Legal Resources

Oregon Child Support Guidelines

The Oregon Child Support Guidelines are officially published at Oregon Administrative Rules Section 137 050 0320 et. seq. Each state has its own guidelines. The guidelines referred to in this web site are the Oregon Guidelines, and they are valid in Oregon, only. The Guidelines referred to below became effective in 2005. Earlier versions of the guidelines should be disregarded. The prior provisions relating to "joint" or "shared" custody, to "split custody," and to "the 35% rule" have been repealed. The current guidelines require considerably more math than did prior guidelines.

The Oregon Guidelines are used to establish child support in all family law proceedings, including dissolution of marriage, paternity, welfare recovery, and in any modification. They apply in any court or administrative proceeding. The guidelines apply even if both parties desire them not to apply. If the parties agree that support different than the guidelines amount should be paid, the different amount must be justified by an appropriate rebuttal factor.

Below is a link to the State of Oregon Child Support Calculator. Following are some suggestions on how to use the guidelines to calculate the presumed amount of child support in your case:

1. Refer to Section 0330 of the Guidelines, and follow the instructions step by step to calculate your presumed amount of child support.
2. Special Issues:
   1. If spousal support (alimony) is an issue or is being paid, you need to add this sum to the recipient and deduct it from the payor. If an amount is not yet set, you will have to guess or estimate a number.
   2. Each of the relevant terms, such as "gross income," "non joint child," " medical expenses," etc., are defined in the guidelines. You should read each definition and apply it literally.
   3. Where all or some income of the parties is speculative, such as a commission or a discretionary bonus, then look to recent history and make an average to forecast future speculative earnings. The court will not ignore the past receipt of bonuses, commissions, overtime, and the like even if this income is not guaranteed in the future. It is likely that the court will use your last year's income.
   4. To roughly estimate your parenting time to determine if you qualify for a parenting time discount, start by looking to see how much parenting time you have on a 14 day or 28 day cycle. For example, if you have "every other weekend," you have 2 nights every 14 days. 2 / 14 = 14%. 14% x 365 = 57 total overnights yearly. Note: This is a rough approximation only, since vacation times, Christmas sites, and other overnights may need to be added in. To do an exact calculation, you should chart out your overnights on a calendar over a two year period, and then average the yearly overnights. Remember, you need to have least 20% of the overnights in order to qualify for a parenting time discount.
   5. To determine the non joint child credit or to establish the basic support amount, refer to the income tables (scale) at the end of the Guidelines.
   6. Rebuttal factors are applied in either or both of the following ways: as an adjustment to gross income (for example, adjust father's income downward in because he is paying the majority of the family's bills at this time); or as an adjustment to the needs of the child (for example, a new born infant may have less financial need than a toddler). You are free to be creative in applying the rebuttal criteria. Practically speaking, however, rebutting the guidelines generally is not easy.
3. It may be that one or more specific issues of fact are in controversy in your case. For example, father may argue that his bonus is projected to be $3000 this year but mother projects the bonus to be $10,000. In this case, you should complete a worksheet for each fact scenario. If you have two or more variables in your case, you may need to complete several calculation. Our firm has child support calculation software. If consulted or retained, we are able to easily compute as many multiple variations as are necessary.

Litigating under the Guidelines: If there is a bona fide dispute over a relevant fact, the court will hear testimony concerning the dispute. Once the disputed fact issue is settled by the court, then child support is calculated mathematically using the guidelines.

There is a specific rule for a child who is over age 18 who is "a child attending school."

A link to the Oregon Guidelines is provided as a courtesy by Johnston & Root, P.C., as a general reference for and as general information to our friends and clients. The application of the guidelines in any specific case is subject to judicial discretion. No specific result can be guaranteed or warranted by Johnston & Root, P.C. The inclusion of these guidelines and accompanying text in this website is for general reference, and does not constitute the giving of legal advice on your matter. No attorney client relationship is created unless the firm is retained on your specific case. Please refer to "How To Contact Us."

Click here for link to State of Oregon Child Support Calculator.

Click here for link to Text of State of Oregon Child Support Guidelines and Support Scale.

Click here for link to the official State of Oregon Web Site, for numerous reference to child support information.

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