How to Use the Michigan Child Support Calculator
Enter what you know and press Calculate Estimate. The calculator follows the 2025 Michigan Child Support Formula (MCSF) and its 2025 Supplement, both effective January 1, 2025.
- Enter each parent's gross monthly income as Parent A and Parent B. Michigan uses net income, so the calculator estimates each parent's net income for you.
- Choose the number of children and which parent the children live with most of the time.
- Enter the number of overnights a year the children spend with the other parent. Michigan always applies a parenting time offset when overnights are known.
- Add monthly child care and the children's health insurance cost, and say which parent pays them.
Your numbers are sent with the form, not placed in the page address, and this site does not store them. This is a planning estimate. Michigan's Friend of the Court and the court decide the actual amount.
Michigan Child Support Laws and Changes for 2026
Looking for new child support laws in Michigan for 2026? The State Court Administrative Office publishes the formula and updates its dollar figures in a yearly Supplement. The current edition we found is the 2025 MCSF and 2025 Supplement, effective January 1, 2025. We did not find a separate 2026 edition, and this page will be updated when a new one is published. Figures in the 2025 edition include:
- A Low Income Threshold of $1,255 a month of net income (the 2024 federal poverty guideline).
- General Care Support Tables with net family income levels adjusted using the February 2024 CPI-U for Detroit.
- Ordinary medical expense averages of $200 a year for one child, rising to $1,000 for five or more.
A change in the formula does not automatically change an existing order. A parent generally has to ask for a review or modification.
How Michigan Calculates Child Support
Michigan uses an income shares model built on a General Care Equation. The steps in the 2025 MCSF (sections 3.01 to 3.06) are:
- Work out each parent's net income: income minus actual income taxes, FICA and other allowed deductions.
- Add the net incomes to get the monthly net family income. A parent whose net income does not exceed the Low Income Threshold is left out of this figure.
- Find the row of the General Care Support Table (for the number of children) with the highest income level that does not exceed the family income, then solve
{A + [B × (C − D)]} × E. A is the base support, B the marginal percentage, C the family income, D the income level, and E the parent's share of family income. - Apply the Parental Time Offset using each parent's overnights.
- Add ordinary medical, adjust for health coverage premiums, and add child care, each split by income share.
The guideline amount is presumptively correct, but a court may deviate if it explains why the formula would be unjust or inappropriate.
The General Care Support Table (One Child)
This is the one-child table from section 2.03(C) of the 2025 Supplement. Tables for two, three, four and five or more children are in the Supplement and built into the calculator. The base support figures exclude medical and child care expenses.
| Net family income at least | Base support | Plus, on income over that level |
|---|
| $2,013.94 | $503.49 | 24.92% |
| $3,272.65 | $817.18 | 17.63% |
| $4,531.37 | $1,039.04 | 14.05% |
| $7,198.27 | $1,413.74 | 13.98% |
| $9,432.22 | $1,726.10 | 12.01% |
| $17,871.57 | $2,739.71 | 11.29% |
When family income is above the top row, the equation is still used, but the court may exercise discretion in very high income cases (2025 MCSF 3.02(E)).
Low-Income Parents in Michigan
Michigan protects a parent's subsistence income with two special equations (2025 MCSF 3.02(C) and (D)):
- Low Income Equation: if a parent's net income does not exceed $1,255 a month, that parent's base support is 10% of net income.
- Low Income Transition Equation: above the threshold, base support is
(threshold × 10%) + [(net income − threshold) × P] when that is lower than the General Care Equation result.
| Number of children | Low income transition percentage |
|---|
| 1 | 50% |
| 2 | 55% |
| 3 | 60% |
| 4 | 65% |
| 5 or more | 70% |
A low-income parent is also left out of the family income used to work out the other parent's General Care Equation.
The Parental Time Offset (Overnights)
Michigan reduces support as a parent has the children more nights. The Parental Time Offset in section 3.03 is:
[(Ao)2.5 × Bs − (Bo)2.5 × As] ÷ [(Ao)2.5 + (Bo)2.5]
Ao and Bo are each parent's yearly overnights, and As and Bs are each parent's base support. A negative result means Parent A pays, a positive result means Parent B pays. Michigan's Supplement explains the effects: with equal time and equal incomes neither parent pays, with equal time the higher earner pays something, and no reduction occurs if a parent has no overnights. The offset applies in every determination where overnights can be determined, based on past practice or the parenting time order.
Michigan Child Support Examples
In each example the children live mostly with Parent A. Amounts are monthly. Net income is estimated from gross income as described below, and ordinary medical is included.
Example 1: Two children, no overnights with Parent B
A earns $3,000 and B earns $6,000 a month. Estimated net incomes are $2,460 and $4,679, so family income is $7,139 and the shares are 34.46% and 65.54%. B's base support is $1,365. With ordinary medical of $21.85, support is $1,386.85 a month.
Example 2: With child care
Same incomes. A pays $600 a month of child care. B's 65.54% share adds $393.24, so support is $1,780.09 a month.
Example 3: Parent B has 90 overnights
Same incomes and 90 overnights a year with B. The Parental Time Offset reduces B's base support from $1,365 to $1,244.74, so support is $1,266.58 a month.
Example 4: Nearly equal time
Same incomes and 182 overnights a year with B (183 with A). The offset leaves B's base support at $330.63, so support is $352.48 a month.
Example 5: Transition equation
A earns $6,000 and B earns $1,500, one child. B's estimated net income is $1,303, just above the $1,255 threshold, so the transition equation gives B a base support of $149 instead of the General Care amount. Support is $152.63 a month.
Example 6: Low-income parent
A earns $6,000 and B earns $1,000, one child. B's estimated net income is $881, below the threshold, so B's base support is 10% of net income, $88. Support is $90.64 a month.
These are illustrations produced from the formula and Supplement, not court rulings.
What Counts as Income in Michigan
Michigan's definition of income is broad. Section 2.01 of the manual includes wages, overtime, commissions and bonuses, business and self-employment earnings, rental income, retirement and pension distributions, Social Security, unemployment and disability benefits, military pay and allowances, tips, royalties, interest and dividends, net capital gains and the market value of perks. Means-tested benefits are not income, and a child's income is not ordinarily considered. A court can impute income to a parent who could work but chooses not to.
Net income is income minus actual federal, state and local income taxes, FICA and Medicare, mandatory employment payments such as required union dues, court-ordered life insurance premiums and the parent's own mandatory health coverage cost, among other deductions. Taxes follow the dependency exemptions, and the parent the child lives with for most of the year is presumed to claim the child.
Frequently Asked Questions About Michigan Child Support
Is this the official Michigan child support calculator?
No. ChildSupportCalculator.xyz is an independent tool and is not affiliated with the State of Michigan or the Friend of the Court. It applies the 2025 Michigan Child Support Formula and Supplement. A court sets the actual amount.
How is child support calculated in Michigan?
Michigan combines the parents' net incomes, looks up the General Care Support Table for the number of children, splits the result by income share, adjusts it with the Parental Time Offset for overnights, then adds ordinary medical, health premium adjustments and child care.
Are there new child support guidelines in Michigan in 2026?
The current edition we found is the 2025 MCSF and Supplement, effective January 1, 2025. We did not find a 2026 edition. This page will be updated if one is published.
Does Michigan use gross or net income?
Net income: income minus actual income taxes, FICA and other allowed deductions. This calculator estimates net income from the gross figures you enter.
Does Michigan consider overnights or parenting time?
Yes. The Parental Time Offset applies whenever the number of overnights can be determined. It uses each parent's overnights raised to the 2.5 power.
Can the parent with the children still owe child support in Michigan?
Yes. Because the Parental Time Offset compares both parents' obligations, the parent with more overnights can owe support if that parent has much higher income and the time is nearly equal.
What is the Low Income Threshold in Michigan?
$1,255 a month of net income in the 2025 Supplement. A parent at or below it has base support of 10% of net income, and is left out of the family income used for the other parent.
How are child care and medical costs handled in Michigan?
They are split by each parent's share of family income. The ordinary medical average is $200 a year for one child up to $1,000 for five or more. Child care is presumed to continue until the last day of the month the child turns 13.
How is a Michigan order modified?
A review can be requested when there is a substantial change in circumstances. The minimum threshold for modification is 10% of the current support payment or $50 a month, whichever is greater.
Does the Michigan calculator need my personal details or a login?
No. This site needs no login and does not store your numbers.
