Massachusetts Child Support Calculator (2025 Guidelines)
Estimate weekly child support under the Massachusetts 2025 Child Support Guidelines, following the official CJD 304 worksheet line by line: available income, the Table A obligation schedule, the Table B adjustment for the number of children, the Table C reduction for children 18 and older, the $430 child care benchmark, and the shared and split parenting cross-calculations.
Calculate Massachusetts Child Support
Massachusetts has no overnight-count formula. Pick the box that matches your parenting plan; anything in between is handled by the court as a deviation.
The worksheet works in weekly figures. Every money amount below is converted to a weekly amount and rounded to the nearest dollar, the same way the worksheet rounds.
Children covered by the order (maximum of 5)
Children for whom Parent A may receive support. For Box 2, that is all the children. For Box 1, the same children go in both columns. For Box 3, the children who primarily live with Parent A.
A child 18 or older who is still in high school counts as under 18. Support for children 18 to 23 is discretionary and reduced under Table C.
Income and deductions (worksheet Section 2)
Gross income from all sources before taxes (Line 2a). Massachusetts does not deduct taxes or FICA on the worksheet — available income subtracts only the three deduction lines below.
Support actually paid for children not covered by this order (Line 2d).
Health insurance premium or enrollment cost actually paid (Line 2e).
Dental and vision insurance cost actually paid (Line 2f).
Social Security dependency benefits (worksheet Lines 2b and 2c)
Benefits a child receives because of a parent’s retirement or disability. The total counts as income for the retired or disabled parent (Line 2c), and any benefit sent to the receiving parent is credited against the order (Line 7c).
Child care cost paid, per child (worksheet Line 2g)
Reasonable out-of-pocket child care that lets a parent work or attend school or training. The 2025 benchmark is $430 per week per child: if both parents together pay more than $430 for one child, each parent’s amount is scaled down in proportion so the counted total is $430. Leave a child’s row out by entering 0.
How to read this: Massachusetts orders are set as a weekly amount. The breakdown above follows the CJD 304 worksheet lines so you can compare it with a completed worksheet. Monthly and yearly figures are simple conversions (weekly times 52, divided by 12 for the monthly average).
How Massachusetts Calculates Child Support
Massachusetts uses an income-shares model run on a standard form, the Child Support Guidelines Worksheet (CJD 304). The 2025 Child Support Guidelines, effective December 1, 2025, set the rules; the worksheet does the arithmetic. Unlike most states there is no simple lookup of one combined obligation: the form computes a support figure for the children in each parent’s column and nets the two in shared and split cases. The steps are:
- Section 1 — children and parenting plan. Count the children covered by the order (maximum five) and check a parenting box: Box 2 when the children primarily live with one parent about two-thirds of the time, Box 1 for shared time and shared financial responsibility, Box 3 when each parent is the primary home for at least one child. The children are entered in each parent’s column, split into under 18 and 18 or older.
- Section 2 — income and costs. Each parent enters gross weekly income (Line 2a). Social Security dependency benefits are added as income for the retired or disabled parent (Line 2c). Three deductions come off: other support obligations actually paid (2d), health care premiums paid (2e), and dental and vision insurance paid (2f). Child care each parent pays is listed per child (Line 2g). Taxes and FICA are not deducted anywhere on the form.
- Section 3 — gross support amounts. Gross income plus benefits minus the deductions gives each parent’s available income (Line 3a). The parents’ shares of combined available income are Line 3c. Table A turns the combined figure (capped at $8,654 a week) into the support amount for one child (Line 3e); Table B scales it for the number of children in each parent’s column (Lines 3f and 3g).
- Section 4 — children 18 or older. Table C reduces the amount by a percentage that depends on how many children are under 18 and how many are 18 or older (Lines 4a to 4c), reflecting that support past 18 is discretionary.
- Section 5 — proportional shares and the low-income check. Each side is split by income share (Lines 5a and 5b). If the other parent’s available income is $391 a week or less, the shaded-area minimum amount from the Guidelines Chart replaces the proportional share (Line 5c).
- Section 6 — child care and the cross-calculation. Child care is counted up to the $430-per-child weekly benchmark, split by income share, and added (Lines 6a to 6c). For shared and split cases the worksheet then runs an income-disparity check (Lines 6d to 6e), names the recipient and payor (Line 6f), and nets the two sides (Line 6g).
- Section 7 — the final obligation. Box 2 cases get a second disparity check (Lines 7a to 7b). A Social Security dependency benefit sent to the receiving parent is credited (Line 7c), leaving the payor’s final weekly obligation (Line 7d). Line 7e flags any order that reaches 40% of the payor’s available income.
- Section 8 — income above the cap. Combined available income above $8,654 a week ($450,000 a year) is reported and split by income share, but support on it is up to the court — the amount at the cap is the minimum presumptive order.
One-child support = Table A on combined available income (max $8,654/week)
Combined support = one-child support × Table B factor − Table C reduction
Weekly order = payor’s share, adjusted for child care, low income and income disparity, minus any Social Security credit
Worked Example: $1,500 and $1,000 a Week, One Child, Primary Residence
| Step | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Available incomes (Line 3a) | No deductions entered, so available income equals gross income | A $1,500/wk, B $1,000/wk |
| Combined available income (Line 3b) | $1,500 + $1,000 | $2,500/wk |
| Income shares (Line 3c) | A: $1,500 ÷ $2,500; B: $1,000 ÷ $2,500 | 60% and 40% |
| Support for one child (Table A, Line 3e) | $2,500 falls in the $2,401 to $3,500 bracket: $490 + 14% of the $100 above $2,400 | $504/wk |
| Combined support (Lines 3g and 4c) | One child, so the Table B factor is 1.00 and there is no Table C reduction | $504/wk |
| Parent B’s share (Lines 5a to 5c) | 40% of $504 is $201.60, rounded by the worksheet to a $202 share for Parent B; Parent B’s income is above $391, so no low-income adjustment | $202/wk |
| Presumptive weekly order (Line 7d) | No child care, disparity or Social Security adjustments apply | Parent B pays Parent A $202/week (about $875 a month) |
The 2025 Table A: Child Support Obligation Schedule
Table A is printed on the worksheet itself and is the heart of the calculation. It is a marginal-bracket table: each row gives a base amount plus a percentage of combined available income above the bracket floor. The first two rows are different — they cap the order for a payor whose own income is very low. The full 2025 table, exactly as printed on the CJD 304 worksheet, is:
| Weekly income | Support amount for one child |
|---|---|
| Payor’s income up to $301 | $15 (unless the court deviates) |
| Payor’s income $302 to $391 | $15 plus 20% of the amount above $301 (at most $33) |
| Combined $392 to $1,000 | 22% of combined available income |
| Combined $1,001 to $1,600 | $220 plus 21% of the amount above $1,000 |
| Combined $1,601 to $2,400 | $346 plus 18% of the amount above $1,600 |
| Combined $2,401 to $3,500 | $490 plus 14% of the amount above $2,400 |
| Combined $3,501 to $5,000 | $644 plus 11% of the amount above $3,500 |
| Combined $5,001 to $8,654 | $809 plus 10% of the amount above $5,000 |
Table B then multiplies the one-child amount for the number of children: 1 child × 1.00, 2 × 1.40, 3 × 1.68, 4 × 1.85, 5 × 1.94. Table C reduces the result when some children are 18 or older — by 25% when all the children are 18 or older, and by smaller percentages (1% to 14%) for mixed ages. Above $8,654 a week of combined available income ($450,000 a year), the table stops: the amount at the cap is the minimum presumptive order, and any support on the excess is set by the court at a percentage below the top Table A rate of 10%.
Parenting Time: Boxes, Not Overnights
Massachusetts is unusual: there is no formula that converts overnights into a percentage reduction. The worksheet gives the court three parenting boxes. Box 2 (children primarily with one parent, roughly two-thirds of the time) is the standard single-direction calculation. Box 1 (shared time and shared financial responsibility, roughly 50/50) and Box 3 (split residence) run the full calculation for both parents — each parent is treated as the recipient for the children in their column — and the difference is the order, so a higher-earning shared parent pays a smaller, netted amount rather than nothing.
Arrangements that fall between the boxes — a non-primary parent with substantially less than a third of the time, or more than a third but less than half — are not in the formula at all. The 2025 Guidelines expressly let the court deviate in those cases (Section II.D), so this calculator cannot price them: if your schedule does not fit a box, treat the nearest box result as a starting point only.
Child Care, Health Insurance and Social Security Benefits
Child care is not deducted from income (that approach ended in 2021). Reasonable out-of-pocket care that allows a parent to work, or to attend education or training needed for work, is counted up to a benchmark of $430 per week per child — up from $355 under the 2021 guidelines. If the parents together pay more than $430 for a child, each parent’s payment is scaled down in proportion so exactly $430 counts. The counted cost is then split between the parents by income share and folded into the order (Section 6 of the worksheet).
Health care works the other way around: a parent deducts the reasonable premium they actually pay from gross income before available income is calculated (Lines 2e and 2f, covering health, dental and vision). Coverage counts as reasonable in cost at up to 5% of that parent’s gross income, and accessible if services are within 15 miles of the child’s primary home. The first $250 a year of uninsured medical expenses sits with the receiving parent; costs above that are usually shared in proportion to income.
Social Security dependency benefits — money a child receives because a parent is retired or disabled — count as income of that parent (Line 2c), whichever parent the check is sent to. If the benefit is sent to the parent who receives support, it is credited against the paying parent’s obligation at Line 7c, so the child is not paid for twice.
Low Incomes, the 40% Hardship Rule, and High Incomes
At the bottom of the scale, the first two rows of Table A protect a subsistence level: a payor earning $301 a week or less (100% of the 2025 federal poverty guideline for one person) should be ordered no more than $15 a week, and a payor between $302 and $391 (130% of the guideline) no more than $33 a week. The same shaded-area amounts are reused inside the worksheet wherever a low-income payor’s share is calculated (Lines 5c, 6e and 7b).
A second protection sits at the end: if the final order would take 40% or more of the payor’s available income, the 2025 Guidelines presume a substantial hardship that justifies a deviation (Section IV.C), and the worksheet flags the case automatically. This calculator shows the same flag.
At the top, the guidelines are calculated on the first $450,000 of combined available income — raised from $400,000 in the 2025 review. The order at that level is the minimum presumptive order; support on income above it is discretionary and, if set as a percentage, must use a rate below 10%.
How This Calculator Treats the Worksheet
This tool reproduces the CJD 304 worksheet’s own arithmetic, including its rounding (whole dollars at the worksheet’s rounding points, income shares rounded to two decimals) and its less obvious machinery: the shaded-area low-income amounts, the 10% income-disparity limits, the Social Security re-run the electronic worksheet performs when a recipient has a dependency benefit in a shared or split case, and the $15 floor the worksheet applies inside those disparity calculations. Where the worksheet leaves something to the court — deviations, college and post-secondary orders for children 18 to 23, support on income above $450,000 — the calculator says so rather than inventing a number. Amounts you enter are converted to weekly figures and rounded to the nearest dollar first, because the worksheet only works in weekly amounts.
