How Does Child Support Work in a Texas Custody Case?
- Adam Looney
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
Short Answer/TLDR
In most Texas custody cases, the non-primary parent pays child support to the primary parent. The amount is usually based on statutory guidelines applied to the paying parent’s "Net Resources."
That means the court is generally not doing a broad “who has more money in the household” fairness analysis. Typically the court is simply identifying the obligor, calculating that parent’s net resources, applying the guideline percentage, and addressing medical and dental support.
This is one of the areas where parents often bring assumptions that do not match how Texas law usually works.
Child Support Usually Follows the Primary/Non-Primary Structure
The parent who does not have the right to designate the child’s primary residence is usually ordered to pay support. This can feel unfair to parents who believe they are equally involved or who believe the other parent earns more money.
But Texas child support is generally tied to the obligor’s resources and the number of children before the court.
The court also does not usually say, “The other household has more money, so they should pay.” That is not the standard calculation. The income of a new spouse can never serve as the basis for calculating child support.
What Are Net Resources?
Texas child support is based on "net resources," not simply gross income. In plain English, net resources usually start with income and then account for certain deductions such as taxes and required items allowed by law.
Parents should be careful here. “Net Resources” is a legal term. It is not always the same thing as take-home pay on a paycheck. Bonuses, overtime, commissions, self-employment income, and other benefits may create disputes.
If a parent owns a business or has irregular income, child support can become more complicated than the basic guideline chart suggests.
Medical and Dental Support
By law, Texas custody orders also need to address health insurance and dental insurance for the child. Often, the parent paying child support is also ordered to provide or reimburse the cost of health and dental coverage for the child. These costs are typically deducted from the obligor's "net resources" and therefore affect the child support amount paid.
Accordingly, although it is related to the monthly child support amount, the amounts paid for health and dental insurance are made in addition to monthly child support. Parents sometimes focus only on the guideline number and forget that medical and dental support can materially affect the monthly obligation.
Statutory Guidelines
After the Court determines "net resources" the Court then applies the statutory guidelines. This starts at 20% of the obligor's net resources for 1 child, and goes up from there up to a maximum of 40%! The table found in the Texas Family Code looks like this:
CHILD SUPPORT GUIDELINES
BASED ON THE MONTHLY NET RESOURCES OF THE OBLIGOR
1 child 20% of Obligor's Net Resources
2 children 25% of Obligor's Net Resources
3 children 30% of Obligor's Net Resources
4 children 35% of Obligor's Net Resources
5 children 40% of Obligor's Net Resources
6+ children Not less than the amount for 5 children
These guidelines may change if the obligor has other children not before the court, or in certain other special situations.
The Child Support "Cap"
Texas law assumes that the obligation to pay child support is not unlimited. As of the date of the writing of this blog post, the statutory child support guidelines only apply to the first $11,700 of the obligor's net resources. That means the maximum amount an obligor could be ordered to pay for one child is $2,340 per month.
While the Court can exceed the cap in special circumstances, in my experience it is exceedingly rare and I would not ordinarily recommend that a party go to a judge asking for more than the support cap without a very compelling reason, such as special care and support needs for the child.
What If a Parent Does Not Work?
A parent usually cannot avoid child support simply by not working. Texas law includes a wage and salary presumption. In basic terms, if there is no evidence of a parent’s resources, the court can presume the parent has income equal to a full-time minimum-wage job. This is typically referred to as the "minimum wage presumption." In essence, there law presumes that any parent should have the ability to go out and get a minimum wage job with reasonable effort.
There can be exceptions and special facts, but the general idea is simple: unemployment does not automatically mean zero support.
The Child Support Calculator
The Office of the Attorney General for the State of Texas has a handy, free tool for calculating child support. If you are interested in running the numbers to determine how much child support might be in your case. It's a great tool that I use all the time and you can find it here:
The Practical Takeaway
Do not assume child support is based on who has the nicer house, who remarried well, or who feels more financially stressed. Texas child support is usually more mechanical than that.
The key questions are: Who is the obligor? What are that parent’s net resources? How many children are before the court? Are there other children to support? What medical and dental support must be ordered?
Once you understand Texas law and why the Court is asking those questions, child support becomes less mysterious—even if the result can still be frustrating.
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