Utah child support & parenting time calculations
In divorces and breakups, one parent usually pays support to the other to even out the costs of providing for their child. Child support is designed for each of them to contribute according to their abilities to pay.
In Utah, support is paid until the child is 18 and has graduated high school. If they continue to attend high school, support ends when they turn 19.
The basics of calculating child support
Utah's child support law includes guidelines to calculate the amount you'll pay, based on both of your incomes. Relevant income can include:
- What you earn at your job
- Unemployment, social security or retirement benefits
- Spousal maintenance from a previous divorce
Your parent-time also matters if, over the course of a year, you'll split overnights 70/30 or more equally. Specifically, if the parent with less time has at least 111 overnights in a year, the exact number of overnights affects the calculation. This is one reason why it's important to write a parent-time schedule and calculate your parent-time.
Parents are normally expected to evenly split some expenses as they arise: their child's medical care and any child care expenses necessary for a parent's job.
How to calculate child support
To roughly estimate the support you'll pay or receive, use the Custody X Change quick calculator at the top of this page.
For a more precise estimation, use Utah's detailed child support calculator. The calculator pops up a printable sheet.
Consult the Utah child support law for more information. Use the guidelines for low-income payers or for standard-income payers.
In the table, find the row with your income and the column for how many children you have. The dollar amount you see there is roughly what you can expect your support order to look like — assuming the parent who pays has little parent-time. This amount will be lowered if they have significant time.
Note that the low-income table refers only to the income of the parent who pays, but the standard table refers to the combined income of both parents.
How to seek child support
If you have a divorce or custody case, the district court hearing your case will usually determine child support as part of it. If you have another type of legal issue that goes through juvenile court, that court may determine support.
The Utah Office of Recovery Services (ORS) can decide support on its own. That's an administrative order rather than a court order. It can also help locate a missing parent and establish paternity.
As part of a family case
When filing a divorce or custody case in Utah, you'll submit information related to child support. Utah's online paperwork system generates the necessary forms automatically; the court may ask you to provide more information later.
On its own
To apply for support with ORS, complete an application online or on paper.
Provide:
- Your child's birth certificate, if they were born outside Utah
- A court document establishing paternity, if there is one
- A copy of any existing support order for this child
- Financial declarations
If the custodial parent receives public assistance, ORS will attempt to recover funds from the other parent, which means it may open a support case without either parent applying.
ORS lawyers pursue the state's interest in ensuring your child is financially supported. They can't represent you or the other parent. If you need legal advice or representation, find a lawyer on your own.
Once you have a support case with ORS, you can view your case information and use TouchPay to make payments.
If you want a support amount that differs from the guidelines
Whether your case is in court or with ORS, one or both of you can propose a different amount for review and approval. You have to provide a reason for deviating from the guidelines. If your request is well-justified, it may be approved. You're not entitled to receive the support order you want; it's ultimately up to the court or ORS.
Your child has a right to financial support. Requests to raise the support amount are more likely to be approved than requests to lower it. If you're asking to lower it, consider showing how equivalent financial support will be provided in another form (for example, by paying for private school tuition).
You're allowed to hire a professional mediator to help you negotiate your support amount. If your support case is with ORS, ORS may involve the court system to review the agreement your mediator drafted.
If you receive public assistance
If you've ever received TANF or certain other forms of public assistance, the state may keep some of the child support the other parent pays you.
If you're struggling to pay child support
If you're having trouble meeting your obligation, speak to your support worker to let them know you're trying. They can set up automatic withdrawals or help you make a payment plan.
If you don't cooperate, authorities could suspend your driver's license, ask a court to find you in contempt or use other measures to enforce the child support order.
Changing a support order
You can request a child support modification if your circumstances have changed significantly — typically, a change in income or parent-time. Your child's increased medical needs would also be a qualifying reason.
Apply the guidelines to your current situation, and if it would change your payment by at least 10%, you can ask the court for an adjustment.
Calculating parenting time accurately
Parent-time can be an important factor in Utah child support calculations.
Lawyers (and even the court) usually estimate a parent's number of overnights because manually calculating is tedious.
But estimating can affect your support order by thousands of dollars a year. The Custody X Change app lets you quickly and accurately calculate your exact overnights.
You can customize this to fit your situation with Custody X Change.
Don't merely guess at your parent-time. Calculate it exactly to get a fair child support payment.