the 1.5 multiplier, and the graduated 92-109 phase-in
- The sole-custody cap of section 12-204(m)(5), applied automatically
- Preexisting support, this-case alimony shifting, and the 75 percent multifamily allowance
- Child care and health insurance add-ons with direct-payment credits on Worksheet A
- Self-support reserve notes on the asterisked low-income rows
What it leaves out
- The income-finding itself: imputed income and voluntary impoverishment are court determinations
- Extraordinary medical expenses over $250 a year and school or transport add-ons (12-204(h)(2), (i)), which follow the same proration but need case-specific figures
- Combined incomes above $30,000 a month, where the statute hands the amount to the court
- Split custody, which Maryland handles through paired worksheets rather than a statutory formula
- The exact values of untranscribed schedule rows; when the round-up lands past the official next $50 row, the tool says so
Official sources
Official sources last verified: .
- Md. Code, Fam. Law § 12-204 (guidelines: 577-row schedule to $30,000/mo; round-up between rows; shared custody 1.5 multiplier and 92-109 overnight phase-in; add-ons)
Maryland General Assembly (mgaleg.maryland.gov) Last checked
- Md. Code, Fam. Law § 12-201 (definitions: actual and adjusted actual income; self-support reserve 110% of the 2019 FPL; shared custody at 92 overnights; 75% multifamily allowance)
Maryland General Assembly (mgaleg.maryland.gov) Last checked
- Md. Code, Fam. Law § 12-202 (rebuttable presumption; deviation findings; decline provisions; quadrennial guideline review)
Maryland General Assembly (mgaleg.maryland.gov) Last checked
- CC-DR-034 Child Support Guidelines Worksheet A, primary physical custody (Rev. 07/2026)
Maryland Judiciary (mdcourts.gov) Last checked
- CC-DR-035 Child Support Guidelines Worksheet B, shared physical custody
Maryland Judiciary (mdcourts.gov) Last checked
- Md. Rule 9-206 (child support guideline worksheets prescribed; forms CC-DR-034/CC-DR-035)
Maryland Judiciary (courts.state.md.us) Last checked
- Maryland DHS child support guidelines calculator (myDHR portal)
Maryland DHS Child Support Administration (myDHR) Last checked
- Maryland People’s Law Library, "Calculating Child Support" (judiciary-affiliated plain-language guide)
Maryland Thurgood Marshall State Law Library (peoples-law.org) Last checked
Reviewed by SupportDecode Editorial Team Page content reviewed Sources Methodology Update log
Changelog: page first published with the $30,000 schedule, the round-up rule, and the 92-overnight shared custody math. Material changes are dated in the update log.