Child support isn’t a punishment or a reward. It’s math — specifically, Michigan’s Child Support Formula, which calculates what children need based on both parents’ incomes, parenting time, and actual expenses. Understanding how that formula works is the difference between accepting whatever number someone hands you and knowing whether that number is actually correct.
At Boroja, Bernier & Associates, we make sure the inputs are accurate, the calculation is right, and your children get the support they’re entitled to — or that you’re paying what’s fair, not a dollar more.
Serving Southeast Michigan, Central Michigan & Mid-Michigan
Meet Joel Bernier, Family Law Partner
It’s Not About What’s Fair to You. It’s About What Your Children Need.
Let’s get something straight from the beginning: child support exists for children, not parents. It’s not leverage in your divorce. It’s not payback for how the marriage ended. It’s not discretionary income for the receiving parent to spend however they want.
Child support ensures that children maintain an appropriate standard of living regardless of which parent they’re with on any given night. Michigan’s Child Support Formula — developed by the Friend of the Court Bureau and mandated under MCL 552.505 — attempts to calculate what that actually costs.
The formula is complex. It considers both parents’ incomes, how many overnights each parent has, childcare costs, healthcare premiums, and a dozen other factors. Most parents don’t fully understand how it works — which means most parents don’t know whether their support number is accurate.
That’s a problem.
If you’re the paying parent, an incorrect calculation means you’re either paying too much (money that could go toward your own household, savings, or direct spending on your children) or too little (creating arrears that accumulate interest and potential enforcement actions). If you’re the receiving parent, an incorrect calculation means your children aren’t getting what they need — or you’re receiving more than you’re entitled to, which can be clawed back later.
At Boroja, Bernier & Associates, we don’t just accept whatever number the Friend of the Court generates. We verify the inputs, check the calculations, and make sure the support order reflects accurate information. Because the difference between a correct and incorrect child support order can be hundreds of dollars per month — thousands per year — compounding over years until your children reach adulthood.
Quotable Expert Statement: “In our experience handling child support matters throughout Michigan, we’ve found that roughly one in three initial calculations contains at least one significant error — wrong income figures, miscounted overnights, missing expense deductions. The formula is only as accurate as the data that goes into it. Parents who verify the inputs before agreeing to an order consistently achieve more appropriate outcomes than parents who assume the Friend of the Court got it right.”
How the Michigan Child Support Formula Actually Works
Michigan uses a formula-based approach to child support calculation. This isn’t a judge making subjective decisions about what seems fair — it’s a mathematical formula that produces a specific number based on defined inputs. But here’s what most people miss: the formula is only as good as what goes into it. Garbage in, garbage out. And nobody is more motivated to check the inputs than you.
The Core Concept: Income Shares
Michigan’s formula follows the “income shares” model. The basic premise: calculate what parents would have spent on the children if the family stayed together, then allocate that amount between parents based on their proportional incomes.
If Parent A earns 60% of the combined parental income and Parent B earns 40%, the formula assumes Parent A should bear 60% of the children’s expenses and Parent B should bear 40%.
Simple in concept. Complex in execution.
The Key Inputs
1. Both Parents’ Net Incomes
The formula starts with each parent’s net income — gross income minus taxes, mandatory deductions, and certain allowable adjustments. What counts as income includes wages and salary, bonuses and commissions, self-employment income, rental income, investment income, spousal support received (from any source), workers’ compensation and disability benefits, unemployment benefits, Social Security benefits, and pension and retirement income.
What doesn’t count (or gets deducted): child support paid for other children, spousal support paid, mandatory union dues, and mandatory retirement contributions.
For self-employed parents, determining “income” gets complicated fast. The formula looks at business revenue minus legitimate business expenses — but what counts as “legitimate” is where cases are won or lost. A business owner who deducts personal meals, personal travel, and personal vehicle costs as “business expenses” is artificially deflating their income. We know how to identify this — and how to challenge it.
2. Number of Children
Support obligations increase with more children, though not linearly. The per-child amount decreases slightly with each additional child because some costs (housing, transportation) don’t increase proportionally.
3. Parenting Time Overnights
Here’s where many parents are surprised: the number of overnights each parent has significantly affects support calculations. More overnights with the paying parent means lower support obligations — because that parent is directly covering expenses during that time.
The formula uses overnight counts, not percentages. A difference of 10 overnights per year can change the support amount by noticeable amounts. This is why parenting time and child support negotiations often intertwine — and why having an attorney who understands both is critical.
4. Childcare Costs
Work-related childcare — daycare, before/after school care, summer programs while parents work — gets added to the base support calculation and allocated proportionally between parents based on income shares.
Important update: As of 2025, the Michigan Child Support Formula now covers work-related childcare costs for children through age 13, up from the previous cutoff at age 12. If you have a 12- or 13-year-old, this change directly affects your calculation. That extra year of covered childcare costs can meaningfully shift the support number — and if your order was set before this change, it may warrant a review.
5. Healthcare Costs
The cost of adding children to a parent’s health insurance gets factored in. Typically, one parent carries the insurance and receives credit for that premium cost; the other parent pays a proportional share through adjusted support.
For uninsured medical expenses — copays, deductibles, prescriptions, expenses not covered by insurance — the allocation changed significantly in 2025. The ordinary medical expense threshold dropped from $454 to $200 per child per year. What does that mean in practice? The first $200 in annual uninsured medical costs per child is built into the base support amount. Any expenses above $200 get allocated between parents proportionally based on their income shares.
That’s a meaningful shift. Under the old threshold, a parent wouldn’t see cost-sharing kick in until uninsured expenses exceeded $454 per child — meaning routine dental copays, a couple of prescriptions, and a sick visit could all be absorbed by one parent. Under the current $200 threshold, cost-sharing starts much sooner. More medical expenses are now split between parents rather than falling entirely on one household.
If your support order was calculated using the old $454 threshold, this alone may be grounds for modification.
6. Other Factors
The formula can also account for children’s educational expenses, transportation costs for parenting time exchanges, special needs expenses, and prior child support obligations for other children.
What the Formula Produces — And What It Doesn’t
Understanding the formula’s outputs helps you evaluate whether your support order makes sense.
The Base Support Amount
The formula produces a recommended base support amount — a monthly dollar figure the paying parent should transfer to the receiving parent. This is the number most people focus on.
For Michigan families with median incomes and standard parenting time arrangements, base support typically ranges from $400–$1,500 per month depending on income levels, number of children, and overnight distribution. Higher-income families see proportionally higher support; lower-income families see proportionally lower support (with minimums to ensure some support flows).
Healthcare Premium Allocation
Separate from base support, the formula allocates responsibility for health insurance premiums. If one parent carries coverage for the children, the other parent’s support obligation may be adjusted to account for that contribution.
Childcare Allocation
Similarly, childcare costs are allocated proportionally. If the receiving parent pays $1,000/month for daycare and earns 40% of combined income, the formula requires the paying parent to contribute their 60% share — either added to base support or paid directly.
What the Formula Doesn’t Address
The formula sets a floor, not a ceiling. It doesn’t account for extracurricular activities (sports fees, music lessons, camps), school supplies and fees, clothing and personal items, entertainment and recreation, college savings, or cell phones, computers, and other technology.
Parents often negotiate how to handle these expenses separately — either including them in support, splitting them according to income percentages, or agreeing that each parent covers these costs during their parenting time.
This is an area where the right attorney makes a real difference. The formula doesn’t address these costs, but your divorce judgment should. Leaving them unaddressed creates years of arguments about who pays for soccer registration or braces.
Formula vs. Court Discretion
Michigan courts are required to use the formula, but they can deviate from the calculated amount if applying the formula would be “unjust or inappropriate.” Deviations require specific findings on the record explaining why the formula amount doesn’t serve the children’s best interests.
Common grounds for deviation include shared physical custody arrangements that don’t fit standard formula assumptions, special needs children with extraordinary expenses, significant disparity in parents’ standards of living, a parent voluntarily earning less than their capacity (imputed income situations), and prior agreements between parents.
Deviations aren’t automatic. You need to present evidence justifying why the formula result is inappropriate for your specific circumstances — and you need an attorney who knows how to frame that argument in terms courts actually respond to.
The Numbers Game: Income, Overnights, and Strategic Realities
Child support calculations reward accuracy and punish assumptions. Understanding how inputs affect outputs helps you evaluate proposals and identify potential problems.
Income Disputes
The most common child support disputes involve income calculation — particularly for parents with variable income, self-employment, or complex compensation structures. This is where the real battles happen, and where most parents need help.
Salaried employees are relatively straightforward: base salary plus average bonuses and commissions over a representative period (usually two to three years).
Self-employed parents create complications. Business owners control how income shows up on tax returns. Aggressive depreciation, business expense deductions, and retained earnings can make a high-earning business owner look like a low-income individual on paper. The formula allows Friend of the Court investigators and courts to look beyond tax returns to actual business cash flow. But they don’t always catch everything — which is why having your own attorney review the numbers matters.
Unemployed or underemployed parents face potential income imputation. If a parent is voluntarily unemployed, voluntarily underemployed (working part-time when full-time work is available), or has recently reduced income without justification, the court can impute income — calculating support based on what that parent could earn rather than what they actually earn.
Income imputation requires evidence: the parent’s education, work history, job market conditions, and any legitimate reasons for reduced employment (health issues, caregiving responsibilities, job market conditions). This is one of the most contentious areas in child support law. Proving someone is deliberately earning less than they could takes real evidence and real legal strategy — not just a gut feeling that your ex is sandbagging.
The Overnight Count Matters
Here’s a strategic reality many parents don’t appreciate: parenting time overnights directly affect child support calculations.
Consider a simplified example: Parent A earns $100,000; Parent B earns $50,000. With a standard parenting time arrangement (Parent A has children for approximately 90 overnights/year), Parent A might pay $1,200/month in support.
If Parent A’s parenting time increases to 146 overnights/year (roughly 40% of time), support might drop to $900/month.
If parenting time reaches true 50/50 (182.5 overnights each), support might drop further to $500/month — or potentially flip directions depending on income disparity.
This creates an uncomfortable intersection: parents fighting for more parenting time may be motivated partly by support reduction, and parents resisting shared parenting may be motivated partly by support preservation. Courts are aware of this dynamic. A parent who suddenly demands 50/50 parenting time after showing minimal involvement during the marriage will face scrutiny about their actual motivations.
“Many parents come to us convinced the other parent is ‘hiding income’ or ‘manipulating the overnight count.’ Sometimes they’re right. More often, the dispute comes down to different interpretations of ambiguous situations — what counts as business income versus business reinvestment, whether a three-day weekend is two overnights or three. These technical disputes have real financial consequences. Getting the inputs right before the order is entered is far easier than trying to fix errors afterward.”
Not sure whether your child support number is right? A consultation with Boroja, Bernier & Associates can help you identify errors, evaluate your options, and protect your family’s financial future. Call (586) 991-7611.
Modifying Child Support: When Circumstances Change
Child support orders aren’t permanent. When circumstances change significantly, either parent can request modification under MCL 552.517.
The Threshold: What Justifies Modification
Michigan allows support modification when there’s a “change of circumstances” that makes the current order unreasonable or unfair. Additionally, the Friend of the Court must review support orders every 36 months upon request — and recommend modification if the recalculated amount differs from the current order by more than 10% or $50/month (whichever is greater).
Changes that typically justify modification include significant increase or decrease in either parent’s income (job loss, promotion, career change), change in the number of children (new children, children aging out of support), substantial change in parenting time overnights, change in childcare costs (child starts school, daycare costs increase significantly), change in healthcare costs or coverage, and children’s needs changing substantially (special needs develop, medical conditions arise).
It’s also worth noting: if your order was set before the 2025 formula updates — the reduced $200 medical threshold or the extended childcare coverage to age 13 — those changes alone could produce a different calculation today. The formula changed. If your order hasn’t been updated, you may be operating under outdated math.
Changes that typically don’t justify modification include minor income fluctuations, general cost of living increases, voluntary lifestyle changes that increase expenses, and temporary income reduction that’s likely to resolve.
The Modification Process
To modify support, you file a motion with the Friend of the Court (or directly with the court in some circumstances). The motion must identify the changed circumstances and request a recalculation.
The FOC investigates, verifies income information, and recommends whether modification is warranted. If you disagree with the FOC recommendation, you can request a hearing before a judge or referee. And don’t assume the FOC recommendation is the final word — it’s a recommendation, not a ruling. The FOC gets things wrong. Often.
Modifications are generally effective from the date of filing — not retroactively. If your income dropped six months ago but you just filed for modification, you generally won’t get relief for those six months of higher payments. File promptly when circumstances change. Every month you wait is a month you can’t get back.
When You’re Paying Too Much
Lost your job? Income significantly reduced? Don’t just stop paying and assume the court will understand. Child support obligations continue accruing regardless of your ability to pay — and unpaid support generates interest, enforcement actions, and potential contempt findings.
File for modification immediately when your income drops. Request temporary modification while the full review proceeds if necessary. Document your job search efforts, health issues, or other factors affecting your earning capacity.
When You’re Not Receiving Enough
Discover the other parent got a major raise? Learn they’re earning significantly more than when support was set? You have the right to request a review and potential modification.
Gather evidence of the income change — publicly available information, social media showing expensive purchases or lifestyle changes, changes in job title or employer. The FOC can subpoena tax returns and employment records during the review process.
Enforcement: When Support Doesn’t Get Paid
Child support orders are enforceable court orders. Failing to pay has consequences — though collecting what you’re owed often requires more action on your part than you’d expect.
Michigan’s Income Withholding System
For most child support orders, payment happens through income withholding. The paying parent’s employer receives an income withholding order and deducts support directly from each paycheck, forwarding it to the Michigan State Disbursement Unit (MiSDU), which then distributes it to the receiving parent.
This system works well when the paying parent has stable W-2 employment. It becomes less effective for self-employed parents, parents who change jobs frequently, or parents who receive significant income outside regular employment.
When Payment Stops or Falls Behind
If the paying parent stops paying — whether through job loss, intentional non-payment, or falling through cracks in the withholding system — arrears accumulate quickly. Child support arrears accrue interest at a statutory rate (currently 6% simple interest per year under Michigan law).
Enforcement mechanisms include:
Income withholding: If not already in place, or if the paying parent changes jobs, updated withholding orders can be issued.
Tax refund intercept: Federal and state tax refunds can be intercepted and applied to support arrears.
License suspension: Michigan can suspend driver’s licenses, professional licenses, and recreational licenses for parents with significant arrears.
Passport denial: Parents owing more than $2,500 in support can be denied passport issuance or renewal.
Credit reporting: Support arrears are reported to credit bureaus, affecting the paying parent’s credit score.
Liens: Liens can be placed on real property, bank accounts, and other assets.
Contempt of court: Willful failure to pay support can result in contempt findings — potentially including jail time.
The Receiving Parent’s Role
Many of these enforcement mechanisms happen automatically through the Friend of the Court system. But if enforcement isn’t happening — or isn’t happening fast enough — you can file motions requesting specific enforcement actions.
Document the non-payment: payment records from MiSDU, communication showing the other parent’s awareness of the obligation, evidence of the other parent’s ability to pay (employment, assets, lifestyle).
Courts take non-payment seriously, but “willful” non-payment is harder to prove when the paying parent genuinely lacks resources. A parent who lost their job, filed for modification, and is paying what they can during the process is in a very different position than a parent who’s earning good money and simply choosing not to pay. The distinction matters — and so does having an attorney who can make the distinction clear to the court.
How BBA Law Handles Child Support Matters
Child support is math — but it’s math that determines financial realities for years. At Boroja, Bernier & Associates, we approach these matters with the precision they deserve. Effort is expected — results are required.
We Verify the Inputs
Before accepting any support calculation, we verify the underlying data. Is income accurately reported? Are overnights correctly counted? Are childcare and healthcare costs properly documented? The formula only works if the inputs are correct — and we’ve seen enough errors to know that trusting the first calculation without checking is a gamble you don’t need to take.
We Identify Potential Issues
Self-employment income that looks too low. Bonus income that wasn’t included. Overnight counts that don’t match the parenting time order. Expenses that should be credited but weren’t. The 2025 formula changes that haven’t been applied to older orders. We know where problems hide and how to surface them.
We Explain the Numbers
You’ll understand how your support amount was calculated, what factors drove it higher or lower, and what changes would affect it. Child support shouldn’t be a black box that produces a number you don’t understand. We walk you through the formula so you can see exactly what you’re agreeing to — and why.
We Handle Modifications and Enforcement
Circumstances changed? We’ll help you pursue modification efficiently. Other parent not paying? We’ll help you enforce. Other parent seeking modification you believe is unjustified? We’ll help you oppose it with the evidence that matters.
We Keep Perspective
Child support exists for children. Not as a weapon between parents, not as compensation for past grievances, not as leverage in other disputes. We help clients pursue appropriate outcomes — what the children actually need and what the formula actually supports — not outcomes driven by anger or vengeance.
“Child support disputes often feel personal because money is personal. But the formula doesn’t care about who did what during the marriage. It cares about income, overnights, and expenses. Our job is to make sure the formula has the right information — and to fight like hell when it doesn’t.”
Questions Michigan Parents Ask About Child Support
Michigan uses the Michigan Child Support Formula, which calculates support based on both parents’ net incomes, number of children, parenting time overnights, childcare costs, and healthcare costs. The formula follows an “income shares” model — allocating child-rearing costs between parents proportionally based on their incomes. The Friend of the Court calculates the initial recommendation, but you can challenge the inputs or request deviation if the formula result is unjust. Boroja, Bernier & Associates reviews every calculation before our clients agree to an order.
There’s no single answer — it depends entirely on both parents’ incomes, parenting time, and expenses. For Michigan families with median incomes and standard custody arrangements, support typically ranges from $400–$1,500/month per child. Use Michigan’s online child support calculator for estimates, but verify any calculation with actual documentation. The difference between an estimate and an accurate calculation can be hundreds of dollars per month.
Two significant changes took effect in 2025 under the updated Michigan Child Support Formula. First, the ordinary medical expense threshold dropped from $454 to $200 per child per year — meaning more uninsured medical costs are now shared between parents rather than absorbed by one household. Second, childcare coverage was extended to age 13 (previously age 12), adding another year of eligible childcare costs to the formula. If your support order was calculated before these changes, a review may produce a different result.
Yes. Either parent can request modification when circumstances change significantly — job loss, major income change, change in parenting time, change in childcare costs. Additionally, the Friend of the Court must review orders every 36 months upon request. Modifications generally apply from the filing date forward, so file promptly when circumstances change.
Child support generally continues until the child turns 18, or until 19 years and 6 months if the child is still in high school and living with the receiving parent. Support can also end earlier if the child becomes emancipated, joins the military, or marries. Special needs children may have support extended beyond these ages in certain circumstances.
Enforcement mechanisms include income withholding, tax refund intercept, license suspension (driver’s, professional, recreational), passport denial, credit reporting, property liens, and contempt of court (potentially including jail). Interest accrues on unpaid support at 6% per year. The Friend of the Court handles most enforcement, but receiving parents can also file motions requesting specific enforcement actions.
Parents cannot simply agree to waive child support — children have an independent right to support from both parents. However, parents can agree that no support will be exchanged in certain circumstances (typically when incomes and parenting time are roughly equal). Courts review such agreements to ensure children’s needs are met.
Significantly. The number of overnights each parent has directly affects support calculations under the formula. More overnights with the paying parent generally means lower support — because that parent is directly covering expenses during that time. A shift from standard parenting time to 50/50 shared custody can substantially change support obligations.
The Friend of the Court calculates an initial recommendation based on the formula — but it’s a recommendation, not a final order. Parents can challenge the FOC’s inputs, dispute the recommended amount, and request a hearing before a judge or referee. In our experience, parents who review the FOC recommendation with an attorney before accepting it consistently achieve better outcomes.
Boroja, Bernier & Associates handles child support matters throughout Southeast Michigan (Macomb, Oakland, Wayne, Washtenaw, Livingston, Monroe, St. Clair Counties), Central Michigan (Ingham, Eaton Counties), and Mid-Michigan (Genesee, Lapeer Counties). Our headquarters is in Shelby Township with additional offices in Troy, Ann Arbor, and Lansing. Virtual consultations available throughout our service area.
The Numbers in Your Support Order Affect Your Family for Years
Child support isn’t a one-time calculation. It’s a monthly obligation that continues until your children are adults — potentially totaling six figures over the life of the order. Getting it right matters. Getting it wrong costs real money, every single month, for years.
Consider consulting with a child support attorney if you’re divorcing and want to ensure the support calculation is accurate, you believe the other parent is hiding or misrepresenting income, your circumstances have changed and you need to modify support, the other parent isn’t paying and enforcement isn’t working, you’ve been served with a motion to modify support, you’re self-employed and concerned about how income will be calculated, you don’t understand how your support amount was determined, or your order was set before the 2025 formula changes and you want to know whether those updates affect your numbers. At Boroja, Bernier & Associates, we help parents verify calculations, pursue appropriate modifications, and enforce orders when necessary — always keeping focus on what the children actually need. Trust is built on accountability. When we tell you the numbers are right, they’re right. When we tell you the numbers are wrong, we show you exactly why.
Your Children Deserve Accurate Support. So Do You.
Whether you’re establishing initial support, seeking modification, or dealing with enforcement issues, the numbers matter. Every error in income calculation, overnight count, or expense allocation translates to real money — money your children need, or money you shouldn’t be paying.
You deserve an attorney who understands how the formula works, who verifies the inputs before accepting any calculation, and who pursues appropriate outcomes based on accurate data rather than assumptions. You deserve someone who explains the numbers so you understand exactly what you’re agreeing to.
Schedule a consultation with Joel Bernier at Boroja, Bernier & Associates. Let’s review your situation, verify your numbers, and make sure your support order reflects reality.
Because getting child support right isn’t optional — it’s essential.
Learn About Property Division & Spousal Support
Office Hours: Monday–Thursday: 9:00 AM–5:00 PM | Friday: 9:00 AM–3:00 PM | Saturday & Sunday: By Appointment
Service Area Statement: Boroja, Bernier & Associates handles child support matters throughout Southeast Michigan (Macomb, Oakland, Wayne, Washtenaw, Livingston, Monroe, St. Clair Counties), Central Michigan (Ingham, Eaton Counties), and Mid-Michigan (Genesee, Lapeer Counties). Headquarters in Shelby Township (49139 Schoenherr Rd., Shelby Township, MI 48315) with additional offices in Troy, Ann Arbor, and Lansing.
