Virginia Child Support Lawyers

How child support works in Virginia

Virginia uses an income shares model. The idea is simple: a child should receive roughly the same share of the parents' combined income that they would have if the family were still together. The guideline in Virginia Code section 20-108.2 turns that idea into a number the court presumes is correct.

If you are searching for a child support lawyer in Virginia, you probably want the answer to one of two questions: how much will I pay, or how much should I receive. Both come from the same formula. The court takes both parents' combined monthly gross income and the number of children to find a basic support obligation on the statewide schedule, then splits that obligation between the parents in proportion to what each one earns. It adds each parent's share of the child's health insurance and any work-related child care, and it accounts for the parenting schedule. Virginia updated this guideline effective July 1, 2025, so the current schedule and rules are what your number should be based on.

Child support can be set as part of a divorce or in its own case, and the same rules apply whether or not the parents were ever married. Once paternity is established, an unmarried parent is treated the same as a married one. These matters are usually heard in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, and a support order is never permanently fixed: it can be changed as incomes and circumstances change. Below, we walk through exactly how the number is calculated, how custody changes it, how to modify or enforce an order, and how long support lasts. If you would rather see your own estimate first, run it through our calculator and then let us pressure-test the inputs.

How child support is calculated in Virginia

The guideline is a step-by-step calculation, and the same steps apply in almost every case. Understanding them is the difference between accepting a number and knowing whether it is right.

• Start with combined gross income. The court adds both parents' monthly gross income. Gross income is broad: wages, salary, bonuses, commissions, overtime, self-employment income, pensions, and many other sources count. Certain benefits, such as Supplemental Security Income and some public assistance, are excluded.
• Subtract limited deductions. A parent can deduct spousal support actually being paid to a former spouse and support already being paid for other children, before the guideline number is set.
• Find the basic obligation on the schedule. Virginia's schedule pairs combined income with the number of children to produce a basic monthly obligation. As of July 1, 2025 the schedule runs up to $42,500 in combined monthly income. Above that, a percentage of the additional income is added, ranging from 2.6 percent for one child to 5.0 percent for six.
• Split it in proportion to income. Each parent is responsible for their percentage of the combined income. If one parent earns 60 percent of the total, that parent is responsible for 60 percent of the basic obligation.
• Add health insurance and child care. The child's portion of health and dental insurance premiums and any work-related child care are added to the obligation and shared in the same proportion. Under the 2025 update, unreimbursed medical and dental expenses are now split between the parents proportionally rather than being absorbed by one parent.
• Adjust for the parenting schedule. Whether the case is sole, shared, or split custody changes which version of the guideline applies, which can significantly change the final number.

The guideline number carries a rebuttable presumption that it is correct. A judge can order a different amount, but only by making written findings that the guideline would be unjust or inappropriate based on the factors in Virginia Code section 20-108.1. Courts can also impute income to a parent who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, meaning support is based on what that parent could earn, not just what they report. Because every input moves the result, small mistakes on income, insurance, or custody days can push the number well off where it should be.

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Changing a child support order

A support order reflects your family at one moment in time. Incomes rise and fall, jobs change, and children's needs shift. Virginia lets you change an order, but not automatically and not retroactively to when the change happened.

You need a material change in circumstances

To modify support, a parent must show a material change in circumstances since the last order. Common examples include a significant change in either parent's income, a job loss or new job, a change in the custody or parenting schedule, a change in the cost of health insurance or work-related child care, or a meaningful change in the child's needs. If a material change is shown, the court recalculates support under the current guideline.

File promptly, because timing controls

A modification is generally retroactive only to the date the request was filed and served, not to the date your income actually dropped. That is why waiting can be expensive: if you lose income and delay, you can still owe the old, higher amount for every month before you file. If your circumstances have changed, the time to act is now.

DCSE review

The Virginia Division of Child Support Enforcement can also review an order administratively, generally every three years on request or when there has been a substantial change. That path can work for straightforward adjustments, though a contested change or one tied to a custody dispute usually belongs in court.

Duration and taxes

How long child support lasts

Child support in Virginia generally ends when a child turns 18. It continues until age 19 or high school graduation, whichever comes first, if the child is still a full-time high school student, is not self-supporting, and lives in the home of the parent receiving support. Support can also be extended for a child who is severely and permanently disabled and unable to live independently. When one order covers several children, it does not automatically drop as each child ages out, so the order should be reviewed at each milestone.

How child support is taxed

Child support is not treated as income to the parent who receives it, and it is not tax-deductible for the parent who pays it. Separately, the right to claim a child as a dependent, and the related child tax credit, generally goes to the custodial parent unless the parents agree otherwise or a court assigns it differently. These are worth coordinating so both parents are working from the same assumptions.