How Texas calculates child support

Texas uses percentage guidelines applied to the paying parent’s net resources. Under Family Code § 154.125, guideline support is:

Children before the court	Percentage of net resources
1 child	20%
2 children	25%
3 children	30%
4 children	35%
5 children	40%
6 or more	Not less than the amount for 5 children

Net resources is not take-home pay. It includes wages, salary, commissions, overtime, tips, bonuses, self-employment income, rental income, severance, retirement and pension benefits, unemployment and disability benefits, and interest and dividends. From that total the statute subtracts social security taxes, federal income tax computed for a single person claiming one personal exemption and the standard deduction, state income tax, union dues, and the cost of the child’s health and dental insurance coverage.

A parent with children in another household may be entitled to a reduced percentage under § 154.129, which sets out an alternative computation for obligors supporting children in more than one household.

The cap increased on September 1, 2025

Guideline percentages apply only up to a statutory ceiling on monthly net resources, which the Office of the Attorney General adjusts periodically for inflation. Effective September 1, 2025, that cap rose from $9,200 to $11,700 per month.

The practical effect is significant. Guideline support for one child at the cap is now $2,340 per month, up from $1,840. For higher earners, this is a $500-per-month change per child that many existing orders do not reflect.

Above the cap, the court may order additional support, but only on proof of the proven needs of the child — not simply because the obligor can afford more. Establishing those needs requires evidence of the child’s actual expenses: private school tuition, medical care, therapy, extracurricular costs.

Separate low-income guidelines under § 154.125(c) apply where the obligor’s net resources fall below the statutory threshold.

Medical and dental support

Child support is not only the monthly payment. Section 154.181 requires the court to order medical support for the child, and § 154.1815 requires a dental support order. One parent is ordered to carry coverage — usually whichever has reasonable access to it through employment — and uninsured expenses are typically allocated between the parents. Orders that fail to address uninsured medical costs generate more post-decree litigation than almost any other omission.

Modifying support

Support can be modified when circumstances have materially and substantially changed, or — under the simplified route — when it has been at least three years since the order was rendered or last modified and the monthly amount differs by either 20 percent or $100 from the amount that would be awarded under current guidelines.

The three-year route is the reason it is worth recalculating support periodically. A parent whose income has risen substantially since 2019, or whose order predates the September 2025 cap increase, may well be paying materially less than current guidelines require.

Support is modified prospectively only. A court cannot retroactively reduce an arrearage that accrued before the motion was filed. A parent who loses a job and simply stops paying accumulates a judgment; a parent who files a motion to modify the week the job is lost preserves the argument. The difference is often thousands of dollars.

Enforcement and arrearages

Chapter 157 governs enforcement. A motion for enforcement must identify each missed payment and the amount, and the available remedies are substantial:

• Contempt, punishable by fine and confinement, where the failure to pay was willful and the obligor had the ability to pay
• Judgment for arrearages with statutory interest, which is confirmed as a money judgment and is enforceable like any other
• Income withholding directed to the obligor’s employer
• Child support liens against real property, bank accounts, and other assets
• Attorney’s fees and costs, which the court may order the obligor to pay

Separately, Family Code Chapter 232 authorizes suspension of a delinquent obligor’s driver’s license and professional or occupational licenses.

Arrearage judgments in Texas do not expire quietly. A claim for unpaid support can be brought long after the child reaches 18, and interest accrues throughout. Obligors who ignored an order for a decade are routinely surprised by the size of the resulting judgment.

Defending an enforcement action

Being behind is not the same as being in contempt. Contempt requires that the obligor had the ability to pay and willfully failed to do so. Involuntary unemployment, incapacitating illness, incarceration, or a good-faith dispute about credit for direct payments are all defenses to the contempt finding, even where the arrearage itself is confirmed as a judgment.

Credit is another frequent issue. Payments made directly to the other parent rather than through the state disbursement unit are presumed to be gifts unless properly documented. So are in-kind contributions. Keep records; informal arrangements between cooperative parents become expensive when the cooperation ends.

When support ends

Child support generally continues until the child turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever is later. Support for a disabled adult child may be ordered indefinitely under Chapter 154, Subchapter F, where the child requires substantial care and personal supervision because of a mental or physical disability and will not be capable of self-support.

Termination is not automatic in every case, and an order that does not clearly address the end date — particularly with multiple children, where the amount should step down as each ages out — creates arrearages that nobody intended.