What happens when you change an input
The calculation runs in your browser and updates the estimate using the rule set for the selected state. We keep the important inputs visible so you can test more than one scenario. Every result is rounded for planning; it is not a court form or a prediction.
We code rules that can be expressed responsibly from the information the calculator asks for. We leave out decisions that require evidence, legal eligibility findings, tax preparation, credibility judgments, or facts we do not collect. Those omissions are listed below and on the relevant calculator page.
California child support
The California calculator applies the statewide equation in Family Code §4055: CS = K[HN − (H%)(TN)]. It identifies the higher earner from the two monthly net disposable income figures, uses that parent’s share of physical responsibility, selects the statutory income factor, and applies the multiplier for one through ten children. The sign of the formula determines which parent is the modeled payer.
You enter monthly net disposable income under §4059. The tool does not convert gross pay to net income, estimate tax liability, or decide which deductions apply. Those steps depend on facts such as filing status, dependents, exclusions, and actual deductions.
The calculator displays the possible low-income range when the modeled payer’s monthly net disposable income is below the monthly gross pay from full-time work at California’s 2026 minimum wage. At $16.90 per hour, 40 hours a week, and 52 weeks a year, that comparison is $2,929.33 per month. The statute creates a rebuttable presumption; it does not require the court to choose the bottom of the range.
Entered employment-related child care and reasonable uninsured health costs are kept separate from basic support. The tool allocates parental responsibility for those add-ons under §§4061–4062 using adjusted net income after modeled basic support. It does not know who paid a bill, so it does not turn the allocation into a reimbursement transfer. It also leaves out the same-case spousal-support adjustment in §4061(c).
California’s public DCSS calculator is useful background, but the Judicial Council’s calculator status table listed it as decertified when we checked on August 12, 2026. The table identifies other currently certified programs. We therefore do not tell readers to validate a result against the DCSS tool while that status remains in place. A family-law facilitator or lawyer can help prepare a calculation for court use.
California temporary and long-term spousal support
California does not have one statewide formula that controls a final spousal support award. The calculator shows a commonly used temporary support comparison: 40% of the payer’s tax-adjusted monthly net income minus 50% of the recipient’s, after child support. Santa Clara publishes that approach, and Los Angeles Local Rule 5.10 refers to possible use of the Santa Clara guideline. For other counties, we label the result as a comparison rather than a local court formula.
The output is not a long-term support calculation. A final award requires the court to consider the applicable factors in Family Code §4320. A marriage lasting ten years or more is rebuttably presumed to be of long duration for retained jurisdiction; that does not guarantee permanent or lifetime payments. For a shorter marriage, the tool shows one-half the marriage length only as the statute’s general self-support goal.
California divorce cost
California’s first-paper court fee is generally $435–$450. A county page supplies the local starting amount where we have verified one. The rest of the budget comes from the service fee, attorney hours and rate, mediation, and other professional costs entered on the page. Attorney fees are simply hours multiplied by rate; this calculator does not add a hidden complexity factor or claim that its defaults are statewide averages.
New York child support
The New York calculator starts with each parent’s annual CSSA income after the additions and deductions allowed by Family Court Act §413. If maintenance between the same two parents is included, the tool subtracts it from the payer and adds it to the recipient before combining income. It then applies 17% for one child, 25% for two, 29% for three, 31% for four, and a 35% starting percentage for five or more. The statute says the percentage for five or more children is no less than 35%.
For the rule set effective March 1, 2026, the calculator automatically applies the percentage to combined parental income up to $193,000. That figure is a guideline income threshold, not the most a court can consider. Under §413, a court may address income above the threshold by using the statutory factors, the child support percentage, or both. Our result shows above-threshold income but assumes no added award for it.
The engine also applies the 2026 poverty level of $15,960 and self-support reserve of $21,546 to the noncustodial parent’s basic obligation. It allocates entered child-care, health-insurance, and uninsured medical expenses by income share when the standard treatment applies. Whether an expense qualifies, whether a court uses an add-on in a low-income case, and whether a departure is appropriate remain legal decisions.
New York temporary and post-divorce maintenance
The maintenance calculator compares the two annual formulas in Domestic Relations Law §236 and uses the lower positive result. The first formula changes when the maintenance payer will also pay child support as the noncustodial parent. The second limits the result to 40% of the spouses’ combined statutory income minus the recipient’s income.
The statutory cap on payer income is $241,000 for the 2026 rule set; the recipient’s income is not capped. The tool applies the $21,546 self-support reserve and assumes no maintenance on income above the payer cap. Courts can consider an additional amount above the cap under the statute. Post-divorce results show the advisory duration ranges of 15%–30%, 30%–40%, or 35%–50% of the marriage length. That duration schedule does not apply to temporary maintenance.
New York divorce cost
The court baseline is the state courts’ $335 minimum for an uncontested divorce: $210 for the index number, $95 for the Request for Judicial Intervention, and $30 for the Note of Issue. Service, attorney time, mediation, and case complexity are editable planning inputs, not published statewide averages. The simple, moderate, and complex settings scale only the attorney-labor portion of the estimate.
Texas child support
The Texas calculator applies the guideline percentage to the payer’s entered monthly net resources. The standard schedule is 20% for one child, 25% for two, 30% for three, 35% for four, and 40% for five or more. Below $1,000 in monthly net resources, it uses the separate low-income schedule of 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, and 35%.
The base calculation limits applied net resources to $11,700 per month, effective September 1, 2025. A court may consider additional proven needs when resources exceed the guideline cap, so the cap is not an absolute ceiling on the order. The current tool does not calculate that additional amount or the multiple-family adjustment for obligations to children in other households.
You enter net resources directly. We do not estimate federal withholding because the Texas Office of the Attorney General publishes tax tables for this purpose and the correct deductions depend on the case. Parenting time is collected for context but does not automatically change the percentage.
Texas statutory spousal maintenance
The tool calculates the lesser of $5,000 a month or 20% of the payer’s average monthly gross income. That is a statutory maximum, not a finding that someone is eligible and not a promise that a court will award the maximum.
The marriage-length input shows the general maximum duration for the ordinary ten-year eligibility path: up to five years for a marriage of 10 to 19 years, seven years for 20 to 29 years, and ten years for 30 years or more. A shorter marriage does not produce a duration from marriage length alone. Qualifying family-violence, disability, and care-of-a-disabled-child paths need separate analysis, and the court generally must limit an award to the shortest reasonable period.
Texas divorce cost
The estimate adds the entered filing fee, service, mediation, and attorney labor. The simple, moderate, and complex settings apply only to attorney labor. They are planning factors used by this tool, not official court categories or reported Texas averages. Experts, discovery, hearings, trial, and post-decree work can change the final cost substantially.
Updates, testing, and corrections
State rule files carry effective and review dates. When a source changes, we update the rule and the explanation together, rerun calculator and rendered-page tests, and review pages that reuse the same data. A review date tells you when that check happened; it is not a guarantee that a later law or local practice will not apply.
If a number or source looks wrong, send us the page, statement, and source. The editorial policy explains how substantive corrections are handled.