2027 North Carolina Child Support Calculator
Estimate support for hearings on or after January 1, 2027. See the calculation, understand the changes and explore your next steps. Informational beta only. Not legal advice.
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Adopted for 2027. Available here as a beta.
The North Carolina Conference of Chief District Court Judges adopted revised Child Support Guidelines on October 7, 2026. The Judicial Branch announced the update on October 13, 2026. The revised guidelines apply to actions heard on or after January 1, 2027. A hearing before that date requires the guidelines applicable to that earlier hearing.
October 7, 2026: adopted.
October 13, 2026: announced.
January 1, 2027: applies to hearings on or after this date.
“Beta” describes this calculator, not the legal status of the guidelines. The guidelines have been adopted. Our tool is an informational implementation that remains subject to testing, clarification and revision.
Key updates and clarifications
- An updated basic support schedule and a higher income ceiling. The revised schedule extends through $50,000 in combined adjusted monthly income. The court considers the child’s reasonable needs and the parents’ abilities above the schedule; this calculator does not extrapolate.
- Updated low-income protection. The guideline text uses a $1,330 monthly self-support reserve. In qualifying Worksheet A cases, the shaded schedule amount is based only on the paying parent’s adjusted income, without adding or crediting the listed expenses.
- Clearer treatment of nonrecurring income. Depending on the facts, a court may average or prorate irregular income or require a percentage of a one-time payment. Enter a supportable monthly figure after determining the appropriate treatment; the tool does not make that legal decision.
- Clarified timing terminology. Prospective support generally addresses the period from filing; retroactive support addresses the period before filing; arrears concern unpaid amounts under an entered order. This calculator estimates a monthly amount, not those historical obligations.
Start with the right custody arrangement.
The tool selects a worksheet using each child’s annual overnights. Enter the facts for every child and use the worksheets’ 365-day convention. A label such as “joint custody” alone does not determine the calculation.
One primary home
All children live with the same parent for at least 243 nights per year. The other parent’s income share, qualifying expenses and any applicable low-income rule determine the estimate.
Two shared homes
At least one child spends 123 nights or more with each parent, and each assumes financial responsibility during parenting time. Mixed primary/shared arrangements also use B. The basic obligation is multiplied by 1.5 and allocated using income and parenting time.
Primary homes divided
Primary custody of the children is divided between the parents, with no shared-custody child. Each parent’s obligation is calculated and the two obligations are offset.
The calculator supports two-parent A/B/C estimates. Third-party custodians and unusual custody arrangements need individual review. Meeting the overnight threshold alone does not establish shared financial responsibility.
What to gather before you calculate.
Income and other support
- Recent pay records, tax returns and records of bonuses, commissions, pensions, self-employment and other qualifying income.
- Actual current child support paid for other children. Do not include arrears payments as a deduction.
- Natural or adopted children living with each parent who are not part of this case. Do not double-count the same children or obligation in separate deductions.
- Qualifying dependent Social Security or VA benefits attributable to a parent’s earnings record. Enter them separately from that parent’s other income.
Gross income is not take-home pay. Means-tested assistance and a new spouse’s income generally are excluded. Self-employment deductions, imputed income and disputed income need particular care.
Parenting time and child expenses
- Annual overnights for each child, supported by the actual arrangement or relevant order.
- Reasonable work-related or job-search child care. The tool does not automatically reduce costs for a tax credit.
- The health insurance premium attributable to the children in this case—not the entire family premium or the employer-paid contribution.
- Qualifying extraordinary expenses, which depend on findings that they are reasonable, necessary and in the child’s best interest.
The schedule already includes the first $250 per child per year of uninsured medical and dental costs. The 5% health coverage reasonable-cost standard is a separate question from allocating a premium.
Use our child support document organizer to prepare for a discussion with counsel.
Questions, safeguards and beta limitations.
How was the calculator checked?
The source schedule contains 969 income rows and 5,814 child-count values. Those values were compared with the official PDF and the supplied 2027 reference workbook. The automated suite passed 15,370 assertions, including exact lookups, interpolation, custody and income boundaries, expense credits, benefit offsets, invalid entries and 1,200 varied worksheet scenarios. Interactive checks supplement the arithmetic tests. Testing is not court approval, legal certification or a guarantee of a particular order.
Why might it say “Review needed” instead of giving a number?
The tool withholds results outside supported conditions, including above-schedule income, more than six children, negative adjusted income, certain benefit offsets and low combined-income shared/split cases. It also flags an apparent source-table anomaly: the published one-child amount at $43,450 decreases unexpectedly. One-child lookups strictly between $43,400 and $43,500 are withheld until authoritative clarification, including affected resident-child deductions. We have not substituted a guessed correction.
For low combined-income B/C cases, this beta deliberately pauses rather than apply the shaded Worksheet A reserve where the guidelines exclude it. This is a limitation of the implementation, not a statement that a court cannot calculate support.
Can the court order a different amount?
Yes. The guidelines create a presumptive amount in covered cases, but a court may deviate when the required grounds and findings are established. Agreements, unusual expenses, income issues and the child’s needs may require separate analysis. A calculator cannot decide those questions.
Does a 15% difference automatically modify an order?
No. The guidelines describe a presumption of substantial change when an order was entered at least three years before the modification motion and the new guideline amount differs by at least 15%, subject to the governing requirements. A court process is still necessary. Other grounds may apply; this tool does not determine eligibility or calculate arrears.
How do rounding, expenses and benefit credits work?
The tool interpolates between published schedule rows and retains precision internally until displaying currency. A/B/C use different expense-credit steps. Shared and split calculations preserve intermediate negative values before offsetting the parents’ obligations. Straightforward Worksheet A dependent-benefit credits are supported; special and shared/split offsets require review. Displayed line items may differ by a cent from calculations performed using rounded figures.
Are my entries sent to the law firm?
The calculator processes entries in your browser. Its code does not send scenario inputs to a calculation server or to Adkins Law, and it does not save them automatically. A downloaded scenario contains the facts you entered; store and share that file carefully. Ordinary website hosting and the surrounding website may still collect routine visit information under the site’s privacy policy. Do not enter Social Security numbers or other identifying details.
Can I print, save and compare estimates?
Yes. Complete valid inputs to enable a printable calculation, a downloadable scenario and the comparison feature. Pin an estimate, change the facts and compare the amount and payment direction. For the best print experience, open the calculator in a full window. Saved scenarios are recalculated when reopened; they are not court forms or filed worksheets.
Go directly to the official sources.
- North Carolina Judicial Branch: Child Support Guidelines Updated for 2027 — adoption announcement and effective date.
- 2027 Child Support Guidelines and Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations (AOC-A-162) — controlling guideline text and schedule used for this beta.
- Worksheet A · Worksheet B · Worksheet C — existing published worksheet arithmetic. Check the Judicial Branch for revised forms; some published forms carry earlier revision dates.
Content and source review: October 20, 2026. Calculator beta 0.1. Official guidance and forms may be corrected or updated; verify the current materials before relying on an estimate.
Put the numbers in context.
Adkins Law helps families in Huntersville, Cornelius and the Lake Norman area understand child support, custody and their next steps.