Divorce, custody and child support in numbers
Family courts decide a lot by formula: a percentage of income for support, a calendar for parenting time, a fraction for a pension. These guides show the formula and let you try it.
Photo: todd kent, Unsplash
Child support and custody
- How much is child supportCalculator
State formulas, the Texas and New York percentages, and add-ons.
- SPO calendarCalculator
First, third and fifth weekends and Thursdays, month by month.
- 2-2-5-5 custody scheduleCalculator
Fixed weekdays, alternating weekends, and a printable calendar.
- Right of first refusal in custody
Trigger time, notice and exceptions, with sample wording.
Divorce
- Cheap divorceCalculator
DIY, mediation and limited-scope help, with a cost estimator.
- Amicable divorceCalculator
Mediation, collaborative divorce, and how annulment differs.
- Who files for divorce first
Court, timing and early orders, weighed against cost.
- High net worth divorceCalculator
Community property, business values, taxes and expert costs.
- What is a QDROCalculator
The order that splits a retirement plan, and the time rule math.
- How long alimony lastsCalculator
Duration by length of marriage in New York, Florida and California.
The rules behind these guides
- State child support guidelines
- federal law requires every state to set guidelines, and each state picks its own formula (42 U.S.C. § 667)
- State custody and possession statutes
- the best-interest standard and, in some states, a default schedule such as the Texas standard possession order
- ERISA's QDRO rules
- how a retirement plan pays part of a pension or 401(k) to a former spouse (29 U.S.C. § 1056(d)(3))
Other topics
Found a number that doesn't match your state's current rule, or need a guide we don't have? Write to us. These guides are general information, not legal advice; see our legal disclaimer.