Quick answer: Tennessee uses an income-shares model in the Child Support Guidelines, Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1240-02-04 (current version effective October 1, 2021). Each parent’s monthly gross income is reduced by credits for qualified other children (75% of a theoretical order for children in the home, or actual support paid up to that cap for children outside it) to give the adjusted gross income (AGI). The combined AGI is rounded up to the next row of the Child Support Schedule ($1,000 to $28,250 a month, one to five-plus children; above it, a fixed amount plus a percentage of the excess), and each parent pays his or her percentage of income of the basic obligation. The schedule presumes the alternate residential parent has the children 80 days a year. From 92 days a variable multiplier (days × 0.0109589) credits the extra cost of the alternate parent’s time; at 68 days or fewer the obligation may be increased. A self-support reserve of $957 protects low-income obligors in the shaded area, where the lesser of two calculations applies. The health insurance premium, recurring uninsured medical costs and work-related child care are added by income share, and the minimum order is $100 a month. The amount is a rebuttable presumption: deviations need written findings.
How the Tennessee worksheet works
- Income, the schedule and percentages. See how the Tennessee worksheet works.
- The parenting time adjustment. See the parenting time adjustment at 92 and 68 days.
- The reserve, add-ons and high incomes. See the self-support reserve, add-ons and high incomes.
What this calculator checks
The calculator follows the Guidelines and the schedule (546 rows from $1,000 to $28,250 read from the rule text, with the shaded reserve area detected from the PDF’s graphics), reproduces the two worked examples of the parenting time rule ($587.94 for 94 days and $1,203.29 for 68 days) and was checked against an independent re-implementation. It does not compute split parenting, non-parent caretakers, self-employment tax adjustments or deviations.
Child support across Tennessee
The Guidelines apply in every court that sets support, from Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Clarksville or Murfreesboro, and in cases handled by the Department of Human Services. The order must state any deviation and the reasons.
Frequently asked questions
How is child support calculated in Tennessee?
Both parents' adjusted gross incomes are added, the Child Support Schedule gives the basic obligation for the number of children, and each parent pays his or her percentage of income, adjusted for parenting time and with add-ons.
How many days trigger the Tennessee parenting time adjustment?
92 or more days a year with the alternate residential parent; at 68 days or fewer the obligation may be increased.
What is the Tennessee self-support reserve?
$957 a month, 90% of the 2020 federal poverty level for one person, built into the shaded area of the schedule.
What is the minimum child support order in Tennessee?
$100 a month, unless the obligor's only income is SSI, a child's federal benefit reduces it or the parenting time adjustment results in less.
What is the highest income in the Tennessee schedule?
$28,250 of combined adjusted gross income a month; above it the schedule amount at $28,250 plus a percentage of the excess applies.