North Carolina Child Support Formula
North Carolina's formula is best understood as a worksheet-and-schedule sequence rather than a loose online equation. The official workflow still runs through Worksheet A, B, or C, the current schedule, and the court's deviation and high-income analysis.
Use This With Other North Carolina Tools
Support pages should route back into the core North Carolina calculators and legal explainers.
Learn when the court can move away from the standard support amount.
Follow the filing path when you need to open or respond to a support case.
Start from the broad North Carolina support overview and route into the right tool.
How the North Carolina formula is built
- 1Identify current gross income for both parents and sort the case into the correct worksheet type.
- 2Use Worksheet A for primary custody, Worksheet B for qualifying joint or shared custody, or Worksheet C for split custody.
- 3Apply the current guideline schedule through combined adjusted gross income of $40,000 per month.
- 4Add work-related child-care costs, health-insurance costs, and other support items required by the worksheet.
- 5Review deviation arguments or higher-income discretionary issues after the worksheet baseline is clear.
Worksheet B trigger
North Carolina currently uses Worksheet B only when each parent has the child at least 123 overnights per year.
High-income shift
Once combined adjusted gross income rises above $40,000 per month, North Carolina moves beyond the simple schedule lookup.
Minimum support floor
NC Courts currently states the minimum child support obligation is generally $50 per month.
Official North Carolina formula sources
- North Carolina Child Support Guidelines
- NC Courts Worksheet A
- NC Courts Worksheet B
- NC Courts Worksheet C