How to Calculate Child Support Payments in Tennessee

How to Use the Tennessee Child Support Calculator

To calculate the amount of support under Tennessee's current child support guidelines, you can use one of the state's official child support calculators: either an Excel version (download the appropriate "Income Shares Worksheet" for your operating system) or the "web style" calculator. You can also download an IOS calculator app (search for "Child Support Calculator of TN" in the App Store). The worksheets include full instructions.

You’ll need to have some basic information on hand before doing the calculations, including both parents’ income, what your physical custody (parenting time) arrangements will be, and your costs for the child’s health insurance coverage, recurring uninsured medical expenses, and work-related child care. If you're still negotiating custody, you might try multiple calculations under different scenarios.

Learn more about how child support works in Tennessee, including what gets counted as income when calculating support.

Are Other Child Support Calculators Accurate?

Watch out for other websites with so-called child support calculators for Tennessee. Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee that these calculators are accurate and up-to-date. Tennessee updates its child support guidelines regularly, and you usually can’t tell whether any of these other websites have kept up with the latest changes.

It’s best to stick with the official state calculator to get the most accurate estimate of the amount of child support you may pay or receive. Be aware, however, that the judge may order a different amount in your case (more on that below). Of course, the accuracy of the child support calculation will also depend on the accuracy of the information you provide.

When Child Support May Be Different Than the Standard Calculation

Tennessee presumes that the amount calculated under the guidelines is appropriate, but you may argue that a different amount would be better in your situation. Whether you and the child's other parent have agreed on a support amount that departs from the guideline or a judge decides for you, the judge will have to find that using the amount calculated under the guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate, and that a different amount would be in the child's best interests.

Some of the allowed reasons for deviations from the standard calculation include:

• extraordinary educational expenses due to a child's special needs
• other expenses for activities meant to enhance the child's development, including summer camp, music or art lessons, and school-sponsored extracurricular activities
• substantial travel expenses related to parenting time, and
• extreme economic hardship, such as when a child has extraordinary medical needs that aren't covered by insurance.

(Tenn. Dept. of Hum. Svcs. Rule 1240-02-04-.07 (2024).)

The child support worksheet allows you to fill in amounts and reasons for deviations from the standard calculation.

How to Apply for Child Support in Tennessee

Typically, you'll apply for child support as part of the process of filing for divorce in Tennessee. You'll need to include your completed child support worksheets along with the other divorce papers.

If you aren't married to your child's other parent, you may get help with requesting support by applying for child support services from the Child Support Program in the Tennessee Department of Human Services (DHS). If needed, the DHS can also help with establishing the child's legal paternity and locating absent parents.

How to Collect Child Support in Tennessee

Usually, parents pay child support through income withholding. That way, the support payments are taken out of the parent's paychecks and eventually forwarded to the recipient parent. When income withholding isn't possible or appropriate (such as when a parent is self-employed), the DHS offers several payment methods.

If you're having trouble collecting support payments, your local child support office in Tennessee can help enforce court-ordered child support. Depending on how much the other parent owes, these offices have several ways of enforcing child support, including withholding support from paychecks, reporting the debt to credit bureaus, intercepting income tax refunds, intercepting workers’ compensation or unemployment benefits, seizing money from bank accounts, placing liens on property (so the delinquent parent can’t sell it or borrow money before paying off the debt), and suspending the parent’s driver’s or other licenses.

How to Change the Amount of Child Support

Either parent may request a modification in the amount of child support in Tennessee when:

• there's at least a 15% difference between the amount of child support in the current order (not including any deviation amount) and the amount calculated with the parents' current financial circumstances, or
• a modification is necessary to provide for the child's health care needs.

You may ask the Tennessee DHS to review your current child support order to determine if you qualify for an adjustment. However, if it's been less than two years since your existing order was issued or last reviewed, you'll need to provide information demonstrating that there's been a change in circumstances since then.

(Tenn. Dept. of Hum. Svcs. Rule 1240-2-4-.05 (2024).)