Child support in West Virginia.
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 stateWest Virginia
West Virginia combines both parents' adjusted gross incomes and divides the total support obligation between them in proportion to what each earns. As the statute puts it, "A child support order is determined by dividing the total child support obligation between the parents in proportion to their income." Which worksheet applies depends on how the parenting time splits.
How West Virginia works out the number
Authority: West Virginia Code chapter 48, article 13 (Guidelines for Child Support Awards), including § 48-13-403 (Worksheet A), § 48-13-502 (Worksheet B), § 48-13-601 (child care), § 48-13-602 (health care) and § 48-13-702 (deviation)Yes, and the threshold is 127 days. Extended shared parenting applies "in cases where each parent has the child for more than 127 days per year (35 percent)," and at that point Worksheet B applies: "The basic child support obligation is multiplied by 1.6 to arrive at a shared parenting basic child support obligation." That 1.6 multiplier is higher than most states' 1.5.
There is a worksheet, but no calculator
West Virginia publishes Worksheet A, Basic Shared Parenting (W. Va. Code § 48-13-403), and Worksheet B, Extended Shared Parenting (W. Va. Code § 48-13-502) and expects you to work through it by hand. Anyone selling you a paid calculator for this state is selling you arithmetic the court already published.
What goes into the calculation
What counts as income
Gross income is defined at W. Va. Code § 48-1-228. Worksheet A itself shows how overtime is handled: it adds "overtime compensation, if not excluded, and not to exceed 50%" of the amount earned, so West Virginia counts overtime but discounts it.
When a judge can treat you as earning more
For default orders, § 48-13-804(a)(2) lets the court attribute income based on "(i) The party's work history; (ii) Minimum wage, if appropriate; or (iii) At a minimum, enter a child support order in a nominal amount."
If you do not earn much
The self-support reserve shown on Worksheet A is $997 per month. At the very bottom, "If combined adjusted gross income is below $550 per month… the basic child support obligation shall be set at $50 per month or a discretionary amount determined by the court."
Childcare and health insurance
Work-related child care costs are added, then reduced by 25% to account for the federal child care tax credit, under § 48-13-601. Under § 48-13-602, health insurance premium costs and unreimbursed child health care expenses are "added to the basic child support obligation and divided between the parents in proportion to their adjusted gross income."
Private school, special needs, activities
These are handled as deviation grounds rather than automatic add-ons. Section 48-13-702 expressly lists "Educational expenses for the child" including private, parochial and post-secondary schooling, and "Special needs of the child or support obligor, including" a physically or mentally disabled child. "Any other extraordinary expenses agreed to by the parents or ordered by the court" may also be added.
When a judge can depart from the number
Under § 48-13-702 a court may deviate when it finds "that the guidelines are inappropriate in a specific case," and must state on the record "the reason for the deviation and the amount of the calculated guidelines award." Listed grounds include special needs, educational expenses, families with more than six children, long-distance visitation costs, and whether the obligation would push a parent's income below the federal poverty level.
West Virginia caps the guideline schedule at $35,000 a month of combined income: above that, "the basic child support obligation shall not be less than it would be based on a combined adjusted gross income of $35,000." And if you work overtime, note that only half of it counts, which is unusually generous to the paying parent. The 127-day shared-parenting line is worth planning around; crossing it changes which worksheet applies and multiplies the base obligation by 1.6 before splitting it.
Later on
When it ends
We could not confirm the exact ending age and conditions on a state source. This is worth one phone call to the clerk.
College and support after 18
West Virginia does not treat college as part of basic support, but § 48-13-702 expressly names "post-secondary" educational expenses as a permitted ground for deviating upward, so a judge can take college costs into account.
How far back a change can reach
We could not confirm this state’s rule on how far back an order or a change can be applied. It matters: in some states the clock starts the day you file, so filing late costs money you do not get back.
What we could not confirm
- Article 13 of the West Virginia Code covers the calculation but not the surrounding rules, so we could not confirm: the age at which West Virginia support ends and whether it continues while a child finishes high school; what triggers a modification and how far back one reaches; whether the state publishes a public child support calculator; and the state's enforcement tools such as license suspension or interest on arrears. We are also reporting the $997 self-support reserve as it appears on the statutory worksheet; ask the Bureau for Child Support Enforcement whether a newer figure applies before you rely on it.
- 1 official page we tried to read refused automated access. We did not try to get around the block, so some detail above comes from a different official source rather than the one we would have preferred.
Compare all fifty states
The overnight thresholds, the ending ages and the college rules, side by side.
The rest of what we have written about West Virginia. Every figure is quoted from West Virginia’s own statute or its courts’ own published schedule, and carries the date we last checked it.