Florida Basic Child Support Payment Schedule

The following Florida child support payment standard schedule must be applied to the total net income of both parents in Florida in order to determine the minimal amount of child support. The basic principles are outlined in the Florida child support guidelines.

Just like other state guidelines, here are some of the most important content of the Florida Child Support Payment Schedule as contained in the 2021 statutes.

1. If the net income of the parent who is obligated is less than what is specified in the guidelines schedule:
   a.  the court should impose a case-by-case sum on the parent to pay as child support, to ascertain the basis of payment and build the groundwork for higher support judgments should the parent’s income rise,
2. The obligation is the minimal amount of support supplied by the guidelines schedule plus the following percentages multiplied by the amount of income exceeding $10,000 for a combined monthly net income that is higher than the amount in the guidelines schedule.
   

   Child or Children
   One	Two	Three	Four	Five	Six
   5.0%	7.5%	9.5%	11.0%	12.0%	12.5%

3. Based on the following deviation criteria, the court may modify the total minimum child support award, or either or both parents’ portion of the total minimum child support award:

   a. child support obligation arising from a single support order that applies the child support guidelines schedule and requires a person to pay another person more than 55% of their gross income.
   b. the specific parenting plan, a court-ordered time-sharing schedule, or a time-sharing arrangement implemented by consent of the parties, such as when the child spends a large amount of time, but fewer than 20% of the overnights, with one parent, reducing the financial outlay made by the other parent; or the unwillingness of a parent to get involved in the activities of the child.
4. The existence of subsequent children should generally not be taken into account by the court as a reason to ignore the amount specified in the guidelines schedule unless otherwise provided. The existence of such additional children may be used as a defense for a variation from the recommended schedule by the parent who is responsible for supporting them.

   The earnings of the other parent of the future children, however, shall be taken into consideration by the court in assessing whether or not there is a reason for deviation from the guideline amount if the presence of such subsequent children is raised.

Florida Resource

- Florida Child Adoption Guidelines
- Florida Childcare Guidelines
- Florida Child Custody and Visitation Guidelines
- Florida Child Support Guidelines
- Florida Divorce Guidelines
- Florida Marital Property Guidelines
- Florida Spousal Support Guidelines
- How to Check Florida Child Support Payment History