Big changes are coming to Georgia’s child support laws.
On March 29, 2024, the Georgia legislature passed SB 454, which constitutes a significant amendment to Georgia’s child support statute, codified at O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15. The changes to the child support statute contained in this bill will have major impacts in the way that child support is calculated by Georgia courts, in addition to adding new provisions that address recent trends in custody and parenting time arrangements, such as joint (or 50/50) custody. In this post, we’ll discuss the most significant changes to the law and provide analysis as to how these changes may affect Georgia families going forward.
Key Takeaways
Why do these changes matter? If you pay or receive child support in Georgia, or you expect to pay or receive child support, these changes will likely affect any future child support calculations that occur in your case. Depending on your circumstances, these changes could be significant. At a high level (and discussed in more detail below), the new law does the following:
Generally increases the basic child support calculation amounts across the board at nearly all income levels.
Increases the income threshold for maxing out on child support under the basic obligation table, before getting into high income deviations.
Adds a mandatory parenting time adjustment (instead of a discretionary deviation) to account for the modern trend toward more equal amounts of parenting time and/or 50/50 custody situations.
Adds a mandatory low income adjustment for individuals with gross income below a certain level, depending on the number of children covered.
New rules get phased in over time, with increases to basic child support table going into effect in July 2024 and the other adjustments going into effect in July 2026.
Expanded Basic Child Support Obligation Table
The most pervasive change—the only that will be felt in just about every child support action—is the change to the basic child support obligation table. The new law does two big things:
Across the board, it raises the the basic child support amount at nearly every income level. This change is likely intended to account for increases in the cost of living since the last time the table was adjusted.
It also extends the table from capping out at a joint, combined income of $30,000 per month for both parties to $40,000 per month for both parties. This change means that high income earners will pay more in child support under a basic calculation, without any need for a high income deviation. This will eliminate disputes over high income deviations in those cases where the parties’ combined incomes do not exceed $40,000.
These changes will go into effect very soon: July 1, 2024. This means that parties currently litigating a child support issue may be incentivized to either settle before that date, or extend the litigation until that date, to avoid the new calculation or take advantage of it, depending on which side you are on.
Parenting Time Adjustment
The new law also makes a major adjustment to how trial courts take parenting time into account in making child support awards. Under the existing law, the child support guidelines do not provide any guidance on how trial courts are to deviate from the presumptive amount of child support in cases where parenting time differs from a more traditional schedule, such as 50/50 custody schedules (or in cases where one parent has no parenting time). Thus, it has been entirely discretionary for trial court judges to order deviations in those cases, and also entirely up to them to determine an appropriate deviation amount.
The new law eliminates the old, discretionary “parenting time deviation” and implements a new, mandatory “parenting time adjustment.” The adjustment will require that the amount of parenting time awarded to each party gets entered into the child support worksheet, which will then adjust the basic child support amount to account for the percentage of time that each parent gets.
This means that child support will always take parenting time into account once these changes are implemented. It also means that adjustments (previously, deviations) for parenting time should become consistent and standardized across the board, rather than subjective and at the discretion of the trial court judge (or the negotiation of the parties). This will be especially important given the rising popularity of 50/50 custody arrangements, in which child support has previously been difficult to calculate or estimate, given the variability in how different courts implemented the parenting time deviation.
Low Income Adjustment
Similar to the new parenting time adjustment, the bill also creates a new low income adjustment that replaces the old low income deviation. Under the old law, low income parties had to specifically request that the court deviate from a presumptive child support calculation to account for the low income amount. Like with parenting time deviations, this leads to inconsistent application of the deviation in different courts and circumstances.
The new rule will make the low income adjustment mandatory and consistent in its application across the board, providing a discount to low income individuals from their presumptive child support calculation.
VA Disability Benefits
Finally, among its major changes, the new law provides for a set-off for any VA disability payment benefits that are paid to the primary custodial parent due to the non-custodial parent’s disability. This adds to the existing provision that applied the same rule to benefits received under Title II of the Social Security Act.
Effective Date and Phased In Changes
Given the significant changes made as part of this new law, the legislature implemented phase in period for various parts of this statute, as follows:
July 1, 2024: The new basic child support table goes into effect, inclusive of the increase for the high-income threshold.
July 1, 2026: The new parenting time and low income adjustments go into effect, replacing the old parenting time and low income deviations. In the interim, the existing deviation provisions remain in effect.
Given that the new basic support table goes into effect within just a few months—assuming Governor Kemp signs this bill—it is very important to have counsel familiar with these changes if you are involved in any form of child support dispute. These changes may affect your litigation strategy, by either making it more desirable to delay the resolution of the child support issue until after the new table is in effect or to finalize your matter before then.
At Resurgens Legal Counsel, we make it part of our routine to stay up to date on changes in the laws affecting our cases and clients, ensuring that we provide up to date guidance throughout your case. If you are facing a child support case, we are ready to assist you. Schedule your consultation today by calling us at 770-765-7550 or directly through our website.