How is Child Support Calculated in Georgia?

This video features Kelli Byers Hooper, a Family Law attorney based in Georgia.

How is child support calculated in Georgia? Divorce attorney Kelli Hooper explains that several algorithms determine the proper amount. She says that in Georgia, couples are allowed to deviate from this number.

Video Transcript:

So in Georgia child support is calculated by taking a gross income of both parties. They go into a worksheet that has a bunch of macros and algorithms and then they calculate the average cost to raise one child, two children, three children in an intact home. And so what they do is they take a gross income of Dad gross income of mom you come up with a total number. Then there's a percentage that comes out based on the pro-rata income of both parties and then from that you get what's called a presumptive child support number.

Here in Georgia we have the ability to deviate away from the presumptive child support number. And there are deviations that you can give for health insurance for special education medical concerns extracurriculars and that sort of thing. And then if you don't like the number at all you can deviate away from that by filing what's called the Child Support addendum, which is where you tell the court that there wouldn't be any harm to the children if you moved away from the presumptive number altogether. For instance I was working on one this morning where the child support number came out to be a number that the couple didn't like. They had agreed on a different number and so I did a full worksheet and then filed an addendum to the worksheet where you tell the court the number of parenting days before that year, the presumptive number. And then what number the couple has actually agreed to and everybody signs off on it.

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