Child Support in North Carolina

Like all other U.S. states, North Carolina has guidelines that give parents and judges a consistent way to calculate the appropriate amount of child support. The child support guidelines are complicated and can be intimidating. The state provides worksheets and other resources to help with computing support (more on that below). But first, it helps to understand how the guidelines work and what you'll need to know to get started.

In North Carolina, child support is primarily based on:

• parental income
• the number of children being supported, and
• how much time the children spend with each parent.

The calculation also includes adjustments for certain expenses and obligations (as discussed below).

Who Pays Child Support?

Under North Carolina law, both parents are responsible for the support of a minor child. (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-13.4(b) (2024).)

When one parent has primary physical custody of the children, the other parent normally pays child support. The guidelines assume that custodial parents meet their share of the overall child support obligation by paying directly for the children's day-to-day expenses, like housing, food, and clothing.

When parents have shared or split custody, the question of who pays child support will depend on the details of their parenting arrangements as well as their respective incomes. (More below on how custody arrangements affect support calculations.)

How Child Support Is Calculated in North Carolina

The child support calculation is primarily based on:

• parental income
• the number of children to be supported, and
• the time a child spends with each parent (custody and visitation).

There are also adjustments for certain expenses.

What Counts as Income When Calculating Child Support?

Before you can begin calculating child support, you'll need to gather information about both parents' income. Start by adding up each parent's gross monthly income, which includes:

• salaries, wages, commissions, and bonuses
• income from self-employment or running a business, minus ordinary and necessary business expenses
• unemployment benefits and severance pay
• workers' compensation and disability benefits
• interest and capital gains
• Social Security, retirement, and pension benefits
• trusts and annuities
• alimony received from a previous spouse, and
• gifts and prizes.

The following are not included in gross income:

• income from someone who isn't the child's parent (with some exceptions), regardless of whether that person is married to or lives with the child's parent (or has custody of the child)
• support payments received for a child not included in the current case (such as a child from a previous marriage)
• an employer's contributions toward future Social and Medicare payments or for other benefits that aren't deducted from the parent's pay, and
• adoption assistance benefits and public assistance that's based on need, such as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

Deductions From Income

North Carolina's child support worksheets (discussed below) automatically convert gross income to adjusted gross income, based on standard deductions for taxes withheld from paychecks.

However, parents may also deduct any child support payments they're making for children from another relationship, whether under a court order, a written agreement, or a voluntary support arrangement (as long as the parent has made those voluntary payments for a reasonable, extended period of time).

When Can North Carolina Judges Impute Income to Parents?

It's an unfortunate fact of life that some parents try to evade or lower their child support duty by purposely lowering their income. North Carolina's guidelines give judges a way to deal with that ploy. When a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, the judge may use the parent's potential income to calculate child support. (Learn more about imputing income for child support in North Carolina.)

How Parenting Arrangements Affect Child Support in North Carolina

North Carolina provides three separate worksheets for calculating child support. Your custody arrangements will determine which worksheet you'll use.

• Primary custody to one parent: When the children will live with one parent for at least 243 nights during the year, use Worksheet A for the standard support calculation.
• Shared custody: Use Worksheet B when each parent has at least one of the children for 123 or more nights in the year and assumes financial responsibility for the child's expenses during that time. In these shared custody cases, the basic support obligation is increased by 50% and is allocated between the parents depending on their incomes and parenting time. So along with the other information, you'll need to enter the exact number of overnights the children will spend with each parent. After each parent's support obligation is calculated, the parent with the higher obligation will pay the difference to the other parent.
• Split custody. Worksheet C comes into play when each parent has primary physical custody of at least one of their children. You'll enter the number of children living with each parent, along with the other information. After each parent's support obligation is calculated, based on their incomes and the number of children living with each of them, the parent with the higher support obligation will pay the difference to the other parent.

If you and your co-parent haven't agreed on custody, you could use the worksheets to see the impact of different parenting arrangements on child support.

Adjustments to Child Support

All of North Carolina's child support worksheets also include adjustments for the following expenses:

• the cost of health insurance for the child or children (not including the employer's contribution that's not taken out of the parent's pay), and
• reasonable child care costs that are required because of a parent's employment or job search.

Judges may also allow adjustments for certain extraordinary expenses that are reasonable, necessary, and in the child's best interests, including:

• expenses related to special or private elementary or secondary schools to meet a child's particular educational needs, and
• the cost of transporting the child between the parent's homes.

The health insurance, child care, and extraordinary expenses will be added to the basic support obligation and allocated between the parents based on their respective incomes.

The guideline calculation assumes that parents may have to pay up to $250 a year in unreimbursed medical expenses for each child. If those expenses exceed that amount, the judge may order either or both parents to pay an appropriate portion of the extra costs.

Automatic Adjustments for Low-Income Parents

An automatic adjustment for parents with very low incomes is built into North Carolina's guideline calculation. This "self-support reserve" is meant to ensure that parents will have enough money left over after paying child support to maintain a minimum standard of living, based on the federal poverty level for one person. However, even when the self-support reserve applies, the guidelines ordinarily call for a minimum support obligation of $50 per month.

When Child Support May Differ From the Guidelines Amount

North Carolina law presumes that judges should award the amount of child support calculated under the guidelines, unless the judge determines that the standard ("presumptive") amount:

• wouldn't meet the child's reasonable needs
• exceed the child's needs, or
• would otherwise be unjust or inappropriate.

When a parent requests a deviation from the guidelines, the judge will decide based on evidence about the child's reasonable needs as well as each parent's relative ability to provide support. (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15-13.4(c) (2024).)

Can Parents Agree on a Child Support Amount?

The guidelines are meant to help parents agree on child support—and most parents do just that, either separately or as part of an overall divorce settlement agreement. However, they'll have to submit their agreement to the court for a judge's approval.

Typically, there isn't a problem with that approval when parents have agreed on a support amount that's higher than the standard guideline calculation. But if you and your co-parent have agreed to a lower amount, be prepared to provide evidence supporting a deviation from the guidelines (as discussed above). The judge may not approve your agreement if the amount of support is unreasonable.

When Does Child Support End in North Carolina?

A parent's legal obligation to pay child support in North Carolina generally ends when the child turns 18, unless the child:

• is legally legally emancipated before then, or
• is regularly attending high school, is making satisfactory progress toward graduation, and hasn't turned 20.

(N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-13.4(c) (2024).)

You and your co-parent may agree to extend child support beyond the legal cut-off date, such as when you want to support a child who's attending college or another post-secondary education program. Be sure to put that agreement in writing and submit it to the court, so that a judge can make it part of an official court order. This should help avoid any issues down the road if a parent has a change of heart about continuing support.

Be aware that just because the duty to pay child support has ended, that doesn't relieve a parent of the obligation to make up any past due amounts (arrearages).

How to Apply for Child Support

When parents are getting divorced, the issue of child support is almost always addressed as part of the divorce process. You can request child support when you file your divorce papers.

You can also request temporary child support from the court if you and your spouse are considered legally separated, which is different than "divorce from bed and board" (similar to legal separation in other states). This is important because you can't file for divorce in North Carolina until you've been separated for at least a year—and you may need child support while you're waiting to qualify.

Outside of the divorce context, custodial parents can request support by applying for services from the North Carolina Child Support Services program (CSS). There's an application fee of up to $25, unless you're receiving certain public assistance benefits. The CSS will work with parents to calculate the proposed support amount under the child support guidelines. If needed, the agency can also help establish paternity.

Collecting and Enforcing Child Support

All child support payments are made through North Carolina's Centralized Collection Operation (NCCSCC). State law also requires that payments be collected through income withholding from the paying parent's paychecks unless there's a good reason not to require that, or the parents have agreed (in writing) to another arrangement. (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 110-136.5 (c1) (2024).)

If you're having trouble collecting the money, you can get help enforcing child support from the CSS or the courts.

It's important to remember that you're still obligated to obey your custody and parenting time (visitation) orders, even if your co-parent isn't keeping up with child support payments. And if you're the one paying child support, you can't stop those payments just because the other parent is withholding visitation.

How to Change Your Current Child Support Payments

Either parent may request a change in their current child support payments at any time. A judge won't grant a modification request unless the parent shows that there's been a substantial change in circumstances since the existing order was issued. Under North Carolina's guidelines, however, the court presumes that a parent has met that threshold requirement if:

• it's been at least three years since the existing order was issued, and
• there's at least a 15% difference between the amount under the existing order and a new guideline calculation based on the parents' current circumstances.

(S.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-13.7 (2024); Johnston County ex rel. Bugge v. Bugge, 722 S.E.2d 512 (N.C. Ct. App. 2012).)(2024).)

Other situations that might qualify as a change in circumstances include when:

• a parent has experienced a significant increase or involuntary decrease in income
• the child's needs have changed, or
• the child is now living with a different parent.

Once you've met the changed-circumstances requirement, the judge will then determine what the new support amount should be—whether under a standard guideline calculation or a deviation from the guidelines (as discussed above).

A parent's remarriage won't, by itself, qualify as a change of circumstances for modifying child support. However, some circumstances related to the new family (such as the need to support other children) might play a role in modification proceedings. (Learn more about remarriage and child support in North Carolina.)

Resources and Help With Child Support in North Carolina

Once you fill in your information on the appropriate online child support worksheet (see the links and discussion above), the worksheet will do the calculations for you and show the recommended child support order. You can then print that form and submit it with your child support request.

You can find more information on North Carolina's Child Support Portal, including an FAQ, as well as on the North Carolina Judicial Branch's Child Support page.

If you believe you qualify for a child support modification, and the CSS is providing services in your case, you should contact your case worker. Otherwise, you may use this form to file a modification request directly with the court.

Despite all of these resources, you might need to get a lawyer's help in some situations—particularly if you and your co-parent can't agree on a requested deviation from the standard guideline calculation or a request for a modification of child support.