How Much Is Child Support in New York? The CSSA Formula, the $193,000 Cap, and a Worked Example for Long Island Parents (2026)

How much is child support in New York?

Basic child support in New York is 17% of combined parental income for one child, 25% for two children, 29% for three, 31% for four, and no less than 35% for five or more, calculated on combined parental income up to the statutory cap, which is $193,000 as of March 1, 2026. Each parent is responsible for the share of that number that matches their share of the combined income, and the non-custodial parent pays their share to the custodial parent.

I want to correct the misconception I hear in almost every first consultation, from both sides of the table. Parents come in believing child support is something the two of them get to negotiate, or something the judge sets based on how sympathetic each parent seems. It is neither. The Child Support Standards Act, which lives in Domestic Relations Law 240(1-b) for divorce cases and Family Court Act 413 for Family Court cases, gives the court a formula, and the court has to run that formula and put the result on the record before it can deviate from it. If two parents agree to a different number, the agreement has to state what the formula would have produced and why they are departing from it, or it will not be enforceable.

The good news is that once you understand the formula, you can estimate your number in about ten minutes with last year's tax return. The bad news is that the formula has moving parts that catch people off guard: what counts as income, how the cap works, and the add-ons that get stacked on top of the basic number. Those are what the rest of this article covers, with real figures.

What are the child support percentages in New York?

The CSSA percentages are 17% of combined parental income for one child, 25% for two children, 29% for three children, 31% for four children, and no less than 35% for five or more children. The percentages are applied to the parents' combined income, not to the paying parent's income alone, and the resulting figure is then divided between the parents pro rata.

The third column is the total basic support obligation at the cap, before it is split between the parents. If the parents earn equal amounts, each one is responsible for half of that figure, and the non-custodial parent pays their half. If one parent earns 70% of the combined income, that parent is responsible for 70% of the figure. Those cap-level numbers are the ceiling of the near-automatic zone; anything above them requires the court to make findings, which I cover below.

What counts as income for child support in New York?

For child support purposes, New York starts with gross income as it was or should have been reported on your most recent federal tax return, then adds back items like workers' compensation, disability, unemployment, Social Security, pensions, and fellowship income, and can impute income to a parent who is underemployed by choice. From that gross figure the court subtracts FICA taxes actually paid, New York City or Yonkers income tax, maintenance paid to the other spouse, and child support actually paid for other children under a court order.

The number that surprises people is imputed income. If a parent quits a $120,000 job and takes a $50,000 one on the eve of a support hearing, the court can, and usually will, calculate support on what that parent is capable of earning. I have seen this cut both ways on Long Island: a custodial parent who has not worked in years can have income imputed too, which changes the pro rata split. Self-employed parents get special scrutiny. Cash businesses, personal expenses run through the company, and depreciation deductions all get examined, and the court can add them back.

The deductions matter just as much. FICA comes off the top for both parents, which is why the numbers in the worked example below are slightly lower than a straight percentage of gross pay would suggest. And if you are paying maintenance to the other parent in the same case, that maintenance is subtracted from your income and added to theirs before the child support formula runs, which is a change made by the 2015 maintenance reform (effective in 2016) that many older online calculators still get wrong.

How is child support actually calculated? A worked example

Here is how the formula plays out for a typical Nassau County family with one child, using round numbers so the math is easy to follow.

Two things this example does not show. First, if Parent A's income drops to the point where paying the formula amount would leave them below the self-support reserve, which is $21,546 for 2026, the court reduces the order, and a parent at or below the federal poverty guideline of $15,960 is generally ordered to pay $25 a month. Second, if the parents were also litigating maintenance, the maintenance figure would move money from Parent A's column to Parent B's before this calculation started, which changes both the percentage split and the final number.

What happens when income is over the $193,000 cap?

When combined parental income exceeds $193,000, the court must apply the CSSA percentages to the first $193,000 and then decide whether to apply the percentages, a different percentage, or nothing at all to the income above the cap, based on the ten factors listed in Domestic Relations Law 240(1-b)(f). The court has to explain its reasoning on the record either way. The cap is adjusted for inflation every two years on March 1, and it rose from $183,000 to $193,000 in 2026.

This is the part of the statute that generates the most litigation on the North Shore and in the higher-income parts of Suffolk County, because the difference between capping support at $193,000 and running the percentage on $400,000 of combined income is tens of thousands of dollars a year. The factors the court weighs include the financial resources of each parent and the child, the child's physical and emotional health and any special needs, the standard of living the child would have enjoyed if the household had stayed together, the tax consequences to each parent, the non-monetary contributions each parent makes, any educational needs of a parent, the income disparity between the parents, the needs of other children the paying parent supports, and extraordinary visitation expenses.

The hard truth: courts in Nassau and Suffolk do not simply run the percentage on everything above the cap, and they do not simply stop at the cap either. In my experience the result usually lands somewhere in between, and the parent who walks in with a documented budget showing what the child's life actually costs, from tuition to travel sports to therapy, is the one whose number the court adopts. Vague claims about lifestyle do not move the needle. Receipts do.

What add-ons are included in New York child support?

In addition to the basic percentage amount, New York requires the parents to share three categories of expenses pro rata: reasonable child care costs incurred while the custodial parent works or attends school or training, the cost of the child's health insurance coverage, and the child's unreimbursed health expenses such as copays, orthodontia, and therapy. The court may also order a pro rata share of private school or college costs, but those educational add-ons are discretionary, not mandatory.

The educational piece deserves a warning. Long Island parents frequently assume the other parent will be forced to pay half of college. Under the statute the court may order a contribution to college based on the circumstances of the case and the parents' means, and many judges do, but it is not automatic, and the amount is often capped at the cost of a SUNY education unless the parents agreed otherwise or the family history supports private tuition. If college matters to you, get it into the stipulation or judgment in writing, with a specific cap and a specific formula, rather than assuming the statute will handle it later.

How long does child support last in New York?

Child support in New York continues until the child turns 21, unless the child becomes emancipated earlier by marrying, entering the military, or becoming self-supporting and living independently. Since 2021, a court can also order support to continue to age 26 for an adult child who has a developmental disability and lives with and depends on the custodial parent, under Family Court Act 413-b.

The age 21 rule catches parents who moved here from states where support ends at 18. It also means that a child who goes away to college at 18 is still entitled to support, though the paying parent can ask the court for a reduction or credit for room and board that they are paying directly. Support does not end on its own when a child turns 21 if the order also covers younger siblings; the paying parent has to file to have the order recalculated, and until they do, the full amount keeps accruing.

Can child support be changed or enforced in New York?

Yes to both, and the timing rules are unforgiving. A parent can petition to modify child support when three years have passed since the order was entered or last modified, when either parent's income has changed by 15% or more, or when there has been a substantial change in circumstances, unless the parents specifically opted out of the first two grounds in a written agreement. A modification is only retroactive to the date the petition was filed, never earlier. That is the rule that costs people the most money: a parent who loses a job in January and files in September owes the full original amount for those eight months, and New York courts have no power to forgive it. Arrears also accrue interest and can be collected through income execution, seizure of tax refunds, suspension of a driver's license or professional license, denial of a passport, and in serious cases contempt proceedings with jail time. On the enforcement side, the custodial parent can bring a violation petition in Family Court, and the Support Collection Unit will enforce an order at no cost. Every order I draft includes a provision for automatic cost of living adjustments and a clear statement of the CSSA calculation, because that language is what makes the order enforceable years later when memories differ.