Simple Child Support Calculator
To calculate child support in Arkansas, we recommend using the Arkansas Judiciary calculator. There appears to be no simpler way to estimate support payments.
The Arkansas Judiciary calculator steps you through a complex calculation. You may need to work through each part carefully to get an accurate assessment. Unfortunately, the Arkansas scheme is complex and a simple, reliable calculator does not appear to be available.
Overnights Calculator for Arkansas
According to Arkansas child support guidelines, payment amounts depend on how many overnight stays a child has with each parent annually.
Use this overnights calculator to work out how many nights of care you provide.
Calculate annual overnight stays
Regular nights
Vacation nights each year*
183 overnight stays per year.
50.0% of parenting time.
* Vacation nights are all nights when the regular schedule does not apply.
How Child Support is Calculated in Arkansas
Child support payments in Arkansas are calculated using the income shares only method. Payments depend on the combined income of the parents as well as the number of children eligible for support. A bigger combined income or extra children typically means higher payments.
The amounts transferred also depend on each parent’s income share or income percentage. Arkansans paying the most support are non-custodial parents with high incomes. The biggest receivers are low-income parents with primary physical custody and a high-earning payer.
We refer to the method as "income shares only" since Arkansas lacks a well-defined way of adjusting payments for the exact amount of parenting time each parent contributes. A parent’s share of care time is not a detailed part of the guidelines, as is usually the case with income sharing models.
Where there is joint or shared custody and both parents have the child(ren) for at least 141 overnights per year, the parents must complete the Worksheet and Affidavit of Financial Means as per usual. The court may then consider the time spent by the child(ren) with the payor parent as a basis for adjusting child support.
Child support depends on payee and payor monthly incomes. Certain expenses are taken into account, including the cost of the child’s health insurance, a child’s extraordinary medical expenses, and the cost of work-related child care expenses.
Judges figure child support through a formula that considers both parents gross incomes, instead of just the net earnings of the noncustodial parent. The concept is that children should receive the same proportion of parental income that they would have received had the parents lived together and shared financial resources.
John Lynch
Arkansan child support guidelines apply to the whole state, including the cities of Little Rock, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Springdale and Jonesboro. Variations in support payments may be made by the agreement of parents or at the discretion of a judge presiding over your case.
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