Posts

Status

Completed Legislative Action

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 13-3)

Status: Passed on May 2 2023 - 100% progression

Action: 2023-05-02 - Effective Date 2023-07-01​

 

Summary

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 3 of Chapter 7 of Title 19 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to determination of paternity, so as to align evidentiary medical and genetic testing with the Uniform Parentage Act of 2017; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

Status

Completed Legislative Action

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 6-0)

Status: Passed on April 23 2024 - 100% progression

Action: 2024-04-23 - Effective Date 2024-07-01

 

Summary

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 1 of Chapter 6 of Title 19 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions regarding alimony and child support, so as to authorize child support and insurance policies for disabled children who have reached the age of majority but lack the ability to otherwise support themselves independently; to provide for a definition; to provide for an effective date and applicability; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

The enactment of Georgia Senate Bill 454 brings significant changes to child support calculations in Georgia in 4 main areas:  

Effective 7/1/2024

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1. New Basic Child Support Obligation Table (“BCSO Table”)

• For the first time since it was created in 2006, Georgia’s Basic Child Support Obligation Table is being updated

• The new BCSO Table may be found in SB 454, which is linked above.  That will allow practitioners to determine the new BCSO amounts before they are live in the child support calculator starting on 7/1/2024

• Updated table amounts reflect recommendations from the economist who conducted Georgia’s 2022 Economic Study

• The BCSO Table’s vertical axis (the parents’ combined gross monthly income) increases from $30,000 to $40,000.  Accordingly, cases in which the parents’ combined adjusted gross income exceeds $40,000.00 are eligible for a possible high-income deviation.

• Never use the old Excel version of the child support calculator because the BCSO amounts it produces will be wrong as of 7/1/2024

• The child support worksheet will have a new field noting the worksheet’s creation date

• Child support worksheets created on or after 7/1/2024 will automatically reflect the updated BSCO amounts

• Worksheets created prior to 7/1/2024 will continue to reflect the previous BCSO table amounts

 

To update a previously created worksheet to reflect the new BCSO Table, users must “copy” that worksheet and re-open it to reflect the updated table amounts as shown below.



2. Veteran’s Affairs Disability Credit

• Permits VA disability benefits paid to a custodial parent or nonparent custodian for the benefit of a child based on the noncustodial parent’s VA disability to offset the noncustodial parent’s child support obligation.

• A new data field, #16(b), has been added to the child support calculator and a new line has been added to the child support worksheet to reflect this new credit.

 

Effective 1/1/2026

3. Removal of the Parenting Time Deviation and creation of a Parenting Time Adjustment that includes a formula.  

 

4. Removal of the Low-Income Deviation and creation of a Low-Income Adjustment

• The Child Support Commission is actively working on implementing these two provisions and more information will be forthcoming as quickly as possible.  Details about the Commission’s years of study on these two topics may be found by scrolling to the bottom of this webpage: