New Law Affects Maryland Child Support Payments

The Maryland legislature recently passed a bill that adjusted the calculation for child support under Maryland’s child support guidelines. Maryland Family Law Code Annotated Title 12 sets forth the guidelines, which encompass a comprehensive set of considerations.

The guidelines are mandatory if the combined adjusted monthly income of both parents is $30,000 ($360,000 per year) or less. For parents earning more than that amount, the guidelines are not mandatory but may help to determine the amount of child support. “Actual income” is defined by Section 12-201 as income from wages, commissions, dividends, interest, unemployment insurance benefits, alimony received, etc. “Adjusted actual income” is defined in Section 12-201 as actual income minus alimony paid and “pre-existing reasonable child support obligations actually paid.”

The new law, which became effective on October 1, 2025, allows for a “multifamily adjustment.” Section 12-201 now provides “an allowance for support for each child living in a parent’s home to whom the parent owes a legal duty of support if the child is considered to be spending more than 92 overnights in the parent’s home in a year and not subject to the support order.” In other words, should you have additional children living in your household at least 25% of the year from a new relationship or remarriage, or from a prior relationship, the guidelines now allow a deduction that accounts for the cost of supporting them.

The amount of the allowance per each additional child is determined by using “only the actual income of the parent entitled to the deduction” multiplied by 0.75. Before the law, one could argue that other children in the household should be accounted for in a child support determination. Now, the amount determined “shall be subtracted from the parent’s actual income before the court determined the amount of a child support award.”

Since their original enactment in 1989, the guidelines have lent much needed uniformity to child support disputes. Payment obligations are set according to the formula, which considers each party’s gross income and allots responsibility proportionately. For example, if we assume the following facts:

1. The mother of a 14-year-old daughter earns $106,645 annually, working as a registered nurse
2. The father earns $128,765 as a defense contractor and has the child for 27.4% of the overnights or 100 times during the year
3. It costs the father $253 per month to add his child to his employer-sponsored health insurance coverage

In this hypothetical, the father’s child support payment would have been $985 per month, prior to October 1, 2025.

Fast forward and now assume the father has remarried and has two younger children by his more recent marriage. The multi-family adjustment reduces his monthly income by $1,827 and his child support is now $750 per month, or $135 less than prior to the statutory change.

Of course, the court has the discretion to disallow the allowance if, “after considering the evidence and the best interest of the child for whom support is being determined, the application of an allowance would be unjust or inappropriate,” according to Family Law Section 12-201(c)(3).

Maryland courts always retain the power to modify child support, based upon a showing of a material change in circumstances. Typically, a change in circumstance, which allows a court to revisit child support, involves job loss, significant changes in income and/or substantial changes in a minor child’s financial needs.

It is unclear if the new statute itself constitutes a change in material circumstances that would prompt a modification of existing child support orders since the bill was silent on that issue. It will have to be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Child support is but one of many issues to address when a marriage falters. Certainly, if you find yourself contemplating separation or divorce, you will have questions about support and other issues. You should consult with an attorney who is familiar with this area of the law and who will assist you in making informed decisions.

If you need further information regarding this subject, please reach out to the Law Office of David V. Diggs LLC, located at 8684 Veterans Highway, Suite 302, in Millersville. Call 410-244-1189 or email david@diggslaw.com.

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