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South Carolina child support: the 2024 schedule, the 109-night threshold, and an example

South Carolina reads support from a schedule keyed to the parents' combined gross income, which the Department of Social Services rebuilt for 2024 and extended to $40,000 a month. Time sharing only enters the math after a parent passes 109 court-ordered overnights, and even then it phases in gradually until 128.

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At a glance

ModelIncome shares on combined monthly gross income, S.C. Code Regs. 114-4710 to 114-4750
Current guidelines2024 edition, in use since January 1, 2024 (DSS Booklet 2819)
Schedule range$750 to $40,000 combined a month; case by case outside that range
Shared physical custodyMore than 109 overnights a year each (30%): Worksheet C, 1.5x obligation; graduated between 110 and 127 nights
Self-support reserve$1,010.50 a month, built into the shaded cells of the schedule
Support ends18, or later while in high school (up to graduation or the end of the school year after age 19, whichever is later)
AgencyChild Support Services, South Carolina Department of Social Services

Why South Carolina starts from gross income

The regulations say plainly why they use gross rather than net pay: it avoids fights over which deductions count. Taxes are not ignored, though. The schedule itself was built assuming the paying parent claims one federal exemption and carries a heavier tax load than the receiving parent, with South Carolina tax, FICA and earned income factored into each cell.

Gross income is broad: wages, commissions, bonuses, rents net of business expenses, dividends, severance, pensions, interest, trust income, capital gains, Social Security (but not SSI), workers' compensation, unemployment, veterans' benefits and alimony. Means-tested aid such as TANF, SSI and food stamps is excluded, and so is income of other people in the household. A business owner's income is receipts minus ordinary expenses, with accelerated depreciation added back. A judge may impute income to a parent who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, and may also assign a return to significant idle assets such as a vacation home or vacant land, but not because of incarceration.

Alimony ordered in the same case is subtracted from the payer's income and added to the recipient's before the shares are figured. Alimony or child support actually paid under an earlier order is deducted too. Both parents' adjusted incomes are then added, the basic obligation is read from the Schedule of Basic Support Obligations (extrapolating upward when income falls between rows), health insurance and work-related child care are added, and the total is divided by each parent's share of the combined income on Worksheet A.

Worked example: South Carolina

  1. Parent A earns $5,100 a month gross and Parent B earns $3,400, so the combined gross income is $8,500.
  2. On the 2024 Schedule of Basic Support Obligations, the $8,500 row lists $1,578 for two children. That figure already includes $250 per child per year for routine uninsured medical costs.
  3. Parent A brings in 60% of the combined income, which makes Parent A's portion $947 and Parent B's portion $631.
  4. If the children live mainly with Parent B, Worksheet A has Parent A paying $947 a month ($11,364 a year). Parent B's portion is presumed to be spent directly on the children at home.

This is an estimate, not legal advice. Figures are rounded to the dollar and leave out the insurance, childcare, and other adjustments your case may have. Try your own numbers in CoreParent's calculator, then confirm with the state's official calculator.

The 109-overnight line and the graduated band

Shared physical custody in South Carolina means court-ordered overnights with each parent on more than 109 nights a year (30%), with both parents also covering some of the children's expenses. It is measured over the year: a month-long summer visit does not pause support. Legal custody does not matter, so a parent without decision-making authority can still qualify. If a parent stops using the ordered time, the other parent may ask the court to return to the unadjusted amount.

On Worksheet C the basic obligation is multiplied by 1.5, each parent takes an income share of that larger number, and each share is multiplied by the percentage of time the children spend with that parent. The two results are offset. Between 110 and 127 overnights the order is graduated: start from the Worksheet A amount and move toward the Worksheet C amount by the number of nights above 109 divided by 18. Using the example, if Parent A has 118 overnights the order lands at about $801 a month instead of $947; with exactly equal time it is about $237. Judges can decline the adjustment if it would substantially hurt the children's standard of living.

Health insurance, medical bills and child care

Only the children's portion of a health premium is added, meaning the difference between employee-only and family coverage; if that cannot be verified, divide the premium by the number of people covered and multiply by the number of children in the case. The parent paying the premium gets credit for it. Because the schedule assumes $250 per child per year of routine uninsured costs, reasonable and necessary unreimbursed expenses above that are split by income share. Regular, predictable costs such as counseling or allergy treatment can be built into the monthly order instead.

Child care needed for work or a job search is added after a tax-credit adjustment. When the primary parent's monthly gross income is above a set threshold ($3,200 for one child, $4,600 for two), the cost is multiplied by 0.27 and the smaller of that result and $68 (one child) or $135 (two or more) is subtracted. A judge can use the credit actually claimed on the last tax return instead.

Low incomes: the $750 floor and the $1,010.50 reserve

Below $750 of combined gross income a month, support is set case by case and should ordinarily be at least $100, so the duty to pay is established and can be adjusted later. Above that, the schedule protects a self-support reserve of $1,010.50. When the paying parent's income falls in a shaded cell, support is figured on the payer's income alone, without the other parent's income or add-ons that would push the payer below the reserve. The bottom row, $750, lists $100 for any number of children.

Other children, split custody and deviations

A parent with other natural or adopted children living at home (not stepchildren, unless a court order makes the parent responsible) takes the schedule amount for those children on that parent's income alone, multiplies it by 0.75, and subtracts the result from gross income. When each parent has at least one of the children, Worksheet B computes support for each household and offsets the two. Judges may depart from the guideline only with written findings; listed reasons include private school or college costs, consumer debt, more than six children, a large income gap between the parents and an agreement both parents understand.

How long support lasts and changing an order

Under S.C. Code 63-3-530(A)(17), support runs until 18, marriage, or the child becoming self-supporting, whichever comes first. A child still enrolled in high school is supported until graduation or the end of the school year after turning 19, whichever is later. The court may also continue support past 18 for a child with a physical or mental disability or other exceptional circumstances, or under an earlier agreement.

The family court can modify any order it issued. A new edition of the guidelines is not, by itself, a change in circumstances that justifies modifying an existing order, except in a case handled by the state child support agency (63-17-470(B)). In agency cases, DSS reviews orders every three years when public assistance is assigned, or when either parent asks.

DSS Child Support Services and enforcement

The Child Support Services division of the Department of Social Services helps establish and modify orders through the court at no cost to parents, and posts an online guideline calculator. In its cases, income withholding starts as of the order's effective date without waiting for arrears. A parent more than $500 behind who has not paid the full obligation for the last two months is not in compliance and can have a driver's, professional or occupational, hunting or fishing license, or a boat registration revoked.

Documents you will need

South Carolina child support FAQ

Does South Carolina use gross or net income for child support?

Gross income. The regulations chose gross pay to avoid disputes about deductions, and the schedule already accounts for typical federal and state taxes and FICA. Alimony in the case and support paid under earlier orders are subtracted before the shares are figured.

How much is child support for 2 kids in South Carolina?

It depends on combined gross income. At $8,500 a month the 2024 schedule lists $1,578 for two children, so a parent with 60% of the income and the children with the other parent owes about $947 before insurance and child care.

How many overnights change child support in South Carolina?

More than 109 court-ordered overnights a year. From 110 to 127 nights the reduction phases in, and at 128 or more the full Worksheet C shared calculation applies. In our example, equal time leaves about $237 a month.

Does child support stop at 18 in South Carolina?

Usually, unless the child is still in high school. Then it continues until graduation or the end of the school year after the child turns 19, whichever is later. A court can extend it for a disability or other exceptional circumstances.

What if our income is over $40,000 a month?

The 2024 schedule stops at $40,000 of combined gross income a month, where it lists $4,680 for two children. Above that, the court sets support case by case.

Next steps

Sources

Verified against these official sources in October 2026:

Child support in every other state

All states

This is general educational information, not legal advice, and official figures change. Last verified: October 2026. Consult a licensed family-law attorney in South Carolina.