Updated for 2026 guidelines
North Carolina Child Support Arrears Calculator 2026
In North Carolina, each missed support payment vests the day it comes due, and a court can reduce the total to a judgment that earns the 8 percent legal rate. This page runs that math and explains where the rate does and does not reach.
Reviewed by SupportDecode Editorial Team Page content reviewed Sources Methodology Update log
Estimate a North Carolina arrears balance with interest
Estimated arrears with interest: $5,400.00
Interest of $400.00 at 8% simple per year (N.C. Gen. Stat. 24-1; 24-5(b)).
| Line item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Arrears principalG.S. 24-1 (legal rate of interest 8%) (NC General Assembly) | $5,000.00 |
| Simple interest at 8% per year for 12 month(s) (N.C. Gen. Stat. 24-1; 24-5(b))The 8% legal rate applies to arrears reduced to a money judgment (G.S. 50-13.4(f)(8)); unpaid support vests as it accrues (G.S. 50-13.10). Whether interest accrues automatically before reduction to judgment is case-law dependent: official-confirmation-required.G.S. 24-1 (legal rate of interest 8%) (NC General Assembly) | $400.00 |
| Arrears principal plus interestG.S. 24-1 (legal rate of interest 8%) (NC General Assembly) | $5,400.00 |
Assumptions
- Accrual period expressed as 12 month(s); partial months prorate.
Estimate only. The court or state agency calculation controls.
North Carolina arrears interest under N.C. Gen. Stat. 24-1; 24-5(b); rules last reviewed 2026-08-06.
How arrears and interest work in North Carolina
Missed payments do not fade. Under G.S. 50-13.10, each installment of child support vests when it comes due, which means a court cannot retroactively forgive it. The unpaid pile is called arrears.
A parent who is owed arrears can ask the court to reduce past-due payments to a money judgment under G.S. 50-13.4(f)(8). From that point the balance behaves like any other North Carolina judgment.
Judgments carry the legal rate of interest, and North Carolina fixes it in statute: 8 percent per year (G.S. 24-1), applied to money judgments by G.S. 24-5(b). The statute states a yearly rate with no compounding, so the interest is simple.
The reach of the rate before a judgment exists is genuinely unsettled. Whether interest accrues automatically on arrears that have not been reduced to judgment depends on case law, so this tool computes the judgment scenario and labels the other one as unresolved rather than guessing.
- Interest rate
- 8% per year, the statutory legal ratesource
- Statutes
- G.S. 24-1 and G.S. 24-5(b); judgment path via G.S. 50-13.4(f)(8)source
- Compounding
- Simple interest; no statutory compoundingsource
- What the rate attaches to
- Arrears reduced to a money judgment; pre-judgment accrual is case-law dependentsource
How to use this estimate
Enter the unpaid principal and how long it has gone unpaid, either as a number of months or as a start and end month. The tool applies 8 percent simple interest per year to that principal for that period.
Read the result as the judgment scenario: what the balance looks like once a North Carolina court has reduced the arrears to a money judgment and the legal rate has run for the period you entered. If no judgment exists yet, treat the interest as a what-if, not an entitlement.
The child support agency ledger is the record that counts. Partial payments, credits for benefits paid to the child, and the judgment date all change the true balance, and none of them are inside this simple model.
Unlike states that index their judgment rate to the market, North Carolina wrote 8 percent into the statute, so the same rate applies whether the balance is from 2016 or 2026.
What this estimate includes
- The principal you enter, over one accrual period
- 8 percent simple interest per year under G.S. 24-1 and 24-5(b)
- The judgment-based framing that makes the rate legally solid
What it leaves out
- Interest on arrears never reduced to judgment, which case law leaves open
- Partial payments, credits, and payment-by-payment accrual
- Enforcement mechanics like license revocation, tax offsets, or contempt
- Interest a clerk may calculate differently on an actual judgment
North Carolina arrears FAQs
What interest rate applies to North Carolina child support arrears?
The legal rate, 8 percent per year, once the arrears are reduced to a money judgment. G.S. 24-1 sets the rate and G.S. 24-5(b) applies it to money judgments. Before a judgment exists, whether interest accrues at all is a case-law question that has no single clean answer.
Do old missed payments ever expire or get erased?
Each payment vests as it comes due under G.S. 50-13.10, so a court cannot wipe out amounts that were already owed. Modification only works forward from the date a motion is filed. Collection tools have their own time rules, but the vested debt itself does not evaporate.
How do arrears become a judgment?
The parent who is owed support asks the court to reduce the past-due installments to a money judgment under G.S. 50-13.4(f)(8). The court confirms what is unpaid and enters judgment for that sum, and the 8 percent legal rate then runs on it like any other North Carolina judgment.
Is the 8 percent simple or compound?
Simple. The statute fixes a yearly rate and says nothing about compounding, so interest accrues only on the judgment principal. Ten thousand dollars under judgment for one year earns $800; for two years, $1,600, not $1,664.
Does the North Carolina rate change with the economy?
No. Unlike states that recompute their judgment rate quarterly or yearly from market benchmarks, North Carolina put the number in the statute itself: G.S. 24-1 says the legal rate of interest shall be 8 percent per year. Changing it would take the General Assembly.
Who keeps the official arrears balance?
The clerk of court and NC Child Support Services keep the payment records that control. If their ledger and your own math disagree, the ledger wins until corrected, so request a payment history before relying on any estimate, including this one.
Official sources
Official sources last verified: .
- G.S. 24-1 (legal rate of interest 8%)
NC General Assembly Last checked
- G.S. 24-5 (interest on judgments)
NC General Assembly Last checked
- G.S. 50-13.4 (support action; guidelines mandate (c1))
NC General Assembly Last checked
Reviewed by SupportDecode Editorial Team Page content reviewed Sources Methodology Update log
Changelog: page first published with the 8 percent legal rate and the judgments-only accrual caveat. Material changes are dated in the update log.