Child Support in Texas: How It’s Calculated, Paid, and Enforced

Child support in Texas is calculated as a percentage of the paying parent’s net resources: 20% for one child, 25% for two, 30% for three, 35% for four, and at least 40% for five or more.¹ The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) handles most cases, from opening a file through enforcement, and support is treated as a right belonging to the child rather than a payment owed to the other parent.²

How the Amount Is Calculated

The starting point is net resources, which is closer to take-home pay than gross income. Net resources include wages, salary, overtime, commissions, tips, bonuses, interest, dividends, self-employment income, retirement benefits, and most other income actually received.³ Public assistance, foster care payments, and returns of principal or capital are excluded.

From gross income, the court subtracts Social Security taxes, federal income tax (computed as a single filer claiming one exemption and the standard deduction), union dues, and the cost of any court-ordered health or dental insurance for the child.³ If the parent doesn’t pay Social Security taxes, mandatory retirement contributions come out instead.

The guideline percentages apply to the first $11,700 per month in net resources.⁴ That cap adjusts every six years for inflation and was most recently raised from $9,200.¹ For income above the cap, a judge can order more if the child’s proven needs justify it. Judges treat the guideline result as presumptively in the child’s best interest, so any deviation has to be justified with specific evidence.

Low-Income and No-Income Situations

When the paying parent earns less than $1,000 per month in net resources, reduced percentages apply: 12.5% for one child, 17.5% for two, 20% for three, 22.5% for four, and at least 25% for five or more.⁵

If a parent provides no evidence of income, the court presumes federal minimum wage for a 40-hour workweek. And if the court finds a parent is intentionally underemployed or refusing to work, it can base support on earning potential instead of actual income, using prior job history, education, and prevailing local wages.⁵

Medical and Dental Coverage

Every Texas child support order also has to address health and dental coverage for the child.⁵ Employer-based insurance gets priority when it’s available at a reasonable cost, with reasonable defined as premiums not exceeding 9% of the paying parent’s annual resources. When the paying parent’s coverage is unavailable or too expensive, the court can order the other parent to provide it.

The premium cost is deducted from net resources before the guideline percentage is applied, so it reduces the cash payment rather than adding to it.

Opening a Case

For married parents, Texas presumes the husband is the legal father. For unmarried parents, paternity must be established first, either by a signed acknowledgment of paternity (often completed at the hospital and filed with vital statistics) or by court order after genetic testing.⁶ Without paternity, there is no legal basis for a support order against an unmarried father.

The fastest way to open a case is the OAG’s online portal; a paper application is available by calling (800) 252-8014 but takes longer to process.⁷ You’ll need full legal names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth for both parents and every child. The other parent’s address and employer information matter because the state has to serve notice and locate income for withholding. Pay stubs and tax returns help the state assess earning capacity.

From Application to Signed Order

The OAG usually starts with the Child Support Review Process, an administrative meeting rather than a courtroom hearing.⁸ Both parents meet with a child support officer to try to reach terms. If they agree, the officer drafts an order for a judge to sign. If they don’t, the case moves to a formal court hearing. Either way, the other parent must first be served with legal notice, and no enforceable obligation exists until a judge signs the final order.

How Payments Move

All payments run through the State Disbursement Unit, which creates the official record of every transaction.⁹ Most orders include an income withholding order that requires the employer to deduct support from each paycheck and remit it electronically no later than the second business day after payday.¹⁰

The receiving parent gets funds by direct deposit or on a debit card called the Texas Payment Card. Parents can also pay directly through the OAG portal. Cash handed to the other parent, or deposits into their personal account, may not be credited if a dispute arises later. The state’s records control in enforcement proceedings, so paying outside official channels is risky.

When Support Ends

The duty to pay continues until the child turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever is later.⁵ Support ends earlier if the child marries, has their minority disabilities removed, or is otherwise emancipated.

The main exception is disability. If a child has a mental or physical disability that existed on or before the 18th birthday, requires substantial care, and offers no realistic path to self-support, the court can order support for an indefinite period.⁵ Any arrears that accrued before the end date remain collectible.

Changing the Amount

An existing order can be modified when circumstances change. Standard grounds require a material and substantial change since the order was set, such as a major income change for either parent, a shift in the child’s needs, or a significant change in custody.¹¹

There’s also an automatic pathway: if at least three years have passed since the order was established or last modified, and a recalculation would differ from the current amount by at least 20% or $100 per month, that alone is enough.¹² Incarceration for more than 180 days counts as a material change, as does release from incarceration if support was reduced or suspended during the sentence.¹¹

A modification only affects payments from the date the other parent is served with the petition. Informal agreements between parents carry no legal weight, and the original order remains in force until a judge signs a new one.

Past-Due Support Cannot Be Wiped Out

Federal law bars any state from retroactively reducing or erasing child support that has already come due. Under the Bradley Amendment, every missed payment becomes a judgment by operation of law the moment it’s due.¹³ No court can go back and remove those debts, even if the paying parent lost a job or became disabled. The only relief is a modification that goes back no earlier than the date the petition was filed and served. That’s why filing quickly after a financial setback matters: every month of delay adds to a debt that can never be undone.

Enforcement When Payments Stop

Texas has aggressive enforcement tools, and they escalate fast.

Once a parent owes at least three months of overdue support and has failed to follow a repayment plan, the OAG or the court can suspend driver’s licenses, professional licenses, and other state-issued licenses.¹⁴ The suspension stays in place until the parent pays or enters a court-approved repayment agreement.

For more serious noncompliance, the court can hold the parent in contempt, which can include jail time. It can also place the parent on community supervision for up to 10 years with conditions like mandatory employment services, financial counseling, or substance abuse treatment. Liens can attach to property, bank accounts, and retirement plans.

Federal Consequences

Willfully failing to pay support for a child in another state is a federal crime under 18 U.S.C. § 228 when the debt exceeds $5,000 or has been unpaid for more than a year; penalties increase if the debt tops $10,000 or has been unpaid for more than two years.¹⁵ A conviction requires full restitution.

The federal Treasury Offset Program intercepts tax refunds. State child support agencies submit qualifying arrears to Treasury, which diverts part or all of the parent’s refund toward the debt.¹⁶ The parent receives a pre-offset notice with the amount owed and how to challenge it. If the intercepted refund came from a joint return, the state can hold the funds for up to six months before disbursing. The OAG can also request passport denial and report arrears to credit bureaus.

Visitation Is a Separate Issue

Support and visitation are legally independent. A custodial parent cannot withhold visits because the other parent stopped paying, and a noncustodial parent cannot stop paying because visits are being blocked.¹⁷ Each parent has to follow the order regardless of what the other is doing. The remedy for a violation is going back to court, not self-help, which risks contempt and the other enforcement tools above.

Taxes

Child support has no federal tax consequences. The paying parent can’t deduct it, and the receiving parent doesn’t report it as income.¹⁸ Who claims the child as a dependent is a separate question: generally the parent the child lives with more than half the year, though parents can alternate years or assign the exemption to the noncustodial parent using IRS Form 8332. The support order itself doesn’t decide who claims the child.

1
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 154.125 – Application of Guidelines to Net Resources
2
Office of the Attorney General. Child Support in Texas
3
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 154.062 – Net Resources
4
Office of the Attorney General. Monthly Child Support Calculator
5
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Chapter 154 – Child Support
6
State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 160.301
7
Office of the Attorney General. How to Apply for Child Support
8
Office of the Attorney General. Understanding the Legal Process
9
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Revenue Object 3620 – Child Support Collections
10
Texas Public Law. Texas Family Code Section 158.203 – Remitting Withheld Payments
11
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 156.401 – Grounds for Modification of Child Support
12
Office of the Attorney General. Support Modification Process
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 666 – Requirement of Statutorily Prescribed Procedures
14
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 232.003 – Suspension of License
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 228 – Failure to Pay Legal Child Support Obligations
16
Administration for Children and Families. How Does a Federal Tax Refund Offset Work?
17
Office of the Attorney General. Handbook for Noncustodial Parents
18
Internal Revenue Service. Dependents