Prepare a child support agreement

If you and the other parent agree about child support, you can have your agreement made a court order without having to go in front of a judge.

Before you start

Before making an agreement, read about how child support works. You'll want to know things like:

• How child support is calculated
• How much child support should be paid each month
• What the judge considers in order to make a decision if you don’t agree

It may also help you to try to come up with agreement about child custody and parenting time at the same time, but you don’t have to. Your court’s Family Law Facilitator can explain custody and parenting time and may be able to help you write up an agreement for child support and custody.

How to write up a child support agreement

Decide on the amount of child support

You’ll need to discuss and agree on these things: Share the amount of your monthly income You will need to tell each other how much money you make each month before taxes. The easiest way to do this is show each other proof, like copies of your recent paystubs. Figure out the court's amount of “guideline” support A judge will only approve an agreement if they know how much child support would be if you went to court. This is called “guideline” child support. You can agree to a different amount but still need to tell the court the “guideline” number. To calculate child support, use the child support calculator. Agree who will pay for health insurance In addition to child support, the parties must also agree which parent will be responsible for health insurance for your children. Health insurance is required if it is available at a reasonable cost. Agree who will pay for other expenses In addition to child support, the parties can also agree how the parents will pay for other things like child care, uncovered medical expenses, and travel expenses for visitation. Once you agree on all these issues, you need to write up the agreement.

Write up the agreement

You can use Stipulation to Establish or Modify Child Support Order (form FL-350) for your agreement. You both have to sign page 3 of the form. If you want child support to be taken directly out of one of the parent’s paycheck, you will need to file another form called an Income Withholding Order (form FL-195).

If the local child support agency (LCSA), in some counties called the Department of Child Support Agency, is part of your case, their attorney will need to sign the agreement. They will also take care of processing an Income Withholding Order.