Michigan Child Support Laws: Formula Guide

Michigan sets child support with the Michigan Child Support Formula, which MCL 552.605(2) requires courts to apply unless the result would be unjust or inappropriate; the formula starts from both parents' net incomes and works like an income-shares model. Support generally ends at 18, but it can continue up to 19 years and 6 months while the child regularly attends high school full time with a reasonable expectation of graduating and lives full time with the parent receiving support or at an institution (MCL 552.605b).

This page covers Michigan state law. Federal rules and the exact terms of your own court order also govern a case; our guide to child support laws in every state explains the federal layer.

How Michigan Calculates Child Support (Michigan Child Support Formula, MCL 552.605)

Under MCL 552.605(2), "the court shall order child support in an amount determined by application of the child support formula developed by the state friend of the court bureau." The Friend of the Court Bureau, part of the State Court Administrative Office, writes that formula under MCL 552.519, which requires it to be "based upon the needs of the child and the actual resources of each parent."

The formula is published as the 2025 Michigan Child Support Formula Manual and the 2025 MCSF Supplement, both effective January 1, 2025. The manual does not call itself an income-shares model, but it works the same basic way: support is figured on the parents' combined income and divided by each parent's share.

In plain terms, the calculation runs like this:

1. Find each parent's net income under the manual's definitions.
2. Add the two incomes to get the family's monthly net income.
3. Use the General Care Support Table for that income and number of children. The General Care Equation (MCSF 3.02(B)) takes a base amount for the table row, adds a marginal percentage of the income above that row, and multiplies the result by the parent's percentage share of family income.
4. Apply the parental time offset for overnights (see the next section).
5. Add each parent's share of health care and child care costs.

For an estimate with your own numbers, use the Michigan child support calculator. Only the order a court actually enters is binding.

What counts as net income in Michigan

Michigan uses net income, but not in the everyday sense. MCSF 2.01(A) says: "The term 'net income' means all income minus the deductions and adjustments permitted by this manual. A parent's 'net income' used to calculate support will not be the same as that person's take home pay, net taxable income, or similar terms."

Two income rules matter for parents with a criminal case. The manual says, "Generally, do not consider incarceration as voluntary unemployment" (MCSF 2.01(G)). Since 2025, a parent may also deduct recurring payments of restitution, fines, fees or costs connected to the parent's conviction or incarceration, except for crimes related to failing to support children or crimes against a child in the case, that child's sibling, the other parent or the custodian (MCSF 2.07(H)).

Low incomes: the Low Income Threshold

The 2025 Supplement sets the Low Income Threshold at $1,255 of monthly net income (Supplement 2.01(A)). For a parent at or below that level, base support is figured at 10 percent of that parent's net income under the Low Income Equation (MCSF 3.02(C)).

That parent's income is also left out of the family income used to figure the other parent's obligation (MCSF 2.09(B)).

High incomes

The General Care Support Tables run to $17,871.57 of monthly net family income. Above the top row, the manual says support is normally determined using the listed figures, and a court may use its discretion when income greatly exceeds the table (MCSF 3.02(E)). The table's income levels were adjusted using the February 2024 Detroit consumer price index (Supplement 2.03).

Health care and child care

The 2025 Supplement sets the annual ordinary medical expense amount at $200 for one child, $400 for two, $600 for three, $800 for four and $1,000 for five or more (Supplement 2.02). That amount is split between the parents by their shares of family income. The paying parent's share is paid monthly as part of support, and the recipient pays his or her own share directly as expenses come up (MCSF 3.04(B)).

Expenses are now apportioned by each parent's actual share of family income; the 2025 manual removed the old 10 percent minimum and 90 percent maximum (MCSF 3.01(B)). Child care is presumed to continue until the last day of the month the child is under the age of 13 (MCSF 3.06(D)).

Parenting Time and the Michigan Support Number (Parental Time Offset, MCSF 3.03)

Michigan does not wait for a parent to reach a set number of overnights. MCSF 3.03(B)(1) says "An offset for parental time generally applies to every support determination." The offset uses an equation that raises each parent's annual overnights to the 2.5 power (MCSF 3.03(A)(2)), so each added overnight with the paying parent lowers support, and the effect grows as time becomes more equal.

The offset does not apply when a nonparent has custody (MCSF 3.03(B)(2)). The manual also addresses when a change in actual overnights can support a modification, including a difference of 21 or more overnights (MCSF 3.03(D)).

Equal parenting time does not automatically mean no support; the equation still compares the two parents' incomes and overnights. How parenting time itself is decided is covered on our page on Michigan child custody laws.

When a Michigan Court Can Depart From the Formula (MCL 552.605(2), MCSF 1.04)

A court may order a different amount if it "determines from the facts of the case that application of the child support formula would be unjust or inappropriate." It must then state, in writing or on the record, the formula amount, how the order deviates from it, the value of any property or other support awarded instead, and the reasons (MCL 552.605(2)). Parents can agree to a different amount, but the same findings are still required (MCL 552.605(3)).

The 2025 manual lists deviation factors and says the list is not exhaustive and that the presence of a factor does not by itself require a deviation (MCSF 1.04(E)). Listed factors include a child's special needs, extraordinary educational expenses, a parent who is a minor, extraordinary jointly accumulated debt, property awarded instead of support, extraordinary medical expenses and a child's extraordinary income.

When Does Child Support End in Michigan? (MCL 552.605b)

Support generally ends at 18. Under MCL 552.605b, a court may order support after 18 only as that section provides.

The main extension covers high school. Support can continue "for the time a child is regularly attending high school on a full-time basis with a reasonable expectation of completing sufficient credits to graduate ... while residing on a full-time basis with the recipient of support or at an institution, but in no case after the child reaches 19 years and 6 months of age" (MCL 552.605b(2)). A complaint or motion asking for this support may be filed any time before the child reaches 19 years and 6 months.

An order that provides support past 18 must say that support ends "on the last day of a specified month, regardless of the actual graduation date" (MCL 552.605b(3)). A post-18 provision that the parties agreed to, such as help with college, is enforceable when it is contained in the judgment or order (MCL 552.605b(5)).

If your child has a disability that is expected to continue past 18, ask the Friend of the Court or a family lawyer how that affects your order before it reaches its end date. Emancipation of a minor and its effect on support are covered on our page on Michigan emancipation laws.

How to Modify Child Support in Michigan (10 Percent or $50 Threshold)

The Friend of the Court reviews support orders under MCL 552.517:

• Every 36 months when the child receives public assistance or medical assistance.
• On a written request from either parent, though the office does not have to act on more than one request every 36 months.
• When the court directs it, or when there are reasonable grounds, such as a change in custody, the child's needs, health care coverage or a parent's financial condition, or an order based on incorrect facts.

Once it decides a review is required, the Friend of the Court has 180 days to seek a modification if one is appropriate (MCL 552.517(3)). It will not petition for a change if the new amount differs by less than the minimum threshold (MCL 552.517(5)(a)).

That threshold is set in MCSF 4.05(A): "10 percent of the currently ordered support payment, as defined in 3.01(A), or $50 per month, whichever is greater." A parent may also file a motion with the court directly.

Past-due support cannot usually be reduced

Under MCL 552.603(2), each support payment becomes a judgment on the date it is due and cannot then be changed retroactively. The exception is a period while a petition for modification is pending, "but only from the date that notice of the petition was given to the payer or recipient of support." MCL 552.603(5) separately addresses retroactive changes the parties agree to with court approval.

If your income drops, file or request a review promptly. Waiting does not reduce the support that comes due in the meantime.

Incarceration

Under MCL 552.517f, in effect since December 30, 2021, support must be abated by operation of law when the paying parent is incarcerated for 180 consecutive days or more and lacks the ability to pay. The Friend of the Court sends notice, and a party has 21 days to object based on a mistake of fact or identity.

What Happens If Child Support Is Not Paid in Michigan

The local Friend of the Court office enforces support orders, working with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services' child support program. Michigan law and federal law give it these tools:

• License suspension. Occupational and recreational or sporting licenses can be suspended when arrears exceed "the periodic support payments payable for 2 months" and income withholding does not apply or has not worked (MCL 552.628). A driver's license also requires a court finding, after an ability-to-pay assessment, that nonpayment was willful, and a determination that no other sanction would be effective. The parent gets notice and 21 days to request a hearing (MCL 552.628, 552.629).
• A surcharge instead of interest. A support order does not accrue interest (MCL 552.603(11)). If the court finds a willful failure to pay in a Friend of the Court case, it may order a surcharge on past-due support, assessed every January 1 and July 1 at 1 percent plus the average rate paid at recent auctions of 5-year U.S. Treasury notes. The surcharge is not compounded, one month's support is excluded, and it is not assessed for a cycle in which the Friend of the Court is collecting current support and the parent paid at least 90 percent of the most recent semiannual obligation (MCL 552.603a).
• Tax refund offset. Federal rules allow a refund offset when the past-due amount is at least $150 in a public-assistance case or $500 in another child support agency case (45 CFR 303.72).
• Passport denial. The U.S. State Department refuses passports to parents who owe more than $2,500 in child support (42 U.S.C. 652(k)).
• Wage garnishment. Federal law caps garnishment for support at 50 to 60 percent of disposable earnings, or 55 to 65 percent when arrears are more than 12 weeks old (15 U.S.C. 1673(b)).

Felony nonsupport (MCL 750.165)

A person ordered to pay support who does not pay "in the amount or at the time stated in the order" commits a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 4 years, a fine of not more than $2,000, or both (MCL 750.165). After an arrest, the person must post a cash bond of at least $500 or 25 percent of the arrearage, whichever is greater, or stay in custody until arraignment.

In People v Likine (2012), the Michigan Supreme Court called felony nonsupport a strict-liability offense and held that "while inability to pay is not a defense to felony nonsupport pursuant to MCL 750.165," a defendant may raise the narrow common-law defense of impossibility. The Court said parents "should be required to have done everything possible to provide for their child and to have arranged their finances in a way that prioritized their parental responsibility."

How long back support can be collected (MCL 600.5809(4))

For an action to enforce a support order, "the period of limitations is 10 years from the date that the last support payment is due under the support order regardless of whether or not the last payment is made" (MCL 600.5809(4)). The clock runs from the last payment due under the order, not from the child's birthday.

Getting Help With a Michigan Child Support Case

• Friend of the Court. Your county's Friend of the Court office is the local office for support cases. It handles reviews, enforcement and questions about your order.
• MDHHS child support program. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services' child support page lets parents apply for services, access case information and find payment options.
• The formula itself. The 2025 Michigan Child Support Formula Manual is the rulebook courts use.
• Legal aid and lawyer referral. Parents with low incomes can contact a local legal aid office, and a bar association lawyer referral service can connect you with a Michigan family lawyer.

Spousal support is figured separately; see Michigan alimony laws. For the divorce process, see Michigan divorce laws.

Recent Changes in Michigan Child Support

• 2025 formula (effective January 1, 2025). The current manual and supplement cut the ordinary medical expense amount to $200 per child per year, apportion expenses by each parent's actual income share, presume child care until the last day of the month the child is under 13, added the conviction-and-incarceration cost deduction (MCSF 2.07(H)), clarified the modification threshold (MCSF 4.05) and made the deviation factor list non-exhaustive (MCSF 1.04(E)).
• Statute sections on this page. As of November 7, 2026, the Michigan Legislature's official text of MCL 552.603a, 552.605, 552.605b and 552.517, current through Public Act 114 of 2026, shows no amendment enacted after 2020. This covers only those sections, not bills that may be pending or filed for the 2027 session.
• Federal. The federal office is again called the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), after being called the Office of Child Support Services from 2023 to 2025. A federal rule taking effect November 30, 2026 removes obsolete and duplicative child support regulations; it does not change how support is calculated or enforced.

More Michigan Laws

• Michigan Alimony Laws
• Michigan Child Custody Laws
• Michigan Divorce Laws

Frequently Asked Questions

How is child support calculated in Michigan?

Courts apply the Michigan Child Support Formula, as MCL 552.605(2) requires. The formula starts from each parent's net income as the manual defines it, reads a support amount from the General Care Support Table for the family's combined net income and number of children, splits it by each parent's share of income, applies the parental time offset for overnights, and adds health care and child care costs. The current edition took effect January 1, 2025.

What age does child support stop in Michigan?

Support generally ends at 18. It can continue while the child regularly attends high school full time with a reasonable expectation of graduating and lives full time with the parent receiving support or at an institution, but never after the child reaches 19 years and 6 months (MCL 552.605b). The order states the month support ends.

Do you pay child support with 50/50 custody in Michigan?

Often, yes. Michigan's parental time offset applies in nearly every case and has no overnight threshold, but it does not cancel support just because time is equal. The equation compares both parents' incomes and overnights, so a parent with more income or fewer overnights may still owe support.

Does Michigan make parents pay for college?

MCL 552.605b allows support after 18 for high school, up to 19 years and 6 months. Support for other purposes after 18, such as college, is enforceable when the parents agreed to it in the judgment or order (MCL 552.605b(5)).

Is there a minimum or maximum child support amount in Michigan?

A parent whose monthly net income is at or below the Low Income Threshold, $1,255 under the 2025 Supplement, has base support figured at 10 percent of net income. The support tables run to $17,871.57 of monthly net family income, and above that support normally follows the listed figures, with court discretion when income greatly exceeds the table.

Can past-due child support be reduced in Michigan?

Generally no. Each payment becomes a judgment when it is due (MCL 552.603(2)). A court can change support only for a period while a modification petition was pending, and only from the date notice of it was given, or under a retroactive change the parties agree to with court approval. Request a review as soon as your income changes.

Does Michigan charge interest on unpaid child support?

No. A support order does not accrue interest (MCL 552.603(11)). But if a court finds a willful failure to pay, it may order a semiannual surcharge on past-due support under MCL 552.603a, which is not assessed for a cycle in which the Friend of the Court is collecting current support and the parent paid at least 90 percent of the most recent semiannual obligation.

Can you go to jail for not paying child support in Michigan?

Yes. Failing to pay support as ordered is a felony under MCL 750.165, punishable by up to 4 years in prison, a fine of up to $2,000, or both. In People v Likine (2012), the Michigan Supreme Court held that inability to pay is not a defense, though a narrow impossibility defense remains for a parent who did everything possible to pay.

What happens to child support if a parent goes to prison in Michigan?

Under MCL 552.517f, support must be abated by operation of law when the paying parent is incarcerated for 180 consecutive days or more and lacks the ability to pay. The Friend of the Court sends notice, and a party has 21 days to object based on a mistake of fact or identity.

How long can back child support be collected in Michigan?

An action to enforce a support order can be brought for 10 years from the date the last support payment is due under the order, whether or not that last payment is made (MCL 600.5809(4)).