CHILD SUPPORT GUIDELINES

07/94 Revised 07/01/25 Training Completed 07/15/25 Last Reviewed 08/05/25

Utah Code 26B-9-101, 81-6-101, 203, 204, 209

Introduction

Utah’s “child support guidelines” are defined at Utah Code 81-6-101 as:

“(9). . . the calculation and application of child support as described in Part 2, Calculation and Adjustment of Child Support.”

Utah’s guidelines are based on the "Income Shares" model. They use gross and adjusted incomes of both parents to determine the child support obligation for each parent.

For more information on determining actual income for guideline worksheets when establishing or modifying a child support order, refer to CS 403P-1 Determining Income for Guideline Worksheets.

Statutory Authority

Utah Code 81-6-101 defines “temporary” as:

“(31) . . . a period of time that is projected to be less than 12 months in duration.”

Utah Code 81-6-203 states:

“(1)(a) Each parent shall provide verification of current income to the court or administrative agency.

(b) Each parent shall provide year-to-date pay stubs or employer statements and complete copies of tax returns from at least the most recent year, unless the court finds the verification is not reasonably available.

(c) Verification of income from records maintained by the Department of Workforce Services may be substituted for pay stubs, employer statements, and income tax returns.

(2)(a) To calculate gross income of a parent, the court or administrative agency may include:

(i) prospective income of the parent, including income from earned and nonearned sources, such as salaries, wages, commissions, royalties, bonuses, rents, gifts from anyone, prizes, dividends, severance pay, pensions, interest, trust income, alimony from previous marriages, annuities, capital gains, Social Security benefits, worker compensation benefits, unemployment compensation, income replacement disability insurance benefits, and payments from nonmeans-tested government programs; and

(ii) income imputed to the parent as described in Subsection (6).

(b) Income from earned income sources is limited to the equivalent of one full-time 40-hour job.

(c) If and only if during the time before the original support order, the parent normally and consistently worked more than 40 hours at the parent’s job, the court may consider this extra time as a pattern in calculating the parent’s ability to provide child support.

(3)(a) The court or administrative agency shall use historical and current earnings to determine whether an underemployment or overemployment situation exists.

(b) When establishing or modifying a child support order for an obligor who is a parent and incarcerated, the office shall follow the requirements of Section 81-6-211.5.

(4)(a) To calculate income from self-employment or operation of a business, the court or administrative agency:

(i) shall calculate gross income from self-employment or operation of a business by subtracting necessary expenses required for self-employment or business operation from gross receipts,

(ii) shall review income and expenses from self-employment or operation of a business to determine an appropriate level of gross income available to the parent to satisfy a child support award; and

(iii) may only deduct those expenses necessary to allow the business to operate at a reasonable level from gross receipts.

(b) Gross income determined under this Subsection (4) may differ from the amount of business income determined for tax purposes.

(5) When possible, the court or administrative agency shall determine the average monthly gross income for each parent by:

(a) calculating the gross income of each parent on an annual basis; and

(b) dividing the annual gross income for each parent by 12.

(6)(a) The court or administrative agency may not impute income to a parent unless the parent stipulates to the amount imputed, the parent defaults, or, in contested cases, a hearing is held and the court or administrative agency enters findings of fact as to the evidentiary basis for the imputation.

(b) If income is imputed to a parent, the court or administrative agency shall base income upon employment potential and probable earnings considering, to the extent known:

(i) employment opportunities;

(ii) work history;

(iii) occupation qualifications;

(iv) educational attainment;

(v) literacy;

(vi) age;

(vii) health;

(viii) criminal record;

(ix) other employment barriers and background factors; and

(x) prevailing earnings and job availability for persons of similar backgrounds in the community.

(c) If a parent has no recent work history or a parent’s occupation is unknown, the court or administrative agency may impute an income to that parent at the federal minimum wage for a 40-hour work week.

(d) To impute a greater or lesser income, the court or administrative agency shall enter specific findings of fact as to the evidentiary basis for the imputation.

(e) The court or administrative agency may not impute income to a parent if any of the following conditions exist and the condition is not of a temporary nature:

(i) the reasonable costs of child care for the parents’ minor child approach or equal the amount of income the custodial parent can earn;

(ii) a parent is physically or mentally unable to earn minimum wage;

(iii) a parent is engaged in career or occupational training to establish basic job skills; or

(iv) unusual emotional or physical needs of a child require the custodial parent’s presence in the home.

(7) Notwithstanding Subsection (2), the court or administrative agency may not include the following sources of income when calculating the gross income of a parent:

(a) cash assistance provided under Title 35A, Chapter 3, Part 3, Family Employment Program;

(b) benefits received under a housing subsidy program, the Job Training Partnership Act, Supplemental Security Income, Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicaid, SNAP benefits, or General Assistance;

(d) the earned income of a child who is the subject of a child support award; or

(e) except as otherwise provided in Subsection (8), the benefits to a child in the child’s own right, such as Supplemental Security Income.

(8)(a) The court or administrative agency shall credit, as child support, the amount of social security benefits received by a child due to the earnings of the parent on whose earning record the social security benefits are based by crediting the amount against the potential obligation of that parent.

(b) The court or administrative agency may consider other unearned income of a child as income of a parent depending upon the circumstances of each case.”

Utah Code 81-6-204 states:

“(1) To calculate child support, the court or administrative agency shall determine the base combined child support obligation for the parents by:

(a) except as provided in Subsection (3), adjusting the average monthly gross income for each parent by subtracting any alimony previously ordered and paid and any child support previously ordered for that parent;

(b) adjusting the average monthly gross income for each parent by subtracting any credits deemed appropriate under Subsections 81-6-202(7) and (8);

(d) locating the base combined child support obligation in the base combined child support obligation table by finding:

(i) the combined adjusted average monthly gross incomes of the parents in the table; and

(ii) the total number of children in common to the parents.

(2) The court or administrative agency may only use the income of the parents of the child to determine the base child support award.

(3) The court or administrative agency may not subtract any alimony ordered in the pending proceeding from the gross incomes of the parents as described in Subsection (1)(a) . . . .

(10) For all worksheets, income and child support award figures are rounded to the nearest dollar.”

Utah Code 81-6-209 states:

“(6)(a) The court or administrative agency may impute a monthly obligation for child care costs when the court imputes income to a parent who is providing child care for the child so that the parties are not incurring child care costs for the child.

(b) The court shall apply any monthly obligation imputed under Subsection (6)(a) towards any actual child care costs incurred within the same month for the child.”

Utah Code 81-6-211.5 states:

“(1) The office may not treat incarceration of 90 or more consecutive days as voluntary unemployment in establishing or modifying a child support order.”