Step 1. To calculate the amount of child support that may be due under Louisiana law, combine the adjusted gross monthly income of both parents and locate that figure in the first column on the tables shown on the next page. Then find the figure in the column to the right under the number of children that are entitled to support to find the amount that may be due. Example: A couple with three children and income of $1,500 would have a basic support obligation of $519 (see the blue highlighting in the table). Keep in mind that these figures are subject to other laws that control the calculation of child support. The Louisiana basic support obligation is just the start in calculating the amount the non-custodial parent will owe the custodial parent. You should consult a Louisiana family law expert before assuming that your calculations based on these tables are correct. For information on spousal support, see our pages on divorce.

Step 2. Once you find the basic support obligation, you next have to apportion how much of the basic support obligation is attributable to each parent. In other words, the basic support obligation is for both parents, but only one parent will owe his or her share of that obligation. How is that done? In basic terms, the percentage amount of each parent's share of monthly gross income is applied to the basic support obligation to fix the amount owed by each parent. So, if the father in our example earns $1,000 of the $1,500 earned by the couple, then his percentage obligation is 2/3 or about 67%. In very basic terms, if you took the basic obligation of $519 per month from our example and multiplied that by 67%, you would see that the father's share of the obligation is about $348 per month (see R.S. 9:315.2 at the bottom of this page).

Step 3. Generally, it is the non-custodial parent who owes support to the custodial parent. So, in our example, if the mother is the custodial parent, the father would owe the mother $348 per month in support. This is the case even though the parents have joint custody of the children. This can vary greatly at the discretion of the judge if the children actually spend 50% of their time with each parent.

Step 4. There are many factors that can change the amount of support suggested by the tables. If the mother is paying for child care, the father, in our example, might also owe her 67% of what that child care costs. Child care can include day care or it could be the cost of babysitters that allow the mother time to work. Other factors are medical insurance costs, medical expenses, whether or not the child has income of his own, and so on. The point is, the amount calculated just from the tables is just part of how the total child support obligation is reached. There are many other factors that a judge must consider under Louisiana law to arrive at the proper amount of child support.

If you are interested in the details of how child support in Louisiana is calculated and how other factors are used to adjust the support obligation tables, go to our research page and click on Louisiana Laws. From the Legislative research page, click on RS, enter "9" as the title number, and then 315 as the section. After you look at this, the various laws as to calculation are in 315.1, 315.2, 315.3, etc. As you will readily see, this can get much more complicated than merely finding income and number of children on a table.