Child Support

The judge makes temporary and permanent child support orders based on the Nebraska Child Support Guidelines.¹  You can see these Guidelines on the Nebraska Courts website. The Guidelines consider both parents’ duty to support their child and their ability to pay based on their incomes.²

Using the Guidelines, the judge will do the following:

1. Take each parent’s monthly income.³
2. Subtract what each parent pays for taxes, retirement contributions, his/her health insurance, and any support s/he pays for another child. This amount is his/her net income.⁴
3. Add both parents’ net incomes together. This amount is called the “combined monthly net income.”⁵
4. Figure out the total monthly child support amount based on the combined monthly net income of both parents and the number of children to be supported. Note: There is a table that the judge will use to get this amount. You can see the table here on the Nebraska Courts website: Table 1: Income Shares Formula. Using the table, find the combined monthly income in the first column. Then go across to the box in that row that matches the number of children.⁵
5. Decide what each parent’s share should be by dividing the monthly support amount between the parents according to what percentage each parent contributes to the combined monthly net income.⁶ 

¹ Neb Ct. R. § 4-202
² Neb Ct. R. § 4-201
³ Neb Ct. R. § 4-204
⁴ Neb Ct. R. § 4-205
⁵ Neb Ct. R. § 4-206
⁶ Neb Ct. R. § 4-207