SupportDecode

Updated for 2026 guidelines

The Virginia Child Support Cap: $42,500 a Month

Virginia’s child support schedule runs out at $42,500 a month in combined gross income. Unlike most states, what happens above that line is still a formula, not a judge’s guess.

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Virginia cap facts

Guideline model
Income shares on combined gross incomesource
Statute
Va. Code Sec. 20-108.2source
Schedule ceiling
$42,500 a month, effective July 1, 2025source
Above the ceiling
Top-row amount plus 2.6% to 5.0% of the excess, by number of childrensource
Prior ceiling
$35,000 a month, in effect 2014 to June 30, 2025source
Full state calculator
Virginia child support calculatorsource

How the Virginia schedule ceiling works

Virginia runs an income shares model: the two parents’ combined monthly gross income maps to a basic support obligation on the Sec. 20-108.2(B) schedule, then each parent pays their share of it based on their share of the combined income.

The schedule itself has a top row. SB 805 (2025 Acts of Assembly ch. 702) raised that ceiling from $35,000 to $42,500 a month, effective July 1, 2025, the first update to the table since 2014. At $42,500 combined, the schedule amount for 1 child is $3,306; for 2 children, $4,792; and it rises from there.

Above $42,500, Virginia does not just stop, and it does not leave the extra income to a judge’s discretion the way most states do. Sec. 20-108.2(B) adds a fixed percentage of every dollar above the ceiling to the top-row amount: 2.6 percent for 1 child, 3.4 percent for 2, 3.8 percent for 3, 4.2 percent for 4, 4.6 percent for 5, and 5.0 percent for 6.

That makes Virginia’s high-income mechanic different from Texas’s flat cap or Maryland’s open discretion. The basic obligation keeps climbing past $42,500, just at a much shallower rate than it did below the ceiling.

At the ceiling: combined income of $42,500, 1 child

  1. Say the paying parent earns $25,000 a month and the other parent earns $17,500, for combined gross income of exactly $42,500, with 1 child, on the sole custody worksheet.
  2. At $42,500 combined, the Sec. 20-108.2(B) schedule sets the basic obligation for 1 child at $3,306.
  3. The paying parent earns $25,000 of the $42,500 combined, 58.8 percent. Their income share of the $3,306 basic obligation is $1,944.71 a month.
  4. That is the full schedule number for this household, right at the top row.

The steps above follow the calculation method described on our methodology page.

Above the ceiling: combined income of $50,000, same 1 child

  1. Now say the paying parent’s income rises to $30,000 a month and the other parent still earns $20,000, for combined income of $50,000, which is $7,500 past the $42,500 ceiling, still 1 child.
  2. Virginia starts from the same $3,306 top-row amount, then adds 2.6 percent of the $7,500 excess for 1 child: 2.6 percent of $7,500 is $195. The basic obligation is $3,306 plus $195, which is $3,501.
  3. The paying parent’s share of the real $50,000 combined income is $30,000, or 60 percent. Their share of the $3,501 basic obligation is $2,100.60 a month.
  4. Unlike a flat cap, this number is a genuine formula result, not a court estimate. It rises smoothly with income above $42,500, just at 2.6 percent on the marginal dollar instead of whatever rate applied inside the schedule.

The steps above follow the calculation method described on our methodology page.

Virginia cap history

  1. Prior schedule took effect with a $35,000 combined monthly gross income ceiling.source
  2. SB 805 re-based the entire schedule and raised the ceiling from $35,000 to $42,500, adding the 2.6% to 5.0% above-ceiling percentages.source

Virginia cap FAQs

What is the Virginia child support ceiling in 2026?

The Sec. 20-108.2(B) schedule runs up to $42,500 a month in combined gross income, effective July 1, 2025 under SB 805. That is the first update to the schedule since 2014, when the prior ceiling was set at $35,000.

What happens to Virginia child support above $42,500?

The statute adds a fixed percentage of every dollar above $42,500 to the top-row schedule amount: 2.6 percent for 1 child, rising to 5.0 percent for 6 children. This keeps working as a formula rather than handing the decision to a judge, which is different from most states’ high-income mechanics.

Is the above-ceiling percentage the same for every family size?

No. It rises with the number of children: 2.6 percent for 1 child, 3.4 percent for 2, 3.8 percent for 3, 4.2 percent for 4, 4.6 percent for 5, and 5.0 percent for 6. A larger family’s support keeps growing faster above the ceiling than a smaller one’s.

Can a Virginia court deviate from the above-ceiling formula?

Yes. Like the rest of the guideline, the above-ceiling amount is a rebuttable presumption. A court can deviate under the Sec. 20-108.1 factors, but the starting point is still the schedule amount plus the statutory percentage, not open discretion.

How much did the 2025 ceiling increase change support at $50,000 combined income?

Before SB 805, $50,000 combined sat $15,000 above the old $35,000 ceiling; today it sits $7,500 above the new $42,500 ceiling, and the whole schedule underneath was re-based too. The practical effect is a materially different number for the same high-income household than the pre-2025 schedule produced.

Does the ceiling change with the number of children before the court?

The $42,500 combined-income trigger point is the same regardless of family size; what changes above it is the schedule amount at the ceiling itself and the percentage applied to the excess, both of which rise with more children.

How to use the Virginia ceiling number

This page explains one mechanic: what happens to the Sec. 20-108.2(B) schedule once combined gross income crosses $42,500 a month. For a full calculator with the sole, split, and shared custody worksheets, use the Virginia child support calculator linked below.

The percentage add-on above the ceiling is presumptive, the same as the schedule itself; it is not a judge’s estimate. A court can still deviate from either figure under the Sec. 20-108.1 factors, but it starts from this formula, not a blank page.

This tool computes only the basic obligation. Work-related child care and the children’s health coverage cost are added on top under Sec. 20-108.2(E) and (F), whether income sits above or below the ceiling.

What this estimate includes

  • The exact statutory mechanic: a fixed percentage of income above $42,500, added to the top-row schedule amount
  • A worked example at the ceiling and a second one above it, so you can see the marginal rate in action
  • The 2025 SB 805 rewrite that raised the ceiling from $35,000, the first schedule update since 2014

What it leaves out

  • Work-related child care and health insurance add-ons (use the Virginia calculator)
  • The split and shared custody worksheets and their day-count formulas
  • Any court deviation from the schedule or the above-ceiling percentage under Sec. 20-108.1

Official sources

Official sources last verified: .

Reviewed by SupportDecode Editorial Team Page content reviewed Sources Methodology Update log

Changelog: page first published with the $42,500 a month in combined gross income cap. Material changes are dated in the update log.