If you’re trying to work out what child support is going to cost you, or what you’re going to receive, you’re asking the right question early. That timing matters more than most people expect.
A Utah child support calculator runs a statutory formula rather than a judge’s opinion: both parents’ gross monthly incomes are combined, that combined figure is matched against the base obligation table in Utah Code § 81-6-204, and each parent’s share is prorated by income before it is adjusted for overnights. The number the calculator returns is a rebuttable presumption, which means the court starts there unless a party proves the guideline result would be unjust.
What most people don’t realize is that the arithmetic is rarely the fight. The worksheets are fixed, and the tables are published. The disputes are about the inputs: what counts as gross income, whether a parent is voluntarily underemployed, and exactly how many overnights each parent will have. Change any one of those, and the output changes.
Key Takeaways
- Utah uses an income-shares model. Both parents’ incomes go into the same formula, and the combined figure sets the base obligation under § 81-6-204.
- The guideline number is a rebuttable presumption. Under § 81-6-202, a judge must make written findings to order a different amount.
- Which worksheet applies depends on overnights. Joint physical custody requires each parent to have the child for at least 111 overnights a year.
- Overnight credit is graduated, not a cliff. Section 81-6-206 credits overnights between 111 and 130 at one rate and overnights above 130 at a higher rate.
- A court can impute income. Under § 81-6-203, earning capacity can be assigned to a parent who is unemployed or underemployed, subject to specific statutory exceptions.
- Child care is now its own ongoing obligation. As of July 1, 2026, § 81-6-209.5 requires the order itself to include a recurring child care amount.
If you ran the numbers before July 2026, run them again. Utah changed how child care costs work inside a support order, effective July 1, 2026. Under § 81-6-209.5, courts now build a recurring child care amount into the order, presumed from Office of Recovery Services cost tables, instead of leaving parents to split receipts after the fact. That obligation generally ends when the child turns 13. Any calculator that hasn’t been updated will hand you a figure that is no longer complete.
The Three Utah Child Support Worksheets at a Glance
| Sole physical custody | Joint physical custody | Split custody | |
| Governing statute | § 81-6-205 | § 81-6-206 | § 81-6-207 |
| When it applies | One parent has the child most nights | Each parent has at least 111 overnights a year | Each parent has physical custody of at least one child |
| Overnight credit | None | Graduated credit above 110 overnights | Applied within each child’s calculation |
| Who usually pays | The non-custodial parent | The parent with fewer overnights | The parent with the higher resulting obligation |
How Is Child Support Calculated in Utah, Step by Step?
The Utah child support guidelines run four steps in a fixed order, and every worksheet follows the same sequence.
- Establish each parent’s gross monthly income. Under § 81-6-203, gross income covers salaries, wages, commissions, royalties, and bonuses, and it is generally capped at one full-time 40-hour job unless a parent has historically worked more.
- Adjust and combine those incomes. Alimony and child support already ordered in another case come out first, which is one reason a spousal support award and a child support figure cannot be settled in isolation.
- Find the base combined obligation. Section 81-6-204 matches the combined adjusted income and the number of children to a published table amount.
- Prorate and apply the custody worksheet. Each parent takes a share in proportion to income, and the applicable worksheet converts that share into a monthly payment.
Two rules about income trip people up. Means-tested benefits are excluded, so cash assistance, SSI, SNAP, and a child’s own earnings stay out. Imputation works the other way. A court may assign earning capacity based on work history, qualifications, education, age, and health, although it cannot impute where child care costs would approach the parent’s earnings or where a child’s needs require that parent at home. Self-employment income is where our child support lawyers in Utah spend most of their time, because what a business shows on paper and what it actually pays the owner are frequently different numbers.
Prior alimony matters here too. If Utah alimony and spousal support is also in play, the award has to be resolved before the child support worksheet produces a reliable figure.
How Do Overnights Change the Support Number?
Overnights change the number more than almost any other input, and 111 is the threshold that matters.
A parent who has the child for fewer than 111 overnights a year falls under the sole physical custody worksheet and receives no overnight credit. At 111 overnights, Utah Code § 81-6-206 applies instead, and the credit is graduated. Overnights between 111 and 130 are multiplied by 0.0027, overnights above 130 are multiplied by 0.0084, and those products are applied against the base combined obligation before the paying parent’s share is set.
A parenting schedule is therefore also a financial document. Two or three overnights a year can move a case across the 111-night line, and how your work schedule shapes a Utah custody arrangement often decides whether a parent can realistically reach that threshold at all.
If you want to know where your own numbers land before you commit to a schedule, call 801-528-9357. We answer that line 24 hours a day.
What Is the Minimum Child Support in Utah, and Can a Judge Depart from the Guidelines?
Utah has no flat statutory minimum payment. What the statute sets is a floor in the table itself.
Under § 81-6-204, if combined adjusted gross income falls below the lowest figure in the table, the base combined obligation is $0. At the other end, if combined income exceeds the highest level in the table, the court orders an appropriate amount case by case, and it may not order less than the highest listed amount for that number of children.
Departing from the guideline result is possible but deliberately difficult. Utah Code § 81-6-202 requires a written finding, or a specific finding on the record, that applying the guidelines would be unjust, inappropriate, or not in the child’s best interest. In weighing that, a court considers the parties’ standard of living, their relative wealth and income, earning capacity, the child’s needs, and each parent’s responsibility to support others. Judicial discretion is far wider in spousal support, which is why what actually determines alimony in Utah looks nothing like a worksheet.
Frequently Asked Questions About Utah Child Support
Is the Utah child support worksheet the same thing as the ORS calculator?
Yes, in formula. The Office of Recovery Services online calculator implements the same statutory worksheets a court uses. The output is an estimate based on what you type in, not an order, and it is only as accurate as the income and overnight figures you enter.
How much is child support in Utah for one child?
There is no flat per-child amount. The figure depends on both parents’ combined adjusted gross income, the number of children, and how the overnights divide. Two families with the same income can owe different amounts if their parent-time schedules differ.
Does 50/50 custody mean nobody pays child support in Utah?
No. Equal overnights maximize the credit under § 81-6-206, but they do not cancel the obligation. Where incomes differ, the higher earner usually still pays, because the formula is driven by income share first and overnights second.
Does a new spouse’s income count toward child support?
No. Only the two parents’ incomes enter the worksheet. A new spouse’s earnings are not added, although they can become relevant in a deviation argument about a parent’s overall circumstances.
Can a Utah child support order be changed later?
Yes. Section 81-6-212 governs modification, and a substantial change in income, custody, or a child’s needs can support a request. Support does not adjust on its own, so the order stands until a court changes it.
Get Your Utah Child Support Numbers Run Before You File
The worksheet is public, but the inputs are where cases are won and lost. A misclassified bonus, an unexamined self-employment figure, or a schedule that lands at 109 overnights instead of 111 will follow you for years.
Richards & Richards has been a family-run firm in Ogden since 1988, with more than 35 years in Weber County courts and over 20,000 cases handled firm-wide. Jaime Richards leads our family law practice and has argued income inputs and overnight calculations in front of the judges who will hear your case. He practices in Portuguese, and we hold consultations in Spanish as well. We respond within 24 business hours.
Two honest points are worth stating plainly. We can’t promise an outcome, because no honest lawyer can. And the guidelines constrain what any attorney can do with the arithmetic, so our value is in the inputs and the schedule, not in arguing the table.
A consultation is $100 for one hour. You leave with a written Divorce Plan, the real deliverable, valued at $550. If you hire us within 7 days, the $100 is credited to your retainer. Every question you walked in with gets answered before you leave.
You don’t have to guess at this. Request your consultation or call 801-528-9357, and we’ll run your actual numbers on the Utah worksheets before you file anything.