Texas child support is set by statutory guidelines in most cases: a percentage of the paying parent’s net monthly resources, based on the number of children, with a cap on the resources the percentages apply to. Once ordered, support can be modified when circumstances materially change, and it can be enforced through the courts when it goes unpaid.
This guide covers all three stages, establishment, modification, and enforcement, because most child support problems live in the second and third.
How Child Support Is Calculated in Texas
Texas uses guideline percentages applied to the paying parent’s net monthly resources.
Net resources generally include wages, self-employment income, commissions, bonuses, rental income, and certain benefits, minus specific deductions such as taxes and the cost of the child’s health insurance. Under the current guidelines, the percentages are generally twenty percent of net resources for one child, increasing by five percent for each additional child before the court, up to forty percent for five, and at least forty percent for six or more.
Two important qualifiers:
- The guidelines apply to net resources up to a statutory cap, which is adjusted periodically. Above the cap, additional support depends on the child’s proven needs.
- Guidelines are a starting point, not a straitjacket. Courts can vary from them where the evidence justifies it, and the percentages are adjusted when a parent has children in more than one household.
When Income Is Not Simple
Guideline math is easy when income is a paycheck. It gets contested when income is not.
Self-employment income, business distributions, bonuses, equity compensation, and variable earnings all raise the same question: what are the paying parent’s true net resources? Courts can also consider earning potential rather than actual earnings where a parent is intentionally unemployed or underemployed.
Where a business is involved, the support question overlaps with the property case, because the records that establish income are the same records that establish value, the analysis that drives dividing a business in a divorce and the rest of a complex property case.
Beyond the Monthly Number: Medical and Dental Support
A Texas child support order is more than the guideline figure.
Orders generally also address medical support and dental support, including who provides the child’s insurance and how uninsured expenses are shared. These provisions are enforceable like the rest of the order, and disputes over unreimbursed expenses are common enough that clean record keeping matters from the start.
Modifying Child Support in Texas
A support order can be modified when it no longer fits reality.
Texas generally allows modification in two situations:
- The circumstances of the child or a parent have materially and substantially changed since the last order. A significant income change, a job loss, a change in custody, or a change in the child’s needs may qualify.
- Three years have passed since the order, and the guideline amount would differ from the current order by twenty percent or one hundred dollars per month.
Two cautions. Modification generally operates prospectively from the filing, so waiting costs money; if your income has dropped, act rather than silently underpaying. And informal agreements between parents do not change the order. Until a court modifies it, the existing order controls, and the formal modification process turns on the same material and substantial change standard that governs custody changes.
Enforcing Child Support in Texas
Unpaid child support is enforceable, and Texas gives courts real tools.
Depending on the case, enforcement may involve:
- Wage withholding from the paying parent’s employer.
- A cumulative money judgment for arrearages, with interest.
- Contempt proceedings, which can carry fines and, in appropriate cases, jail.
- License suspension, liens, and interception of certain payments.
Documentation drives these cases. Keep records of every payment received and missed, with dates and amounts. If the order itself is vague, a clarification may be needed before the court’s enforcement tools can reach it, and an ignored decree carries consequences of its own.
One rule surprises people: possession and support are independent obligations. A parent who is behind on support is still entitled to court-ordered possession, and a parent being denied possession still owes support. Each problem has its own remedy, and self-help creates new problems instead of solving old ones.
Child Support and the Rest of Your Case
Support rarely stands alone.
It is set alongside conservatorship and the possession schedule in a SAPCR, and it interacts with spousal maintenance where that is in play.
Talk With a Collin County Child Support Lawyer
Whether you are establishing support, seeking a modification that reflects reality, or enforcing an order that is being ignored, the work is the same: establish the true numbers and put the evidence in front of the court.
Petitt Family Law handles child support matters throughout Collin County as part of its family law practice, from establishment through enforcement of unpaid support and modification when circumstances change. Schedule a consultation with Melody Petitt, or call (469) 361-2606.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is child support in Texas for one child?
Generally twenty percent of the paying parent’s net monthly resources under the current guidelines, applied up to a statutory cap that is adjusted periodically. The actual figure depends on how net resources are calculated, which is where most disputes arise.
Can parents agree to no child support?
Parents can propose agreements, but child support belongs to the child, and a court must find any agreement in the child’s best interest. Courts are generally reluctant to approve zero-support arrangements without good reason.
My ex quit their job to avoid support. What happens?
Courts can look at earning potential rather than actual earnings where a parent is intentionally unemployed or underemployed, and can set support accordingly. Evidence of work history and qualifications matters in these cases.
Can I withhold visitation if support is not paid?
No. Possession and support are independent obligations under Texas law. Denying possession over unpaid support exposes you to enforcement yourself. Pursue unpaid support through an enforcement action instead.
How far back can unpaid child support be collected?
Arrearages can be reduced to judgment with interest, and Texas courts retain broad power to confirm and collect past-due support, in many circumstances long after the children are adults. If you are owed back support, it is worth getting advice regardless of how much time has passed.