How it works · official guideline
How child support is calculated in Michigan
Michigan courts use the Michigan Child Support Formula published by the State Court Administrative Office: support obligations are generally divided by each parent’s percentage share of their combined net incomes, base support comes from tables in the annual supplement, and an equation based on each parent’s overnights adjusts the result for parenting time.[1]
Key facts: child support in Michigan
| Guideline model | Income shares[1] |
|---|---|
| Income counted | Net income as defined by the manual (not take-home pay)[1] |
| Shared parenting time | Parental time offset equation using overnights raised to the 2.5 power[1] |
| Low income | Below the Low Income Threshold: base support = 10% of the parent's net income[1] |
| Guideline last checked | October 26, 2026 |
Michigan’s model
Income shares
Income shares: parents' combined net income, then General Care Support Tables (supplement), apportioned by percentage share, then a parental-time offset equation.
No official calculator confirmed yet
Read the guideline: 2025 Michigan Child Support Formula Manual (State Court Administrative Office, Friend of the Court Bureau), effective January 1, 2025The state child support agency or your court clerk can run the official numbers.
Why no calculator here? We publish a calculator only after it reproduces the state’s official numbers exactly. We haven’t matched Michigan’s yet.
From the official text
The rules behind Michigan’s numbers
The guideline is 2025 Michigan Child Support Formula Manual (State Court Administrative Office, Friend of the Court Bureau), effective January 1, 2025. Open each rule to read the exact words.
- Income counted
Net income as defined by the manual (not take-home pay)
The formula uses each parent’s net income — all income minus the deductions and adjustments the manual allows — which is not the same as take-home pay.[1]
Official text · 2025 MCSF § 2.01(A)
“The term “net income” means all income minus the deductions and adjustments permitted by this manual.”
- Shared parenting time
Parental time offset equation using overnights raised to the 2.5 power
Base support is adjusted for parenting time with an equation using each parent’s annual overnights raised to the 2.5 power and each parent’s base support obligation; it applies whenever overnights can be determined.[1]
Official text · 2025 MCSF § 3.03
“(Ao )2.5· (Bs ) - (Bo )2.5· (As ) (Ao )2.5 + (Bo )2.5”
- Low income
Below the Low Income Threshold: base support = 10% of the parent’s net income
A parent whose net income does not exceed the Low Income Threshold (set in the annual supplement) has a base support obligation of 10 percent of income, and that income is left out of the family income used for the other parent.[1]
Official text · 2025 MCSF §§ 2.09, 3.02
“When one parent’s net income does not exceed the Low Income Threshold, do not include that parent’s income in the monthly net family income used to calculate the other parent’s general care support obligation.”
Guideline: 2025 Michigan Child Support Formula Manual (State Court Administrative Office, Friend of the Court Bureau), effective January 1, 2025, checked October 26, 2026.
Estimate and general information only — not legal advice. MediationList is a directory, not a law firm, and doesn’t endorse any mediator. Guidelines change; confirm with the state child support agency or your court (sources checked October 26, 2026). See also divorce laws in Michigan and child support in every state.
Sources
Michigan’s child support guideline, rules and official tools, read on the official sites, with the date we checked each.