How South Dakota calculates child support
- Each parent’s monthly net income is gross income less income tax (single rate), Social Security and Medicare, retirement contributions up to 10% of gross, unreimbursed business expenses for an employer, and payments on other support orders.
- The combined net income and the number of children give the obligation from the schedule (effective July 1, 2022). The parent without custody pays their percentage share.
- When the obligation on that parent’s net income alone falls in the schedule’s emboldened area (an $871 self-support reserve), the lower of that amount and their share is the order.
- The cost of the children’s medical insurance is shared by income: the parent who pays it gets a credit for the other parent’s share.
- With a shared parenting plan of at least 180 nights a year in each home, the obligation is multiplied by 1.5 and each parent’s share is credited for the other parent’s nights (the cross credit). With split custody, the two obligations are offset.
What the calculator asks
- How many children is the support for?
- Who has custody of the children?
- How many nights a year are the children with you under the shared parenting plan?
- How many of the children are in your primary custody?
- How many nights a month are the children with the paying parent under the custody order?
- Your monthly gross income
- Federal income tax for you, per month, at the single rate
- Social Security and Medicare tax you pay, per month
- Contributions you make to an IRS-qualified retirement plan, per month
- Business expenses you pay for an employer that are not reimbursed, per month
- Payments you make on other child support or maintenance orders, per month
- The other parent’s monthly gross income
- Federal income tax for the other parent, per month, at the single rate
- Social Security and Medicare tax the other parent pays, per month
- Contributions the other parent makes to an IRS-qualified retirement plan, per month
- Business expenses the other parent pays for an employer that are not reimbursed, per month
- Payments the other parent makes on other child support or maintenance orders, per month
- Medical insurance you pay for the children, per month
- Medical insurance the other parent pays for the children, per month
- Child care you pay for work, job search or training, per month, minus the federal child care tax credit
- Child care the other parent pays for work, job search or training, per month, minus the federal child care tax credit
It never asks for names, Social Security numbers or account numbers, and your answers are not saved.
What the estimate leaves out
- Child care costs in sole custody, which the court allocates by a separate order (SDCL 25-7-6.18)
- Imputed income for a parent who is unemployed or underemployed (SDCL 25-7-6.4, 25-7-6.26)
- The credit for Social Security or veterans’ benefits a child receives because of the paying parent (SDCL 25-7-6.21)
- The abatement for six or more nights a month with the paying parent, which the court may grant (SDCL 25-7-6.14); the possible range is shown but not applied
- Deviations (SDCL 25-7-6.10) and reasonable health care costs over $250 a year per child (SDCL 25-7-6.16)
When a situation is outside what the calculator covers, it says so and points you to the official worksheet instead of guessing.
Official sources
- SDCL 25-7-6.2, support obligation schedule (SL 2022, ch 80, effective July 1, 2022)
- 2022 House Bill 1278, enrolled (the schedule as enacted)
- SDCL 25-7-6.3 and 25-7-6.7, net income and allowable deductions
- SDCL 25-7-6.16, medical support
- SDCL 25-7-6.27, shared parenting child support cross credit
- SDCL 25-7-6.23, split custody offset
- SDCL 25-7-6.14, abatement for nights with the obligor
- DSS Child Support Obligation Worksheet Based on Income Shares (SE-481A)
- DSS Shared Parenting Child Support Obligation Worksheet
- DSS Child Support Obligation Calculator: income shares in whole percents, amounts in whole dollars
Ready to estimate? The calculator shows each worksheet line so you can check it against the official form.
Open the South Dakota calculator →An estimate from the published guideline formula, not a prediction of a court order. The official court worksheet and the court’s decision control. General information, not legal advice. LawCat is not a law firm.