Kentucky Child Support Guidelines: How Support Is Calculated

Kentucky calculates child support using an income shares model: the state's guidelines table sets a base child support obligation, and that amount is divided between the parents in proportion to how much each parent contributes to their combined monthly adjusted parental gross income. In plain terms, both parents' incomes are added together, the guidelines table tells the court roughly what it costs to raise the children at that combined income level, and each parent pays their share of that amount based on what fraction of the total income is theirs.

How Kentucky Calculates the Base Amount

The starting point is each parent's gross monthly income. The court adds both incomes together to get the combined monthly adjusted parental gross income, looks up the corresponding base obligation on the guidelines table, and then splits that base obligation between the parents proportionally. A parent who earns 60% of the combined income is generally responsible for 60% of the base obligation, and so on.

The guidelines table itself sets amounts up to a combined income of $30,000 per month. Above that ceiling, the amount of support is left to the court's discretion rather than a fixed table number. There is also a minimum support amount of $60 per month, so the obligation generally will not fall below that floor. The version of the table currently in use took effect July 1, 2025 — because the table is periodically updated, if your case involves an order from before that date, confirm with your Kentucky court or the child support office which table version applies.

What Counts as Income (and What Doesn't)

Kentucky's definition of gross income is broad. It includes income from virtually any source: wages, self-employment income, pensions, Social Security, workers' compensation, unemployment benefits, disability benefits, SSI, capital gains, gifts, and maintenance (alimony) received, among other sources. On the other hand, means-tested public assistance (Title IV-A benefits) and food stamps are excluded from gross income — those forms of assistance are not counted against a parent when the obligation is calculated.

Before the two incomes are combined, the law also allows certain deductions. A parent's income is reduced by maintenance the parent is actually paying under a pre-existing order (plus any current maintenance being ordered) and by child support the parent is actually paying for prior-born children. These deductions are meant to account for financial obligations a parent already carries before the current child support order is calculated.

The Self-Support Reserve for Lower-Income Parents

Kentucky guidelines include a protection called the self-support reserve, currently set at $915 per month. This reserve recognizes that a parent with very low income needs to retain enough to meet their own basic needs. If the paying parent's (the "obligor's") monthly adjusted gross income falls at or below a specific threshold, the support obligation is calculated using that parent's income alone rather than the combined-income formula. Those thresholds are:

• $1,100 per month — one child
• $1,300 per month — two children
• $1,400 per month — three children
• $1,500 per month — four or five children
• $1,600 per month — six or more children

If your income is near these thresholds, it is worth confirming with the court or the child support office exactly how your worksheet was calculated, since this reserve can meaningfully change the outcome.

When a Parent Isn't Working: Imputed Income

If a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, the court can impute — that is, assign — a potential income figure to that parent rather than accepting an income of zero or an artificially low amount. However, Kentucky law specifically protects certain parents from having income imputed to them: a court may not impute income to a parent who is incarcerated, who is physically or mentally incapacitated, or who is caring for the parties' child who is age three or younger. If one of these situations applies to you or the other parent, that is directly relevant to how the worksheet should be filled out.

Split Custody Situations

When parents have what the law calls split custody — meaning each parent has primary custody of at least one of the children from the relationship — Kentucky requires two separate worksheets, one calculated from each household's perspective. Once both worksheets are calculated, the parent who owes the larger amount pays the difference between the two obligations to the other parent, rather than each parent paying their full calculated amount separately.

Shared Parenting-Time Credit

This is a recently changed, time-sensitive rule — effective July 15, 2024. Kentucky allows a credit against the support obligation when a parent has substantial parenting time with the children. To qualify, a parent must have the children for a minimum of 88 days per year, where a "day" is defined as more than 12 consecutive hours. The amount of the credit increases on a sliding scale as parenting time increases:

• 88–115 days per year: 15% credit
• 116–129 days: 20.5% credit
• 130–142 days: 25% credit
• 143–152 days: 30.5% credit
• 153–162 days: 36% credit
• 163–172 days: 42% credit
• 173–181 days: 48.5% credit
• 182–182.5 days: 50% credit

Because this schedule changed relatively recently, if your parenting-time arrangement was set up before mid-2024, it is worth checking whether your existing order reflects the current credit structure or an older one.

How the Order Is Entered and Enforced

In Kentucky, a divorce decree — and the child support terms that go with it — is entered by the Circuit Court (which includes the Family Court division in participating counties). Kentucky's Circuit Court system handles the case filings, court dates, and legal forms involved in a divorce or child support action.

Once an order is in place, Kentucky's child support enforcement structure connects to a federal framework. Under federal law (the Title IV-D program), states are required to run a child support enforcement agency and to use standardized enforcement tools such as automatic income withholding from paychecks, paternity establishment procedures, driver's or professional license suspension, and liens against property for unpaid support. Federal law also permits garnishment of federal wages and certain federal benefits to satisfy a support order. Kentucky's own child support services program — run through the Department of Child Support Services and reachable through the Kentucky Attorney General's office — lets parents apply for services, estimate an obligation, make payments, report address changes, upload court documents, and check payment history online.

If either parent later moves to a different state, federal law requires that other state to enforce the Kentucky order as written, and generally bars that other state from modifying it except under narrow rules governing which state retains continuing authority over the case. This is the federal backbone that works alongside Kentucky's own interstate family support procedures.

It is also worth knowing that child support is treated seriously in bankruptcy. Under federal bankruptcy law, child support and similar "domestic support obligations" cannot be eliminated through bankruptcy and are paid ahead of most other unsecured debts. Property-settlement debts owed to a former spouse under a divorce decree are also generally not eliminated in a standard Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

What You Can Do in Kentucky

1. Gather income documentation. Pay stubs, tax returns, self-employment records, and documentation of any benefits (Social Security, disability, unemployment, workers' comp) for both parents — this is the foundation of the worksheet calculation.
2. Identify existing obligations. If you are already paying maintenance or child support for other children, gather proof of those payments, since they can reduce your adjusted gross income for this calculation.
3. Check whether the self-support reserve applies to you. Compare your monthly adjusted gross income to the thresholds above; if you are near or below one, ask the court or child support office how it affects your worksheet.
4. Track actual parenting time. If you have substantial time with the children, keep a record of days (counting a "day" as more than 12 consecutive hours) to support a shared parenting-time credit claim under the current 88-day-minimum schedule.
5. Use the Kentucky child support services program. The Attorney General's office offers an online system to apply for services, estimate an obligation, make or track payments, and update information such as address changes or court orders.
6. Confirm which guidelines table version applies to your case, especially if your order originated before the July 1, 2025 table update or before the July 15, 2024 parenting-time credit change.
7. File and confirm entry through the Circuit Court. Your support order is entered as part of the divorce decree process through Kentucky's Circuit Court (or Family Court division where available) in the county handling your case.

This article is general information, not legal advice for your specific situation — for guidance on your case, consult your Kentucky circuit/family court or a licensed professional.