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The judge must use the Mississippi Child Support Award Guidelines to set a child support amount unless s/he believes it is unfair or inappropriate for a specific case. If the judge orders a different amount, s/he must clearly explain why and how it differs (deviates) from the guidelines.¹

The Mississippi law lists ten situations that can be exceptions to the guidelines so that a judge might set a different support amount. The judge considers these exceptions on a case-by-case basis.² The exceptional situations are as follows:

1. the family has extraordinary medical, psychological, educational, or dental expenses;
2. the child has an independent income;
3. the noncustodial parent who has to pay child support also pays spousal support to the custodial parent;
4. there are seasonal variations in one or both parents’ incomes or expenses;
5. the child’s age, taking into account the greater needs of older children;
6. the child has special needs that the family pays for, and paying for those needs will cause the support amount to be higher than what the guidelines say;
7. the shared parental arrangement in a particular case calls for a different amount - for example, if:
   • the noncustodial parent spends a lot of time with the child, which reduces the custodial parent’s expenses;
   • the noncustodial parent refuses to be involved in the child’s activities; or
   • the custodial parent contributes a lot of “homemaking services;”
8. the total assets that the noncustodial parent, the custodial parent, and the child have available;
9. the noncustodial parent has a disability, or s/he has to pay for child care so that s/he can work or look for work; or
10. any other situation when the judge may need to adjust the support amount to get a fair (equitable) result - for example, if a parent has a reasonable and necessary expense or debt.³

¹ Miss. Code §§ 43-19-101(1); 43-19-101(2); 43-19-103
² Miss. Code § 43-19-103
³ Miss. Code § 43-19-103(a), (j)