Federal law caps the amount child support can take from your paycheck at 50% to 65% of your disposable earnings. The exact ceiling depends on two things: whether you’re supporting another spouse or child outside the support order, and whether you’re more than 12 weeks behind on payments. Those limits come from the Consumer Credit Protection Act and apply in every state, though a state can set a lower cap.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment
The Four Withholding Tiers
The CCPA sorts paying parents into four buckets:
- 50% of disposable earnings if you support another spouse or child and are current or less than 12 weeks behind.
- 55% if you support another spouse or child and are more than 12 weeks behind.
- 60% if you don’t support another family and are current or less than 12 weeks behind.
- 65% if you don’t support another family and are more than 12 weeks behind.
These are hard ceilings. No state and no court order can push withholding above the applicable percentage, though a state is free to protect more of your paycheck by setting a lower cap. To qualify for the “supporting a second family” tiers, you have to actually be supporting another spouse or dependent child who isn’t covered by the support order in question.
What “Disposable Earnings” Actually Means
The percentage applies to disposable earnings, not take-home pay, and the two numbers are usually different. Disposable earnings means your gross pay minus only the deductions required by law: federal, state, and local income tax, plus Social Security and Medicare.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1672 – Definitions
Voluntary deductions don’t lower the figure. Health insurance premiums, 401(k) contributions, life insurance, union dues, and repayments of employer loans all stay in the base. That matters because your disposable earnings for child support purposes will usually be higher than the amount actually hitting your bank account, so the dollar amount withheld can feel bigger than the raw percentage suggests.
“Earnings” also stretches beyond regular salary. It covers all compensation for personal services, including bonuses, commissions, severance, and pension or retirement payments.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1672 – Definitions A one-time bonus check or a commission run is subject to the same cap as your regular paycheck.
No Minimum-Wage Floor Protects You
For ordinary debts like credit cards or medical bills, federal law shields a minimum amount of weekly earnings from garnishment: creditors can’t touch disposable earnings below 30 times the federal minimum wage. That protection does not apply to child support. The CCPA explicitly carves support orders out of that rule.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment
So even a low earner can have 50% or 60% of their disposable earnings withheld for support, with no guaranteed exempt amount under federal law. Some states add protections for low-income parents, but the federal statute itself doesn’t.3U.S. Department of Labor. Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA)
When You Have More Than One Support Order
If you owe support for children from different relationships, more than one withholding order can land on the same paycheck. Your employer doesn’t pay them in the order they arrived. Most states require the employer to prorate the available funds across all current support orders, and the total withheld still can’t exceed the applicable CCPA cap.4Administration for Children and Families. Processing an Income Withholding Order or Notice
When combined current obligations exceed what the CCPA allows, the employer withholds up to the ceiling and splits it proportionally among the orders. Whatever doesn’t get paid becomes arrears on each order. A parent with multiple orders and modest income can fall behind on all of them even with the maximum coming out of every paycheck.
Child Support Jumps Ahead of Other Garnishments
If a creditor is already garnishing your wages when a child support order arrives, child support takes priority. A child support income withholding order gets paid before creditor garnishments, voluntary wage assignments, and most other involuntary deductions. The only thing that can outrank it is an IRS tax levy entered before the support order.4Administration for Children and Families. Processing an Income Withholding Order or Notice
Practically, that means a prior creditor garnishment doesn’t shrink the support withholding. The creditor garnishment gets reduced or suspended instead, and child support takes its full share up to the cap.
Federal Benefits and Military Pay
Federal law allows garnishment of most federal payments for child support, including federal employee wages, military pay and allowances, and Social Security retirement and disability (SSDI) benefits under Title II.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 659 – Consent by United States to Income Withholding, Garnishment, and Similar Proceedings for Enforcement of Child Support and Alimony Obligations The same 50% to 65% CCPA percentage limits apply.
Supplemental Security Income is the exception. SSI payments can’t be garnished for child support.6eCFR. 5 CFR Part 581 – Processing Garnishment Orders for Child Support and/or Alimony SSDI, which is based on work history, is garnishable; SSI, a needs-based program for people with very limited income and assets, is not.
For active-duty service members, a mandatory allotment from pay can be ordered once the member is two or more months behind. The member must first get a chance to consult with a judge advocate or legal officer before the allotment takes effect.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 665 – Allotments From Pay for Child and Spousal Support Owed by Members of Uniformed Services on Active Duty
If You’re Self-Employed
Wage withholding assumes there’s an employer to receive the order. If you work for yourself, the paycheck framework largely doesn’t apply, so the CCPA percentages aren’t the real question. Enforcement agencies use other tools instead: intercepting payments from your clients, levying bank accounts, placing liens on property and business assets, and suspending professional or occupational licenses you need to operate. A court can also order direct payments and hold you in contempt if you don’t make them. Determining the obligation itself can get complicated when self-employment income fluctuates and the parent controls their own books.
What Happens to the Unpaid Portion
The withholding cap limits how much comes out of a paycheck at one time. It does not limit what you owe. If the court-ordered support exceeds what the CCPA allows your employer to withhold, the shortfall becomes arrears. Arrears can accrue interest in roughly two-thirds of states, with statutory rates generally in the 4% to 12% range.
Arrears also open the door to collection tools that have no percentage cap because they don’t run through your paycheck. Federal and state tax refunds can be intercepted through the Treasury Offset Program and state equivalents.8Administration for Children & Families. How Does a Federal Tax Refund Offset Work? States must have procedures for placing liens on property, seizing financial accounts, and suspending driver’s, professional, and recreational licenses.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 666 – Requirement of Statutorily Prescribed Procedures to Improve Effectiveness of Child Support Enforcement Owing $2,500 or more makes you ineligible for a U.S. passport.10U.S. Department of State. Pay Child Support Before Applying for a Passport State agencies are also required to report delinquent balances to credit bureaus after giving you notice and a chance to contest.
If the Withholding Isn’t Sustainable, File for Modification
If your financial situation changes significantly after an order is entered, you can ask the court to modify it. Every state allows this. The common standard is a “material” or “substantial” change in circumstances, usually meaning a major income loss, a serious medical issue, a change in custody, or a significant shift in the child’s needs.
The order does not adjust on its own. If you lose your job or take a pay cut and do nothing, the original amount keeps accruing and any shortfall becomes arrears subject to every enforcement tool above. Filing for modification quickly is the most important step you can take when your income drops.