Child support is calculated based on a formula issued by the Virginia legislature, which was most recently updated in July of 2025. The Court must calculate child support based on these guidelines. While you can make a request for a deviation to these child support guidelines, it is your burden to show why the guidelines are inappropriate or unjust for your specific case.
Income From All Sources
The court must determine both parents’ income before taxes from all sources, including if one parent is paying the other parent spousal support. If either parent is self-employed, half of any self-employment tax will be deducted from that parent’s gross income. If you have more than one job, this additional income will be included, unless you obtained the job to pay off your child support arrearages.
Credit for Support of Other Children
If either parent has other minor children with a different partner, they are given a credit for financially supporting those children and this amount is deducted from their gross income.
Number of Minor Children
The number of minor children the parents have together also determines the amount of child support received. Children are considered minors until they turn 18 years old, unless they have not yet graduated from high school.
Custody Schedule
There are two different guidelines that the court uses to calculate child support. The first guideline is the sole guideline, which is used if one parent has less than 90 overnights with the minor children. The second is the shared guideline, which is used if both parents have more than 90 overnights. If using the shared guidelines, the court must determine exactly how many overnights each parent has with the minor children, pursuant to their custody schedule.
Work-Related Childcare Costs
Each parent’s work-related childcare costs are also included in the child support guidelines. However, these costs can be reduced if the court determines they exceed the amount required to provide quality care from a licensed provider.
It is common for parents to agree to remove the work-related childcare costs from the child support guidelines and pay them in proportion to income, which is essentially what the child support guidelines calculate, because these costs are often higher in the summer due to the costs of summer camps.
Health Insurance Costs
The health insurance costs for the children are covered in the child support guidelines, calculated by subtracting the total cost of coverage by the cost of self-only coverage and then divided by the number of individuals covered on the medical insurance plan.
Unreimbursed Medical Expenses – Not Included in Child Support Guidelines
The Court will also order that necessary and reasonable unreimbursed medical expenses for the minor children be paid in proportion to each parent’s income. This includes expenses like prescription medications, copays, and for mental health services.
This can also include any reasonable and necessary unpaid expenses for the mother’s pregnancy and delivery of a child, so long as a child support petition is commenced within six months of the birth of a ch
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