How Indiana calculates child support

Indiana uses the Income Shares model, which attempts to approximate what parents would have spent on their children if the family had remained intact. Both parents' incomes are combined, a base obligation is looked up in a weekly schedule, and the result is split in proportion to each parent's income.

The 2024 guidelines introduced significant changes: a new weekly schedule based on the Rothbarth economic model, a redesigned Parenting Time Credit table (Table PT), and clearer rules for per-child overnight averaging when children have different schedules.

Indiana uses weekly gross income — all income before any deductions — as the starting point. This includes wages, salary, self-employment income, rental income, dividends, bonuses, and any other regular source.

If you know your monthly or annual income, the calculator converts it automatically: monthly × 12 ÷ 52 = weekly.

A parent's WGI may be reduced for subsequent-born or prior-born children— children not covered by this support order for whom the parent has a legal obligation. The deduction is the parent's WGI multiplied by a factor from the table below:

Voluntary support does not qualify. There must be a court order, adoption decree, or other legal obligation. The burden of proof rests on the parent seeking the adjustment.

The Combined WAI (both parents' adjusted incomes added together) is used to look up the Basic Child Support Obligation (BCSO) from Indiana's published weekly schedule. The schedule has 911 rows — one for every $10 increment from $100/week to $9,200/week — with separate columns for 1 through 8 children.

The BCSO is based on the Rothbarth economic model, which estimates what two parents at a given combined income level would spend on their children in an intact household. When the Combined WAI falls between rows, the amount is linearly interpolated.

When Combined WAI exceeds $9,200/week, the BCSO is capped at the $9,200 row. Courts may deviate upward if the children's actual needs exceed the capped amount.

Two categories of expenses are added to the BCSO and allocated proportionally between parents based on their income shares:

• Work-related childcare: Day care, after-school care, or babysitting required for a parent to work or seek employment. Must be reasonable — not for personal convenience.
• Children's health insurance premiums: The portion of the premium attributable to the children only. If a family plan covers multiple dependents, only the children's proportional share qualifies.

Each parent pays their proportional share of these additions (based on their income fraction) and receives a credit for what they personally paid.

Each parent's share of the Total Child Support Obligation is their income fraction times the total. Then each parent subtracts any health insurance or childcare they actually paid. The result is their net obligation before the Parenting Time Credit.

The Parenting Time Credit reduces the paying parent's obligation to reflect expenses they incur directly during their parenting time — food, clothing, transportation, and other costs paid while the child is with them.

The fractions come from Table PT, which is indexed by annual overnight count. The credit begins at 52 overnights per year (roughly alternate weekends only). Below 52, no automatic credit applies — courts may still consider it.

At approximately equal custody (181–183 overnights), the fractions are 0.682 and 0.505, giving a net credit of BCSO × 0.177.

Multiple children with different overnight schedules

When children in the same case have different overnight schedules, Indiana averages the PTC amounts rather than using a single blended overnight count:

1. Compute PTC for each child's overnight count: PTC_i = BCSO × (total_i − dup_i)
2. Average the per-child PTC amounts: (PTC_1 + PTC_2 + … + PTC_n) ÷ n
3. Enter the average on Line 7 of the worksheet.

Because both parents receive a Parenting Time Credit based on their respective overnight counts, the net transfer is the difference between their final obligations. At truly equal custody with equal income, the obligations cancel out and no payment is required.

In unusual situations — such as when the parent with higher income also has more overnights — the parent who is traditionally considered “custodial” may end up paying support to the other parent. The guideline explicitly contemplates this.

This calculator implements the 2024 Indiana guidelines (effective January 1, 2024) using the official weekly BCSO schedule extracted directly from Indiana's published schedule PDF. The Parenting Time Table, subsequent-born factors, and formula structure were verified against the official guidelines at rules.incourts.gov.

For the official result, use Indiana's online child support calculator →

This tool provides an estimate for informational purposes only. Actual court orders may differ due to deviations, unusual circumstances, or judicial discretion. Consult a licensed Indiana family law attorney for advice specific to your situation.