Maryland’s New Child Support Guidelines

A shift in the way child support is calculated is coming to Maryland on October 1, 2025. Under current law, child support is calculated based only on the number of children whose support is being determined, and deducting from a parent’s income existing child support orders that are actually paid. Current law does not consider whether a parent is supporting other children in the home for whom there was no support order. There are many reasons for there to be no child support order – for example, there could be an informal child support arrangement, the other parent could be deceased, or the other children could be from a current marriage.

The new law accounts for children in the home that are there at least 92 overnights a year and to whom a parent has a legal duty of support. The parent’s income is reduced by calculating the amount of child support the parent would have paid if there was an order in place using only the parent’s income, multiplying that number by 75%, then deducting it from the parent’s actual income before a support award is made.

Courts have discretion to decline an allowance if they find, after considering the evidence and the best interest of the child for whom support is being determined, that the application of the allowance would be unjust or inappropriate.

If you have questions about child support, an attorney may help you better understand your rights and obligations. Please contact Lewicky, O’Connor, Hunt & Meiser at (410) 489-1996.