GLASTONBURY, CONNECTICUT · FAMILY LAW + FAMILY-VIOLENCE DEFENSE
The guideline number is a rebuttable presumption. A Connecticut court can order something different — but only on criteria the guidelines recognize, and with written findings explaining why.
The guidelines list the permitted bases at Regs. §46b-215a-5c. They include other financial resources available to a parent, extraordinary expenses for the child, the coordination of total family support, shared physical custody, and certain other circumstances.
Two points people get wrong:
Shared physical custody is a deviation criterion, not an automatic reduction. Substantially equal parenting time does not by itself cut support in half or eliminate it. A parent seeking that deviation has to ask for it and justify it, and the court has to make findings.
“We agreed to something different” is not a basis on its own. The court reviews agreed support orders against the guidelines.
This gets misreported. The guidelines include a discretionary downward deviation where the total award would exceed 55% of the obligor’s net weekly income — and it applies to the total award, reducible only in components other than current support.
It is not a ceiling on the presumptive obligation, and describing it as one is wrong.
Under the 2026 edition, the schedule runs to $6,000 in combined net weekly income. Above that, support is determined case by case rather than extrapolated upward mechanically.
The guidelines set the figure at the $6,000 level as the minimum presumptive obligation, with the maximum calculated by applying the applicable percentage at that level to the actual combined income. Within that range, the court considers the statutory criteria, including the child’s needs and the family’s circumstances.
High-income cases therefore involve genuine argument rather than a lookup, and the evidence about what the children actually need carries real weight.
The same framework that supports a reduction supports an upward departure. A parent with substantial unearned income, or extraordinary expenses attributable to a child, can produce an order above the guideline figure.
Connecticut’s child support guidelines changed August 1, 2026. How the income shares model works, what the new schedule covers, and when courts deviate.
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Support orders cover more than the weekly number. How Connecticut handles insurance, unreimbursed medical expenses, and childcare.
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How Connecticut child support is calculated under the 2026 guidelines, what counts as income, and who pays for college. Glastonbury attorney Daniel M. Morton.
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