Vermont Child Support Calculator (2026)
Vermont calculates child support under income-shares guidelines (15 V.S.A. § 654 (support guideline); §§ 653, 655-660). Estimate the guideline amount below.
Income basis: combined monthly available income (both parents' after-tax income under 15 V.S.A. § 653).
Enter the income above to see the guideline estimate.
Simplified guideline estimate, interpolated from the official schedule — before health-insurance, childcare, and parenting-time adjustments. For the exact figure use the official Vermont calculator.
Your Case Details
Answer a few questions to see your estimated range.
Approximate gap between higher-earner and lower-earner.
Estimated Monthly Support
$840 — $1,560
State formulas vary significantly. This estimate uses national averages — your state's guidelines may produce a different number.
Editorially Reviewed — Content reviewed for accuracy using published legal research, government data, and verified court records. See our methodology
Reviewed by Leonard Goldberg, Editor · Last updated
Vermont uses the income-shares model: both parents' incomes are combined and each parent owes their proportional share of the official schedule amount (15 V.S.A. § 654 (support guideline); §§ 653, 655-660). Vermont's official tables have extra dimensions this quick tool can't capture — use the official worksheet linked above for your figure; this page explains what drives it.
How Vermont Calculates Child Support
Vermont uses an Income Shares model under 15 V.S.A. §§ 653-657: each parent's gross income is converted to 'available income' (after taxes/FICA via official conversion tables, prior support obligations, and health-insurance costs), the two available incomes are combined, and the combined figure is applied to the Office of Child Support's Table of Intact Family Expenditures on Children (Betson-Rothbarth marginal-cost methodology) to produce a basic support obligation. That obligation is then split between the parents in proportion to their share of combined available income. The guideline tables were last revised effective January 2, 2024, and by statute must be reviewed at least once every four years (next review due by January 2, 2028). (Vermont's current table could not be reproduced here — this page runs in referral mode; use the state's official online calculator for exact figures.)
Statutory basis: 15 V.S.A. § 654 (support guideline); §§ 653, 655-660. Exact figure: official Vermont calculator.
Worked Example
The calculation method, per Vermont's own guideline-review documentation: each parent's gross income runs through the official gross-to-after-tax conversion tables to get 'available income'; the two available incomes are combined and looked up on the Table of Intact Family Expenditures on Children for the number of children; the resulting basic obligation is divided between the parents in proportion to each parent's share of the combined available income, and the noncustodial parent pays their share to the custodial parent — subject to the self-support reserve floor in § 656(b)-(c) and add-ons for child care and health costs. For current dollar outputs, use Vermont's official online calculator, which implements the post-January-2024 table.
When Courts Deviate From the Guideline
- The financial resources of the child
- The financial resources of the custodial parent
- The standard of living the child would have enjoyed had the parents' relationship not ended
- The physical and emotional condition and the educational needs of the child
- The financial resources and needs of the noncustodial parent
- Extraordinary travel and other travel-related expenses incurred in exercising parent-child contact, plus inflation and any other factor the court finds relevant
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there an income cap on Vermont's child support guideline?
There is no fixed dollar cap written into the statute itself. The guideline table is presumptively applied up to the top of its combined-income brackets — roughly $25,526 to $30,000 per month in combined available income based on the Office of Child Support's 2023 economic-basis study. Above that range, 15 V.S.A. § 656(d) gives the court discretion to set support instead of mechanically applying the schedule.
What counts as income under Vermont's child support guideline?
Under 15 V.S.A. § 653, gross income includes income from virtually any source: salaries, wages, commissions, royalties, bonuses, dividends, severance pay, pensions, interest, trust income, annuities, capital gains, Social Security benefits, workers' compensation, unemployment and disability benefits, gifts, prizes, spousal support actually received, business net receipts and rental income. Courts can also impute income to non-income-producing assets over $10,000 (excluding a primary residence and up to $15,000 of vehicle value) and to a parent who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed. Means-tested public assistance — TANF, SSI, SNAP, and General Assistance — is excluded.
How does shared or split physical custody change the Vermont support amount?
Under 15 V.S.A. § 657, if each parent has physical custody (overnights) at least 30% of the year, the total child support obligation is increased by 50% to reflect the cost of maintaining two households, then each parent's theoretical obligation is calculated based on income share and custody time, and the two amounts are offset so the parent with the larger obligation pays the difference. When one parent has between 25% and 30% custody time, a separate shared-costs table applies. Either way, no parent can be ordered to pay more than they would have owed under a straight sole-custody calculation.
Until what age does Vermont child support last, and does it cover college?
Under 15 V.S.A. § 658(c), a court may order support to continue until the child reaches the age of majority (18) or completes secondary education, whichever is later. Vermont does not automatically require parents to pay for college: under § 659(b), a court may include an additional amount for postsecondary education only if the parties agree to it.