Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Form 12.902(e), the Child Support Guidelines Worksheet, is the document that turns each parent’s income and a short list of child-related expenses into the dollar figure Florida’s child support guidelines call for. Florida courts use it in essentially every case where child support is requested, whether that’s a divorce, a paternity action, or a modification. If you want to check your own numbers before you sit down with the form, the child support calculator walks through the same math.
This piece goes through the current version of the form — the 06/25 revision, which is the version posted on flcourts.gov as of this writing — section by section, in the order it actually appears, and flags where self-represented parents typically get tripped up. The revision date is printed in the footer of every page of the form, so it’s worth confirming the copy you’re working from says 06/25 before you rely on any line numbers below.
What the Form Is and When Florida Requires It
The form’s instructions say the worksheet should be completed if child support is being requested in the case. Where the other party’s income is known, the instructions say the worksheet should accompany the filer’s financial affidavit; where it isn’t known, they say the form is completed after the other party files a financial affidavit and serves a copy. The instructions also state that a copy of the form must be filed with the court and served on the other party or that party’s attorney, with service made in accordance with Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.516.
Separately, Florida Statutes section 61.30(14) requires every petition for child support, or for modification, to be accompanied by a financial affidavit showing income, deductions, and net income. The worksheet is built directly on that affidavit, which is why the two forms travel together. If you haven’t compared the two affidavit versions yet, see financial affidavit Form 12.902(b) vs. 12.902(c), since the affidavit is the input the worksheet runs on.
The guideline amount the worksheet produces “presumptively establishes” the child support amount a Florida court must order, per section 61.30(1)(a). A judge can deviate from it, but only within the limits described below.
Line by Line: How the Worksheet Actually Works
Gross Income Calculation
Before the numbered lines start, the worksheet has a box for Present Gross Monthly Income for each parent, pulled from line 17, Section I, of Form 12.902(b) or 12.902(c), the financial affidavit. This is gross income, before deductions, and it is not the number that drives the rest of the calculation.
Line 1: Present Net Monthly Income
This is where the actual calculation starts. Enter the amount from line 27, Section I, of the financial affidavit: net income after the affidavit’s own deductions. Section 61.30(3) lists the allowable deductions as federal, state, and local income tax (adjusted for actual filing status and allowable dependents); federal insurance contributions or self-employment tax; mandatory union dues; mandatory retirement payments; health insurance payments, excluding payments for coverage of the minor child; court-ordered support for other children that is actually paid; and spousal support paid under a court order from a previous marriage or the marriage before the court. A common error is entering the gross figure from the box above instead of the net figure from line 27.
Line 2: Basic Monthly Obligation
Add the two parents’ net incomes from line 1, find that combined total on the guidelines chart, and read across to the column for the number of children the parties share. The chart is printed in the form’s instructions, and its first column is labeled “Combined Monthly Available Income” — that column is where the line 1 total goes. The chart runs from $800 to $10,000 in $50 increments, with columns for one through six children. The figure you land on is the basic monthly obligation for all the children combined, not per parent and not per child.
Line 3: Percent of Financial Responsibility
Divide each parent’s line 1 income by the combined total on line 1. The two percentages should add to 100%, allowing for rounding. A total well off 100% usually points back to an arithmetic problem in line 1.
Line 4: Share of Basic Monthly Obligation
Multiply line 2 by each parent’s percentage from line 3, giving each parent’s proportional share of the basic obligation before health insurance, child care, or other add-ons.
Lines 5a-5d: Additional Support (Child Care, Health Insurance, Uncovered Medical)
Line 5a is labeled “100% of Monthly Child Care Costs.” Under section 61.30(7), the child care costs added to the basic obligation are those incurred because of employment, job search, or education calculated to result in employment or enhance income, and the statute provides that child care costs may not exceed the level required to provide quality care from a licensed source. Line 5b is the children’s health insurance cost, and the form notes this is only amounts actually paid for coverage on the children. Line 5c is the children’s noncovered medical, dental, and prescription medication costs. Line 5d totals the three.
Line 6: Additional Support Payments
Same math as line 4, applied to line 5d: multiply the total additional support by each parent’s line 3 percentage.
Lines 7a-7c and 8: Statutory Adjustments and Credits
These lines credit a parent for amounts already being paid directly for child care, health insurance, or uncovered medical costs, so those costs aren’t counted twice. Line 8 totals the credits.
Line 9: Minimum Child Support Obligation for Each Parent
Line 4 plus line 6, minus line 8, for each parent. The form’s own arithmetic stops here when the substantial time-sharing block below doesn’t apply, and line 9 is where each parent’s guideline figure lands. What a court does with that figure — including whether it orders a transfer between the parents and in what amount — is a question for the court on the facts of the case.
Lines 10-21: Substantial Time-Sharing (the “Gross-Up” Method)
The form’s heading for this block reads: “If each parent exercises time-sharing at least 20 percent of the overnights in the year (73 overnights in the year), complete Nos. 10 through 21.” That tracks section 61.30(11)(b)8, which defines a “substantial amount of time” as time-sharing of at least 20 percent of the overnights of the year.
This is where most self-represented parents lose the thread. The block restarts the math: line 10 multiplies the line 2 basic obligation by 1.5, line 11 splits that increased figure by each parent’s line 3 percentage, and line 12 converts each parent’s annual overnights to a percentage by multiplying by 100 and dividing by 365. Line 13 is the cross-multiplication — each parent’s line 11 amount times the other parent’s line 12 percentage. Lines 14 and 15 rerun the child care and health cost add-ons, lines 16 through 18 apply the actually-paid credits, lines 19 and 20 total what each parent owes, and line 21 subtracts the smaller from the larger to produce a single figure, which the form labels “Presumptive Child Support to Be Paid.”
Where the overnight counts don’t reach 73 for each parent, the form directs the filer to lines 1 through 9 and this block is left blank.
The Deviation Checkbox
The last page asks you to check one box: deviation from the guidelines amount is requested, or it is not. Under section 61.30(1)(a), the trier of fact may order support that varies plus or minus 5 percent from the guideline amount after considering all relevant factors, and may order an amount varying more than 5 percent only upon a written finding explaining why the guideline amount would be unjust or inappropriate. The form states that a parent requesting an amount more or less than the guidelines must also complete and file the Motion to Deviate from Child Support Guidelines, Form 12.943, and the checkbox itself asks whether that motion is attached.
A Worked Example
Two children. Parent A has primary time-sharing and net monthly income of $2,000. Parent B, the nonresidential parent, has net monthly income of $3,000. Combined net income: $5,000.
On the guidelines chart, $5,000 combined net income with two children yields a basic monthly obligation of $1,551 (line 2).
Financial responsibility (line 3): Parent A, $2,000 ÷ $5,000 = 40%. Parent B, $3,000 ÷ $5,000 = 60%.
Share of the basic obligation (line 4): Parent A, $620.40 (40% of $1,551). Parent B, $930.60 (60%).
The children’s health insurance costs $200 a month, paid by Parent B (lines 5b, 5d, 6). Each parent’s share of that $200: Parent A, $80; Parent B, $120. Because Parent B is already paying the $200 premium directly, that amount is credited back on line 7b and line 8.
Line 9 for Parent B: $930.60 + $120 − $200 = $850.60. That is the figure the worksheet produces for Parent B, before any deviation.
This example uses only the mechanics in section 61.30 and the guidelines chart, and it assumes the substantial time-sharing block does not apply. It is an illustration of the form’s arithmetic, not a prediction of what any particular court would order in any particular case.
Common Mistakes Self-Represented Parents Make
Using gross income instead of net income on line 1. The worksheet has a gross figure near the top and asks for net income on line 1. Mixing these up throws off every downstream line.
Picking the wrong column on the guidelines chart. The chart runs combined income down the rows and number of children across the columns. Reading the wrong column, or the wrong row, is an easy mistake on a long chart.
Completing the gross-up section (lines 10-21) without actually hitting 73 overnights per parent. By its own heading, that section applies where each parent exercises time-sharing at least 20 percent of the overnights in the year. Filling it in when the schedule falls short produces a figure the form’s instructions don’t call for.
Leaving out the Motion to Deviate when requesting a non-guideline amount. The form states that a parent asking the court for an amount more or less than the guidelines must complete and file Form 12.943, and the checkbox on the last page asks whether that motion is attached. Separately, under section 61.30(1)(a), it is the court’s ordering of an amount varying more than 5 percent from the guideline figure that requires a written finding explaining why the guideline amount would be unjust or inappropriate.
Double-counting or missing the “actually paid” credit lines. Lines 7 and 16 exist so a parent already paying for insurance or child care directly isn’t billed for it again through the transfer amount. Skipping these lines, or crediting amounts that weren’t actually paid, produces the wrong bottom-line figure.
The child support calculator runs the same arithmetic, which makes it a convenient way to cross-check a worksheet you have already filled in.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Florida call for Form 12.902(e)?
The form’s instructions say the worksheet should be completed if child support is being requested in the case, and that a copy must be filed with the court and served on the other party or that party’s attorney. That covers dissolution, paternity, and modification proceedings alike.
What’s the difference between the gross income box and line 1 on the worksheet?
The gross income box comes from line 17 of the financial affidavit, before deductions. Line 1, which drives the rest of the calculation, comes from line 27 and is net income after the statute’s allowable deductions.
What happens if the income doesn’t fit on the chart?
The statute handles the two ends differently. Section 61.30(6)(a) applies where the obligor parent’s net income is less than the amount in the guidelines schedule: the support amount is determined on a case-by-case basis, and the payment is the lesser of that parent’s actual dollar share of the total minimum child support amount and 90 percent of the difference between that parent’s monthly net income and the current federal poverty guidelines for a single individual living alone. Section 61.30(6)(b) applies where combined monthly net income is greater than the amount in the schedule: the obligation is the schedule’s minimum amount plus a percentage of the income over $10,000 — 5.0% for one child, 7.5% for two, 9.5% for three, 11.0% for four, 12.0% for five, and 12.5% for six.
Did Florida’s guidelines chart cap rise to $50,000 in 2026?
No. A number of websites report that a combined monthly net income cap rose from $12,000 to $50,000 effective January 1, 2026, and attribute it to “House Bill 1014.” That change is Washington State law, not Florida law: Engrossed House Bill 1014, chapter 272, Laws of 2025, which amended Washington’s economic table at RCW 26.19.020. Florida’s schedule in section 61.30(6) still runs to $10,000 in combined monthly net income, with the percentage add-on in section 61.30(6)(b) above that, and the chart printed in the 06/25 version of Form 12.902(e) ends at $10,000. No bill amending section 61.30 was filed in Florida’s 2024, 2025, or 2026 regular sessions.
How large does the difference have to be before the guidelines show a substantial change?
The test is measured against the support amount, not against income. Under section 61.30(1)(b), the difference between the existing monthly obligation and the amount the guidelines would produce must be at least 15 percent or $50, whichever is greater, before a court may find that the guidelines provide a substantial change in circumstances. A separate rule, section 61.30(1)(c), applies to orders reviewed by the Department of Revenue: where the ordered amount differs by at least 10 percent but not less than $25 from the guideline amount, the department is to seek modification without a showing of changed circumstances.
Does the parenting time schedule affect the number?
It can. Section 61.30(11)(b) provides that where a parenting plan, court-ordered schedule, or schedule exercised by agreement has each child spending a substantial amount of time with each parent, the court shall adjust the award using the gross-up steps the form reproduces at lines 10 through 21. Section 61.30(11)(b)8 defines “substantial amount of time” as at least 20 percent of the overnights of the year, which the form states as 73 overnights. Below that threshold the worksheet’s lines 1 through 9 carry the calculation, though section 61.30(11)(a)10 separately lists a schedule under which a child spends a significant amount of time — but less than 20 percent of the overnights — with one parent as a factor a court may consider in adjusting the award.
If you want more background on how the numbers behind this form work, “Navigating Child Support” walks through the guidelines in more detail, and you can find it here.
Official Sources
- Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Form 12.902(e), Child Support Guidelines Worksheet and Instructions (06/25): https://flcourts-media.flcourts.gov/content/download/685815/file_pdf/12.902e.pdf
- Florida Courts, Child Support Guidelines Worksheet form page: https://www.flcourts.gov/Services/family-courts/domestic-relations-court-resources/family-law-forms/Additional-Supporting-Documents-12.902-Forms-B-J/child-support-guidelines-worksheet
- Florida Statutes section 61.30, Child support guidelines; retroactive child support (2025 Florida Statutes, the most recent published edition): https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/61.30
- Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure Form 12.902(b), Family Law Financial Affidavit (Short Form) and Instructions (10/21): https://flcourts-media.flcourts.gov/content/download/685812/file_pdf/902b10-21.pdf
- Washington State Legislature, Final Bill Report, Engrossed House Bill 1014, chapter 272, Laws of 2025 (the source of the $50,000 figure that some websites misattribute to Florida): https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2025-26/Pdf/Bill%20Reports/House/1014.E%20HBR%20FBR%2025.pdf
Not Legal Advice
This article is educational information about a Florida court form. It is not legal advice, it does not create an attorney-client relationship, and it isn’t a substitute for reviewing the current form and statute yourself or talking with a licensed Florida attorney about your situation. Court forms and statutes change; the form revision and statutory edition relied on here are identified above.
