Updated for the 2025 schedule
Louisiana Child Support Calculator 2026
Louisiana figures support from both parents’ gross incomes on the schedule the legislature rewrote for 2025. Many calculators still run the old table; this page runs the current one and explains every step it takes.
Reviewed by SupportDecode Editorial Team Page content reviewed Sources Methodology Update log
Estimate Louisiana child support
Estimated monthly child support: $559.80
The paying parent pays this amount to the receiving parent each month.
| Line item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Combined monthly adjusted gross incomeLa. R.S. 9:315 (child support guidelines: principles, definitions, gross and adjusted gross income) (Louisiana Legislature) | $5,000.00 |
| Basic child support obligation from the R.S. 9:315.19 schedule (extrapolated between rows where required, R.S. 9:315.13(B))La. R.S. 9:315.19 (schedule of basic child support obligations, $1,050 to $50,000/mo; Acts 2024, No. 86) (Louisiana Legislature) | $933.00 |
| Payer income share of the total obligation (60 percent, R.S. 9:315.8(C))La. R.S. 9:315.8 (total child support obligation; Worksheet A math; joint custody credit) (Louisiana Legislature) | $559.80 |
| Monthly guideline child supportLa. R.S. 9:315.8 (total child support obligation; Worksheet A math; joint custody credit) (Louisiana Legislature) | $559.80 |
Assumptions
- Gross incomes are taken as given; guideline income inclusions and exclusions (R.S. 9:315(C)) are not recomputed.
- The complete official R.S. 9:315.19 schedule (eff. 2025-01-01; 980 rows, $1,050 to $50,000 in $50 steps) is transcribed in the pack; an income falling between two rows uses the extrapolation R.S. 9:315.13(B) commands between the two adjacent official amounts.
Continue with this income in the PayDecode take-home calculator
PayDecode is a separate site. The link may not carry your numbers over; if its form opens blank, enter the income there again.
Estimate only. The court or state agency calculation controls.
Louisiana guidelines, effective 2025-01-01.
Louisiana guideline facts
- Guideline model
- Income shares, built on both parents’ gross monthly incomessource
- Authority
- La. R.S. 9:315 to 9:315.20; schedule at R.S. 9:315.19source
- Schedule range
- $1,050 to $50,000 of combined monthly income in $50 rows, 1 to 6 childrensource
- Shared custody rule
- Worksheet B: schedule amount times 1.5, cross-multiplied by timesource
- Minimum order
- None since January 1, 2025; the old $100 minimum was repealedsource
- Official calculator
- Yes: the DCFS Louisiana Child Support Estimatorsource
- Schedule effective date
- January 1, 2025 (Acts 2024, No. 86)source
- Data last reviewed
- August 7, 2026source
How Louisiana calculates child support
Louisiana uses the income shares model, written directly into R.S. 9:315: children should receive the same share of parental income they would have received if the household had stayed together. The starting figure for each parent is gross monthly income, before taxes, from almost any source, including wages, commissions, self-employment, pensions, military housing allowances, and unemployment benefits.
One standard subtraction turns gross income into adjusted gross income: support a parent actually pays under a preexisting order for someone outside the case. A judge may also, at their discretion, subtract amounts paid for a parent’s other minor children.
The adjusted incomes are combined and looked up in the schedule at R.S. 9:315.19. The current schedule took effect January 1, 2025 under Acts 2024, No. 86. It runs from $1,050 to $50,000 of combined monthly income in $50 steps, for 1 to 6 children, and its low rows now build in a self-sufficiency reserve so the poorest obligors keep enough to live on. When a combined income lands between two rows, the statute directs extrapolation between them, not rounding.
The same 2025 session removed a rule many websites still repeat: the $100 minimum order. Acts 2024, No. 448 rewrote the old R.S. 9:315.14, so when combined income falls below the $1,050 first row, no table amount exists and the court sets support from actual earnings and ability to pay under R.S. 9:315.13(A). This calculator says so instead of printing a number.
Custody shape picks the worksheet. Worksheet A applies when one parent is the domiciliary parent, the civil-law term for the parent the child mainly lives with. Worksheet B applies to shared custody, meaning each parent has physical custody about an equal amount of time; it multiplies the schedule amount by 1.5, splits it by income shares, and cross-multiplies each share by the time the child spends with the other parent. The transfer can never exceed what the paying parent would owe on Worksheet A.
Net child care costs, the children’s health insurance premium, extraordinary medical bills over $250 per child per year, and approved expenses like private school ride on top of the basic obligation and are shared by income, with a credit to the parent who pays the bill directly. Ordinary uninsured medical costs up to $250 per child per year are already inside the schedule numbers.
Above the $50,000 top row, the schedule does not cap the award. The court sets an amount in the child’s best interest, but R.S. 9:315.13(C) says it can never be less than the highest schedule figure, so the top row works as a floor.
Worked example: $5,500 and $2,500 gross, 2 children, two add-ons
- Take a Worksheet A case with 2 children. The domiciliary parent grosses $2,500 a month and pays $600 in net child care. The paying parent grosses $5,500 and carries the children’s health insurance at $200 a month, paid straight to the insurer.
- Combine the incomes: $2,500 plus $5,500 is $8,000. The paying parent’s share is $5,500 divided by $8,000, which is 68.75 percent.
- Read the 2025 schedule at $8,000 for 2 children. The basic obligation there is $1,845.
- Stack the two bills on top: $1,845 plus $600 child care plus $200 insurance makes a total obligation of $2,645.
- Multiply by the paying parent’s share: 68.75 percent of $2,645 is $1,818.44.
- Credit the premium that parent already pays directly. Taking $200 off leaves $1,618.44 a month.
- The calculator above returns the same $1,618.44 for these inputs, and the scenario is pinned as a golden fixture in our tests so the prose and the tool cannot drift apart.
The steps above follow the calculation method described on our methodology page.
Louisiana guideline history
- Revised schedule took effect under Acts 2016, No. 602.source
- Revised schedule took effect under Acts 2020, No. 177.source
- Current schedule took effect under Acts 2024, No. 86: the top row grew from $40,000 to $50,000 a month and the low-income rows were rebuilt from $1,050 with a self-sufficiency reserve baked in.source
- Acts 2024, No. 448 repealed the $100 minimum award; below-schedule cases now rest on the court’s reading of actual income and ability to pay.source
- Next quadrennial guideline review cycle: Louisiana law requires DCFS and the review committee to report to the legislature at least every four years, so a fresh schedule would be expected for 2029 if the past pattern holds.source
Louisiana child support FAQs
Does Louisiana have an official child support calculator?
Yes. The Department of Children and Family Services hosts the Louisiana Child Support Estimator, an estimate-only tool, along with printable Worksheet A and shared custody worksheet forms. It is linked in the sources on this page. What the estimator does not do is show its math or its statute cites, which is the gap this page fills.
What changed in Louisiana child support in 2025?
Two big things, both effective January 1, 2025. Acts 2024, No. 86 replaced the schedule: the top row moved from $40,000 to $50,000 of combined monthly income and the low rows were rebuilt around a self-sufficiency reserve. Acts 2024, No. 448 removed the $100 minimum order. A calculator still using the 2021 table or printing $100 floors is out of date.
Is Louisiana child support based on gross or net income?
Gross. R.S. 9:315(C) defines income as gross income from any source, before taxes, and then subtracts only support paid under preexisting orders to reach adjusted gross income. Child support received, SSI, food stamps, and similar public assistance do not count as income.
What is a domiciliary parent?
Louisiana’s civil-law term for the parent the child primarily lives with, usually named in a joint custody implementation order. In guideline math the label matters because Worksheet A charges the nondomiciliary parent a money payment while treating the domiciliary parent as spending their share directly on the child.
How does shared custody change the calculation?
When each parent has physical custody about an equal amount of time, R.S. 9:315.9 sends the case to Worksheet B. The schedule amount is multiplied by 1.5 to cover duplicated costs like two bedrooms, each parent’s income share of that figure is multiplied by the time the child spends with the other parent, and the parent with the larger result pays the difference. The payment can never exceed what that parent would owe as a nondomiciliary parent on Worksheet A.
Is there still a minimum child support order in Louisiana?
No. The old R.S. 9:315.14 set a $100 floor, but Acts 2024, No. 448 rewrote that section effective January 1, 2025. When combined adjusted income falls below the $1,050 first row of the schedule, the court sets support based on actual income, the imputation rules, and any other evidence of ability to pay under R.S. 9:315.13(A). This tool declines to print a number in that range because the law no longer supplies one.
What happens when combined income is over $50,000 a month?
The schedule stops but the obligation does not. R.S. 9:315.13(C) tells the court to use its discretion in the child’s best interest, with one hard rule: the award can never be less than the highest schedule amount. The court can even place part of a large award in a spendthrift trust for the child. This tool shows the floor and labels it as one.
Why does the tool extrapolate between income rows?
Because the statute says to. R.S. 9:315.13(B) directs that for a combined income between two schedule amounts, the basic obligation shall be based on an extrapolation between them. A combined income of $7,250 with one child sits halfway between the $7,000 row at $1,127 and the $7,500 row at $1,166, so the basic obligation is $1,146.50.
Good to know in Louisiana
- The schedule already covers ordinary uninsured medical costs up to $250 per child per year (R.S. 9:315(C)(8)); bills beyond that are extraordinary medical expenses added by agreement or court order.
- Joint custody that is not truly shared gets no formula adjustment: if the nondomiciliary parent has the child more than 73 days a year, the court may grant a credit, but the amount is discretionary (R.S. 9:315.8(E)).
- Louisiana is a civil law state, so orders speak of the domiciliary parent and implementation orders rather than the custodial parent language most states use.
How to use this estimate
Pick the worksheet that matches your custody arrangement, then enter both parents’ gross monthly incomes. For Worksheet B, enter the paying parent’s overnights out of 365; the tool gives the remaining nights to the other parent so the two time percentages always total 100.
Enter income before taxes. The Louisiana schedule was built on gross figures, so subtracting taxes first would understate the number. If a parent pays support under an older order for a different child, put that amount in the adjustment field and the tool deducts it the way Worksheet A line 1 does.
Our copy of the schedule transcribes the official rows our test fixtures use, and the tool extrapolates between them exactly as R.S. 9:315.13(B) instructs. Because the official table moves in $50 steps, a lookup that crosses a wider transcribed gap can sit a few dollars off the printed row; the DCFS estimator and the court worksheet are the numbers the system will use.
The result is the guideline amount, which is a rebuttable presumption. A judge can deviate under R.S. 9:315.1 with written reasons, for grounds like extraordinary community debts or other dependents in the household.
What this estimate includes
- Worksheet A math for a domiciliary-parent arrangement
- Worksheet B shared custody math: the 1.5 multiplier, time cross-multiplication, and the Worksheet A cap
- The deduction for support paid under preexisting orders
- Net child care and health insurance add-ons with direct-payment credits
- Extrapolation between schedule rows, as the statute requires
- The above-$50,000 floor rule of R.S. 9:315.13(C)
What it leaves out
- Split custody, where a child lives mainly with each parent (R.S. 9:315.10)
- Below-$1,050 cases, which have no table amount and go to the judge
- The discretionary credit for a nondomiciliary parent with more than 73 days
- Imputed income for voluntary unemployment, which takes a court finding
- The child’s own income deduction and extraordinary expense adjustments beyond the two add-on fields
Official sources
Official sources last verified: .
- La. R.S. 9:315.19 (schedule of basic child support obligations, $1,050 to $50,000/mo; Acts 2024, No. 86)
Louisiana Legislature Last checked
- La. R.S. 9:315 (child support guidelines: principles, definitions, gross and adjusted gross income)
Louisiana Legislature Last checked
- La. R.S. 9:315.9 (shared custody; 1.5 multiplier; Worksheet B; Worksheet A cap)
Louisiana Legislature Last checked
- La. R.S. 9:315.13 (below-schedule court discretion; between-row extrapolation; above-schedule floor)
Louisiana Legislature Last checked
- Louisiana Child Support Estimator (DCFS Child Support Enforcement)
Louisiana DCFS Last checked
- DCFS, Calculate Child Support (guideline hub; links R.S. 9:315, 9:315.19, 9:315.18)
Louisiana DCFS Last checked
Reviewed by SupportDecode Editorial Team Page content reviewed Sources Methodology Update log
Changelog: page first published with the 2025 schedule of Acts 2024, No. 86 and the repealed-minimum note. Material changes are dated in the update log.