Child Support Laws in Missouri

Find out how to calculate child support in Missouri and how a support award can be modified or terminated.

Updated by , Attorney · Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School
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Child support is a payment from one parent to the other after a separation or divorce, which is intended to help cover the costs of raising a child or children they have together.

The parent who cares for a child most of the time (called the "custodial parent") tends to receive the child support payments, because the law assumes that the custodial parent already spends money directly on the child. The parent with less parenting time (called the "non-custodial parent") usually makes the payments.

Typically, parents must pay child support until the child is 18. There are some exceptions, however. Support may continue until the age of 21 if the child is still in school. The support period could be shorter if the child marries, joins the military, or otherwise becomes self-supporting. On the other hand, a child with a mental or physical incapacity could receive support for as long as necessary.

The child support amount depends on a handful of factors, like the number of children and the income of both parents, among other things. To help you estimate your fair share of support, the Missouri courts provide a child support calculator based on the Missouri child support guidelines.

A glimpse at the guidelines by themselves can give you an idea of how much child support is due, but there are other criteria, explained below, that make for a more accurate calculation. The Child Support Section of the Missouri Courts website publishes several forms related to collecting or adjusting child support.

Missouri Child Support Guidelines

The guidelines are simply a fee schedule. Parents may agree to pay more than the amount given by the guidelines, but not less. Although a court presumes that the number given by the guidelines is the appropriate amount of child support, there are circumstances where that result would be unjust. In those cases, a court can adjust the support payment up or down.

Some common reasons for deviating from the guidelines have to do with travel costs if the distance between parents is substantial, or there are extraordinary expenses for educational or medical needs. In situations like these, a court has discretion to order an amount it finds reasonable or necessary. See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 452.340 (2019).

Missouri Child Support Calculators

Missouri's child support calculator is a form—Form No. 14 Child Support Amount Calculation Worksheet—that you fill in with information on both parents' incomes, support costs (meaning, payments already made for this child or financial obligations for the care of other children), maintenance (alimony) paid or received, percent of custody, and other expenses involved in raising the child. You can compute the amounts yourself or you can use an online calculator to help you with the math.

For child support purposes, gross income generally includes salaries, wages, tips, and commissions, but also pensions and retirement plans. Even without employment, chances are a parent still has income in the form of social security benefits or unemployment compensation. Among other things, income for child support purposes may also include alimony received from a previous marriage, veteran's benefits, and capital gains on investments. Gifts and prizes, like lottery winnings count too.

Also, a deadbeat parent can't avoid paying child support by refusing to work, or even working less. Where a parent is willfully unemployed or underemployed, a court can "impute" income, meaning, come up with an amount that this parent should be making, based on factors like employment history, education, and training. The state's intent is to hold this parent accountable, not punish the parent who stayed home with young children. For example, no income will be imputed to a parent without work history and a child in the home under six.

Additionally, you will need to input reasonable child-care costs, health insurance and medical care payments for the child, and perhaps extraordinary expenses. Extraordinary expenses could be money for private school or even things like drum or gymnastics lessons.

Once you have completed the form or on-line calculator, you will have an estimated amount of child support based on the guidelines. A court could still increase or decrease this number, however, if sticking to the guidelines leads to an unfair result.

Collecting Child Support

Once a child support order is in place, the obligor parent (parent ordered to pay support) must pay child support as designated in the order. The obligor parent can make support payments through direct deposit, by cash, check or even Venmo.

If you're not receiving child support payments on time or at all, you can request that support amounts be deducted directly from the obligor parent's paychecks. Also, you can file a Federal Income Withholding Order to initiate new wage withholding or terminate an old support order.

Deviating from Missouri Guideline

If you have a good reason why support payments should be increased or decreased from the guideline recommendation, then you can ask a court to adjust the amount before it issues a final order. A court will only deviate from the guidelines after considering all factors relevant to the child's care and wellbeing especially:

  • the child's financial resources and needs
  • the parents' financial resources and needs
  • the standard of living the child would have enjoyed had the marriage not been dissolved
  • the child's physical/emotional condition and educational needs
  • the parents' work-related childcare expenses.

Once a child support order is in place, you can still ask the court to increase or decrease the payment amount, but it involves a different process.

Modifying Child Support After Final Order

A court can modify (change) a child support order that is already in place if either parent experiences a change in circumstances so substantial that continuing payments would be unreasonable. These situations tend to come up when a parent loses a job. Yet unemployment alone may not be enough to modify support, especially if a parent has remarried.

However, a parent's obligation to pay child support doesn't go away simply because he or she lost a job. The other parent can collect child support arrears (unpaid child support) on the child's behalf. A judge will review both parents' financial resources, including a new spouse or partner's contributions, when considering the reasonableness of child support payments. It will also evaluate the earning capacity of the unemployed parent (meaning how much that parent could earn based on education, skills, job history and employment opportunities), not merely lost wages.

Resources

You can find the guidelines and forms, including the Form No. 14 Calculation Worksheet, and more information for calculating support on the Missouri Courts website.

For more on applying for, paying, and enforcement of child support in Missouri, see the Missouri Social Services website.

You can read the law on child support and modification in Mo. Rev. Stat. § 452.340 (2019) and Section 452.370, respectively.

There are helpful answers to some FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) in the Child Support in Missouri brochure, which is published by the Missouri Bar Association.

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