Estimate your Utah child support payment in about two minutes.

Utah calculates child support using the Income Shares Model and a statutory table set by the Legislature. Enter both parents' income, custody time, and a couple of monthly costs, and get the same presumptive number a judge or the Office of Recovery Services would start from — free, and with no sign-up.

Calculate your estimate How the formula works
$1,951 combined monthly income where the standard guideline table begins
111 nights a year, per parent, to qualify as joint physical custody
Jan 1, 2023 the guideline tables this calculator uses took effect

Get your estimate

Uses the official Utah Code § 81-6-304 guideline table — the same schedule Utah courts and the Office of Recovery Services start from.

Utah Child Support Calculator

Free Utah estimate — Official Utah Code § 81-6-304 Guideline Table

Income
Before taxes, all sources
Children & Custody
% of overnights per year with paying parent
Additional Costs (Monthly)
Please enter both incomes to calculate.
Estimated Monthly Payment$0
Model
This is an estimate, not a legal determination. Actual child support is set by your state's official worksheet/guidelines and may include deviations not captured here. Always confirm with your state's child support agency or a family law attorney.

This tool gives an estimate for planning purposes only — see when a judge can deviate from it below.

Utah child support guidelines, explained

Utah sets child support with a formula, not a guess. Here's what actually goes into the number — and where a court is allowed to move away from it.

How Utah calculates child support

Utah uses the Income Shares Model, the same general approach most U.S. states take: the goal is for a child to keep receiving roughly the share of parental income they'd have had if both parents lived in one household. The rules live in Utah Code Title 81, Chapter 6 — the Domestic Relations Code's child support chapter, renumbered from the old Title 78B, Chapter 12 in a September 2024 recodification that changed section numbers but not the underlying guidelines.

The calculation runs in a set order:

  1. Start with each parent's gross monthly income — wages, self-employment, bonuses, and most other regular income sources count.
  2. Subtract any alimony or child support that parent already pays under an earlier order, which produces each parent's adjusted gross income.
  3. Add the two adjusted incomes together to get combined adjusted gross income.
  4. Look up that combined figure, and the number of children, in the base combined child support obligation table (Utah Code § 81-6-304) to get the base obligation — the total amount the law presumes the two households should be spending on the children.
  5. Split that base obligation between the parents in proportion to each one's share of the combined income. A parent earning 65% of the combined income is presumptively responsible for 65% of the base obligation.
  6. Adjust the paying parent's share for parenting-time overnights, then add each parent's proportional share of health insurance and work-related childcare.

If the combined adjusted gross income comes out higher than the table's top bracket — $100,000 a month — the court sets an amount case by case, but the law doesn't let that amount fall below the table's highest listed figure for the number of children involved.

The 2023 guideline update

The table currently in use applies to any order entered, or modified, on or after January 1, 2023. The Legislature's most visible change that year was to the low-income cutoff: cases now switch into the standard guideline table once combined monthly income reaches $1,951, up from the old $900 threshold. Below that line, a separate low-income table applies instead, and the minimum support order under either table is $30 a month.

Orders that were both entered and never modified before January 1, 2023, generally continue to run on the older table until they come up for modification — one reason the Utah Code keeps both the pre-2023 and current tables on the books side by side.

Joint custody and the 111-night rule

Overnights change the math. Utah Code § 81-6-206 defines joint physical custody as each parent having the children at least 111 overnights a year — a little over 30% of the year. Below that, the arrangement is treated as sole physical custody, and the base obligation applies without an overnight credit.

Once a parent clears 111 nights, a graduated formula chips away at the base obligation: each overnight from 111 through 130 reduces it by 0.27%, and every night from 131 upward reduces it by a steeper 0.84%. In a true 50/50 schedule, the Code treats the lower-earning parent as having 183 overnights for this calculation, regardless of the exact overnight split, so a week-on/week-off schedule doesn't get penalized for landing on 182 instead of 183.

Health insurance and childcare

The base table only covers ordinary day-to-day costs — food, housing, transportation, that sort of thing. On top of it, Utah adds the child's health insurance premium and any work-related childcare cost, and splits both in the same proportion as the base obligation. Courts can also allocate extraordinary medical costs or other unusual expenses the same way when the facts call for it.

Low-income cases

Utah runs a separate, gentler table for lower incomes rather than forcing the standard formula down to zero. When an obligor parent's own adjusted gross income is $649 a month or less, the court sets support case by case with a $30 floor. Between roughly $650 and $1,950 in combined income, a dedicated low-income table phases the obligation in gradually, rather than jumping straight to the standard table's numbers.

When a judge can deviate. The guideline amount is a rebuttable presumption, not a ceiling or a guarantee. A court can order a different figure when it makes written findings that the guideline amount would be unjust or inappropriate — for example, because of a child's extraordinary medical needs, a parent's other dependents, or income that's temporarily unrepresentative of their real earning capacity. Judges can also impute income to a parent who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, based on that parent's work history, qualifications, or the local minimum wage, with narrow exceptions such as a parent who is medically unable to work or currently in short-term job training.

Frequently asked questions

Is this calculator a legal determination of what I'll pay?

No. It applies the same public guideline table Utah courts start from, but a real order also depends on verified income, any deviations a judge approves, and paperwork filed through the court or the Office of Recovery Services. Treat the number here as a planning estimate.

What counts as income for this calculation?

Utah Code § 81-6-203 defines gross income broadly — wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, self-employment income, and most other recurring income sources. A judge can also impute income to a parent who is voluntarily out of work or working below their capacity.

Does 50/50 custody mean neither parent pays child support?

Not necessarily. Even with equal overnights, support still runs on the income gap between the parents — the higher earner typically still owes something to keep the child's standard of living consistent across both homes.

How often does Utah update these guideline tables?

The Legislature reviews the schedule periodically rather than on a fixed annual cycle — the current tables took effect January 1, 2023, with the next scheduled review reporting to a legislative interim committee. Check back here or with the Office of Recovery Services for the current figures.

Where can I file for an official Utah child support order?

Through a district or juvenile court case (often alongside a divorce or parentage action), or administratively through the Utah Office of Recovery Services. The Online Court Assistance Program (OCAP) can help self-represented parents prepare the required worksheets.

Sources: Utah Code Title 81, Chapter 6, §§ 81-6-203, 81-6-204, 81-6-206, 81-6-304, 81-6-305 (le.utah.gov); Utah Courts self-help center, Child Support (utcourts.gov). This page is general information, not legal advice — for a specific case, talk to a Utah family law attorney or the Office of Recovery Services.

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