GLASTONBURY, CONNECTICUT · FAMILY LAW + FAMILY-VIOLENCE DEFENSE
Connecticut calculates child support from a published schedule, which makes it look more automatic than it is. The arithmetic is the easy part. What gets argued about is what counts as income, and whether the guideline number should apply at all.
The guidelines were revised effective August 1, 2026. Orders and modifications filed on or after that date use the new edition. Much of what is published elsewhere still reflects the prior version.
Connecticut starts from the premise that a child should receive roughly the share of parental income they would have received if the family were intact.
Because both incomes go in, the receiving parent’s earnings affect the result. That is different from states using a straight percentage of the paying parent’s income, and it surprises people who have read national material.
Under the current edition, the schedule covers combined net weekly incomes from roughly $150 to $6,000, with a self-support reserve of $362 per week protecting low-income obligors. Above the top of the schedule, support is determined case by case rather than extrapolated.
The 2026 Connecticut Child Support and Arrearage Guidelines are adopted under C.G.S. §46b-215a and set out in Regs. Conn. State Agencies §§46b-215a-1, 46b-215a-2c, 46b-215a-3a, 46b-215a-4b, 46b-215a-5c, and 46b-215a-6. Beyond extending the schedule, they revise the income and deduction rules, the treatment of income above the schedule, the low-income adjustments, and the deviation and income-imputation criteria, and they add provisions and a worksheet for cases involving more than two legally recognized parents.
More than a paycheck. Wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, overtime, self-employment income, rental income, and many benefits, less the deductions the guidelines specifically allow — not every deduction a person actually takes.
Two areas generate most disputes. Variable pay — recurring bonuses and overtime are income even though they fluctuate, and how they are handled is often negotiated. Self-employment income is calculated after ordinary and necessary business expenses, which is not the same as what appears on a tax return.
The guideline figure is a rebuttable presumption, not a ceiling or a floor. A court can order something different, but only on criteria the guidelines recognize and with findings explaining why.
Shared physical custody is one of those criteria — not an automatic reduction. Equal parenting time does not by itself eliminate or halve support. A parent seeking that deviation has to ask for it and justify it.
Separately, “we agreed to something different” is not sufficient on its own. The court reviews agreed support orders against the guidelines.
A court can consider earning capacity rather than actual earnings. The 2026 guidelines, at Regs. Conn. State Agencies §46b-215a-5c(c), set out what has to be considered before income is imputed to a parent — including assets, residence, employment and earnings history, job skills, education, age, health, criminal record and other employment barriers, efforts to find work, and the local job market.
The guidelines also define full-time employment as 32 hours per week for purposes of imputing income.
This cuts both ways. It is how a parent hiding income gets addressed, and it is also the framework that protects a parent who genuinely cannot find comparable work from having a former salary assumed.
Orders also address medical and dental insurance for the children, and allocate unreimbursed medical expenses — typically in proportion to income. Qualifying childcare costs are handled similarly.
Connecticut child support starts from net weekly income. What is included, what can be deducted, and what changed in the 2026 guidelines.
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The guideline figure is a presumption, not a ceiling. When Connecticut courts order something different, and what happens above the schedule.
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When a Connecticut court uses what a parent could earn instead of what they do earn, and the factors the 2026 guidelines require it to consider.
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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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Connecticut child support generally ends at 18 or 19. The exceptions, including support for an adult child with a disability.
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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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