Child support in Nebraska.
What the state’s own guideline says, where the number comes from, and the one figure that moves it more than anything you will argue about.
See a different stateNebraska
Nebraska's guidelines rest on 'the equal duty of both parents to contribute to the support of their children in proportion to their respective net incomes.' Both parents' monthly incomes are calculated, specific deductions are subtracted to reach net income, the combined net figure is looked up on Table 1, and each parent owes their percentage share. Child care and health costs are handled outside the table and added on.
How Nebraska works out the number
Authority: Nebraska Child Support Guidelines, Neb. Ct. R. §§ 4-201 through 4-222 (Nebraska Supreme Court Rules, Chapter 4, Article 2). Termination of the duty to pay is set by Neb. Rev. Stat. § 42-371.01, and the age of majority by Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-2101.Two separate rules. For joint physical custody, § 4-212: when each parent's parenting time exceeds 142 days per year there is 'a rebuttable presumption that support shall be calculated using worksheet 3'; when one parent's time is between 109 and 142 days, using worksheet 3 is up to the judge. A 'day' generally means an overnight. For ordinary parenting time, § 4-210: where time 'substantially exceeds alternating weekends and holidays and 28 days or more in any 90-day period,' the court may reduce payments by up to 80% during those extended periods.
Use the state’s own calculator, not ours
Nebraska publishes this itself, free. It is called Worksheet 1 (Basic Net Income and Support Calculation, DC 6:1); Worksheet 2 (Split Custody, DC 6:2); Worksheet 3 (Joint Physical Custody, DC 6:3); Worksheet 4 (. We are not going to build a competing calculator and ask you to trust it — this is the one a judge will recognize.
Open the Nebraska calculator →What goes into the calculation
What counts as income
'Total monthly income is the income of both parties derived from all sources, except all means-tested public assistance benefits which includes any earned income tax credit and payments received for children of prior marriages.' It also includes 'income that could be acquired by the parties through reasonable efforts,' and a court may count retained earnings in a closely held corporation 'if the earnings appear excessive or inappropriate.' Overtime is conditional: 'the court may consider overtime wages in determining child support if the overtime is a regular part of the employment and the employee can actually expect to regularly earn a certain amount of income from working overtime,' weighing the employee's work history, control over work conditions, and the nature of the employer's business. For self-employment and farming, straight-line depreciation on ordinary and necessary assets may be deducted, and a party claiming it must produce five years of tax returns. Deductions to reach net income are taxes, FICA, mandatory retirement (or voluntary contributions up to 4%), prior-ordered child support, credit for other children, and the parent's own health insurance up to 5% of that parent's gross income.
When a judge can treat you as earning more
'If applicable, earning capacity may be considered in lieu of a parent's actual, present income. Earning capacity is not limited to wage-earning capacity, but includes moneys available from all sources.' The court must consider 'the parent's residence, employment and earnings history, job skills, educational attainment, literacy, age, health, and employment barriers, including criminal record, record of seeking work, prevailing local earning levels, and availability of employment.' And squarely: 'incarceration may not be treated as voluntary unemployment or underemployment.'
If you do not earn much
Nebraska has both a floor and a subsistence limit. The floor: 'even in very low income cases, except in cases of disability or incarceration where a lower amount may be justified, a minimum monthly support of $50, or 10 percent of the obligor's net income, whichever is greater, per month should be set.' The subsistence limit in § 4-218: a parent's combined support, child care and health care obligation 'shall not reduce his or her net income below the minimum of $1,330 net monthly for one person,' a figure the Supreme Court updates every year with the federal poverty guidelines (most recently amended January 28, 2026, effective January 1, 2026).
Childcare and health insurance
Child care is outside the table and added on. Work-, training- or education-related care 'shall be allocated to the obligor parent as determined by the court, but shall not exceed the proportion of the obligor's parental contribution.' The federal child care tax credit is subtracted from actual costs, and the court may impute that credit where the parent paying for care has gross income above $2,600 a month for one child (rising to $3,800 for six), valued at 25% of the cost capped at $62.50 a month for one child, or 20% capped at $100 a month for two or more. On health: the increased cost of insuring the children is prorated between the parents and the paying parent gets a credit. Ordinary health care of up to $250 per child per year is already inside the table amount; costs above that are allocated to the obligor 'as determined by the court, but shall not exceed the proportion of the obligor's parental contribution.'
Private school, special needs, activities
Deviation is expressly allowed 'when there are extraordinary medical costs of either parent or child' and 'when special needs of a disabled child exist.' In joint physical custody cases, 'all reasonable and necessary direct expenditures made solely for the child(ren) such as clothing and extracurricular activities shall be allocated between the parents.'
When a judge can depart from the number
The guidelines are a rebuttable presumption. To depart, 'specific findings giving the reason for the deviation must be made,' the findings 'must state the amount of support that would have been required under the guidelines and include a justification of why the order varies,' and 'deviations must take into consideration the best interests of the child.' Where combined net income exceeds $20,000 a month, support may be more than the $20,000 figure but not less.
Two things stand out. First, Nebraska support normally runs to 19, not 18, because that is the state's age of majority – and it does not stop by itself, you have to file to end it. Second, the subsistence rule is real money: no combination of support, child care and health obligations may push a paying parent's net income below $1,330 a month, though a minimum order can still be entered.
Later on
When it ends
Nebraska's age of majority is 19, not 18 – 'all persons under nineteen years of age are declared to be minors.' Under § 42-371.01, the duty to pay ends when '(a) the child reaches nineteen years of age, (b) the child marries, (c) the child dies, or (d) the child is emancipated by a court,' unless the order specifically extends support. Ending it is not automatic: the paying parent files an application with the clerk, the other parent has 30 days to object, and the court terminates it if no objection is filed.
College and support after 18
Nebraska's guidelines make no provision for college support. Because majority is 19, ordinary support already runs a year longer than in most states.
Changing the amount later
'Application of the child support guidelines which would result in a variation by 10 percent or more, but not less than $25, upward or downward, of the current child support obligation, child care obligation, or health care obligation, due to financial circumstances which have lasted 3 months and can reasonably be expected to last for an additional 6 months, establishes a rebuttable presumption of a material change of circumstances.' Two guardrails: support cannot be increased 'solely because of an increase in the income of the obligee,' and it cannot be decreased 'solely because of the birth, adoption, or acknowledgment of subsequent children of the obligor.'
How far back a change can reach
The guidelines and the statutes do not fix a date a change reaches back to; Nebraska courts decide that case by case, and an appellate court has held it is an abuse of discretion to award retroactive support where the paying parent cannot pay it and still meet current obligations. Practical advice: file promptly and ask your lawyer specifically what date your modification will run from.
If someone stops paying
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 42-358 provides for income withholding through the Income Withholding for Child Support Act and for contempt proceedings. Where a payment is a full month delinquent, the case is certified and 'a rebuttable presumption of contempt shall be established if a prima facie showing is made that the court-ordered child or spousal support is delinquent.' We did not confirm license-suspension or interest rules on an official source.
What we could not confirm
- Nebraska does not publish a rule setting how far back a modification reaches – that is left to the judge – so ask your lawyer what date to expect. We also could not confirm license suspension or interest on arrears from an official Nebraska source. The Supreme Court's self-help page links to an online calculator run at a private web address; we have pointed you to the court's own worksheets instead.
Compare all fifty states
The overnight thresholds, the ending ages and the college rules, side by side.