How Utah calculates child support
- Each parent’s monthly gross income, less alimony and child support previously ordered for others and actually paid, is that parent’s adjusted gross income, rounded to the dollar. The combined income and the number of children give the base combined child support obligation from the 2023 table.
- With sole physical custody, the parent without custody pays their percentage of that obligation. If their own income is low, they pay the lesser of that amount and the low income table amount, which is designed around a minimum-wage subsistence level; the award is at least $30.
- With joint physical custody (each parent more than 30% of the overnights), the parent with fewer overnights pays their share less 0.27% of the obligation for each overnight from 111 to 130 and 0.84% for each overnight over 130. With an equal schedule the lower-income parent is counted at 183 overnights.
- With split custody, each parent’s share is multiplied by the other parent’s percentage of the children and the two are offset.
- Each parent pays half of the children’s health insurance premium and half of work-related child care.
What the calculator asks
- How many children of both of you is the support for?
- How are the overnights shared?
- How many overnights a year are the children with you?
- How many of the children live with you?
- Your monthly gross income
- Alimony you pay under an earlier order, per month
- Child support you are ordered to pay for other children, per month
- The other parent’s monthly gross income
- Alimony the other parent pays under an earlier order, per month
- Child support the other parent is ordered to pay for other children, per month
- Children’s share of the health insurance premium you pay, per month
- Children’s share of the health insurance premium the other parent pays, per month
- Work-related child care you pay for these children, per month
- Work-related child care the other parent pays, per month
- Does either parent want an adjustment for other children of theirs who live in their home?
It never asks for names, Social Security numbers or account numbers, and your answers are not saved.
What the estimate leaves out
- The optional adjustment for other children living in a parent’s home (§ 81-6-202(7))
- The reduction for extended parent-time of 12 or more days in 30 (§ 81-6-211)
- Social Security benefits a child receives on a parent’s record, uninsured medical expenses and the minimal child care award for orders entered from January 1, 2027
- Imputed income, deviations, more than six children and combined income above $100,000 a month
When a situation is outside what the calculator covers, it says so and points you to the official worksheet instead of guessing.
Official sources
- Utah Code § 81-6-304, base combined child support obligation table (orders on or after January 1, 2023)
- Utah Code § 81-6-305, low income table (orders on or after January 1, 2023)
- Utah Code § 81-6-204, base combined child support obligation and rounding
- Utah Code § 81-6-205, sole physical custody
- Utah Code § 81-6-206, joint physical custody
- Utah Code § 81-6-207, split physical custody
- Utah Code § 81-6-208, medical expenses and health insurance premiums
- Utah Code § 81-6-209, child care expenses (effective May 6, 2026)
- Utah Code § 81-6-203, gross income
- Utah Code § 81-9-101, definition of joint physical custody
- ORS Child Support Calculator (worksheet form 1928FA/1929FA): income percentages to 0.1%
Utah Child Support Calculator and worksheets (Office of Recovery Services) →
Ready to estimate? The calculator shows each worksheet line so you can check it against the official form.
Open the Utah 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.