On December 1, 2025, updated Child Support Guidelines took effect in Massachusetts. If you are going through a divorce or modifying an existing child support order, you need to understand how these Guidelines apply to your situation. They determine how much financial support is paid for a child’s benefit and apply in nearly every case involving minor children.

Here is what you need to know:

How Child Support Is Calculated

Massachusetts uses a standardized formula to calculate child support. Courts start with a Child Support Guidelines Worksheet, which considers:

  • Each parent’s income;
  • The number of children;
  • Parenting time;
  • Health insurance costs;
  • Childcare expenses.

The amount calculated via the worksheet is presumed to be the appropriate amount of financial support. A court may deviate from that amount only where application of the Guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate and where a different result better serves the child’s best interests. In every case, a Child Support Guidelines Worksheet must be completed and filed with the court.

What Is Changing?

Higher Income Cap

The new Guidelines increase the maximum combined parental income used in the base calculation from $400,000 to $450,000 per year.

For higher-income families, this means more income may be included in the support calculation. In addition, the percentages applied to income within the Child Support Guidelines worksheet have been adjusted. Even if your income has not changed, your child support amount could.

More Flexibility for Parenting Schedules

Although the Child Support Guidelines apply to all parenting arrangements, the worksheet continues to focus on two models: (a) cases where the children live primarily with one parent and spend approximately one-third of their time with the other parent, and (b) cases involving equally shared parenting time.

The new Guidelines expressly acknowledge parenting schedules that fall between these two models. Where a parent exercises substantially more than one-third but less than fifty percent of parenting time, courts are now permitted to order a support amount different from the presumptive guideline figure. While no precise formula is provided, this added flexibility allows judges to tailor child support to the realities of modern parenting arrangements.

Childcare, Camps, and Activities

The updated Guidelines provide expanded guidance on the treatment of child-related expenses, including childcare, camps, extracurricular activities, healthcare, and post-secondary education.

The Guidelines clarify that reasonable out-of-pocket childcare costs factored into child support are limited to those costs paid out-of-pocket by a parent, not by third parties. The Guidelines also offer direction for determining whether a summer camp or activity qualifies as a childcare cost (and thus whether it factors into the amount of child support) or an extracurricular activity expense (and thus does not impact the amount of child support).

Specifically, the following factors should be considered: “the need for and purposes of the services provided by the camp or activity, including whether the camp or activity is necessary to provide the child with supervision so the parent claiming those costs may work, attend school, or participate in job training, the age and maturity of the children participating, the time during which the services are provided, and the nature of services provided.”

College Contributions

The Court can order or decline to order a parent to contribute to the cost of a child’s college education and can determine whether these contributions could be in addition to or instead of child support. “Affordability” of college expenses, including whether parents must use assets or obtain loans to pay for them, is now a consideration in determining whether a parent should be ordered to contribute toward college expenses. College expenses in this context formerly included “room and board” as well as tuition and mandatory fees, and now include “housing, meal plan and books” (as well as tuition and mandatory fees).

Uninsured Medical Expenses

The Child Support Guidelines have long required the parent receiving child support to pay the first $250 of out-of-pocket uninsured medical expenses annually, before the other parent is required to contribute. Often, parents agreed or were ordered to share uninsured medical expenses equally after the support recipient paid the first $250. The updated Guidelines change this by providing that courts “may consider the percentages of each party’s share of combined available income to support the child” when allocating additional expenses.

The Guidelines also suggest considering the income available to each parent before payment or receipt of child support. In other words, the Court is still required to allocate uninsured medical expenses between the parties, but rather than defaulting to equally sharing these expenses, the updated Child Support Guidelines suggest that uninsured medical expenses could be shared in proportion to the parents’ incomes without factoring in child support paid or received by them.

Families with More Than Two Legal Parents

As of January 1, 2025, Massachusetts law has recognized that a child may have more than two legal parents in certain situations. The updated Guidelines address how child support should be determined in those cases, allowing courts to consider the financial circumstances of all legal parents.

Can an Existing Order Be Changed?

Yes. A child support order can be modified if there has been a material change in circumstances. A recalculation under the updated formula may itself justify seeking a modification.

If your current order was based on older guidelines, it may be worth reviewing whether the new framework changes the outcome.

What This Means for You

These updates reflect modern parenting schedules and changing economic realities. In some cases, they may increase support. In others, they may create opportunities to adjust an existing order.

Every situation is different. Small changes in income, parenting time, or expense allocation can significantly affect the final number.

If you are going through a divorce, negotiating a parenting plan, considering a modification, or unsure whether these changes affect you, be sure to review your case under the updated Guidelines before making decisions. Understanding how these changes apply to your family can help you to plan strategically and avoid surprises. Our family law attorneys at Mountain Dearborn are pleased to assist you in this review. Please contact us here.

Image: Sue Zeng