The Massachusetts Trial Court has unveiled a revised set of Child Support Guidelines that will go into effect on December 1, 2025—marking the most substantial overhaul since 2021. These guidelines shape how child support is calculated in Massachusetts, offering a uniform starting point for determining what one parent must contribute to meet a child’s needs. Although judges can still depart from the guidelines when a family’s circumstances call for it, the rulebook creates a presumptive amount of support in every case involving children.
Under Federal law, child support guidelines must be evaluated every four years to make sure they stay fair, economically grounded, and aligned with changes in family life. In Massachusetts, the trial court appoints a task force to review and make recommendations for updating the guidelines. The 2025 revisions reflect rising living costs, expanded family structures, and recent developments in Massachusetts law.
A Broader, Clearer Picture of What Counts as Income
The new guidelines reaffirm a basic principle: both parents should contribute to supporting their child. To that end, the definition of “income” remains deliberately wide. It now explicitly includes forms of compensation that didn’t exist a decade ago, such as earnings from digital assets or other modern payment structures. The revisions also clarify when alimony is counted as income, smoothing out an issue that frequently caused confusion in the past.
Another key update: incarceration can no longer be treated as voluntary unemployment. Courts may only attribute income to an incarcerated parent if there is actual proof of earnings or available assets, a change that mirrors federal requirements.
Adjusted Income Limits and Updated Support Ranges
Inflation and economic shifts have prompted meaningful updates to the income ranges used in support calculations. The maximum combined parental income considered by the guidelines now rises from $400,000 to $450,000 per year. Parents earning above that threshold may see support determined on a more individualized basis, with the guideline figure serving as a reference point rather than a ceiling.
For lower-income parents, the minimum support obligations have also been recalibrated. Payors earning $301 per week or less will see child support capped at $15 per week, while those earning between $302 and $391 will not be required to pay more than $33 per week. These numbers are pegged to the federal poverty guidelines to ensure orders remain realistic and not unduly burdensome.
More Nuance for Parenting Time and Modern Families
Family arrangements today don’t always fall neatly into “shared parenting” or “primary residence” categories. The 2025 Guidelines give courts added flexibility in situations where one parent’s parenting time departs significantly from typical one-third or one-half arrangements. Unfortunately, the new guidelines have not established a formula for such deviations and leave that to the judge’s discretion.
In a historic step, the guidelines also acknowledge that some children may have more than two legal parents—a reflection of evolving parentage laws in Massachusetts. While not yet common, these cases now have explicit guidance, ensuring that financial responsibilities can be distributed fairly among all legally recognized parents. The task force did not establish a worksheet for such situations but did recommend that a future task force do so.
Higher Allowances for Child Care and Recognition of Rising Medical Costs
Child care has become one of the most costly necessities for families, and the guidelines now reflect that reality. The allowable benchmark for reasonable child care costs increases from $355 to $430 per week, per child—much closer to the current average for center-based infant care in Massachusetts. The rules also draw a clearer line between necessary child care (like care that allows a parent to work or attend school) and optional activities such as camps or sports programs. Only the former can be directly factored into the child support calculation.
When dividing child care expenses, courts are encouraged to allocate costs based on each parent’s income rather than automatically splitting them in half. Judges can also take into account who pays the expenses upfront, who receives the dependent care tax credit, and whether the parent’s employment or training truly depends on the care.
Medical expenses receive similar treatment. With high-deductible health plans increasingly common, the guidelines now advise allocating out-of-pocket medical and dental costs proportionally to each parent’s income. Extraordinary expenses—such as ongoing therapy, orthodontic treatment, surgery, or specialized medical care—can be handled differently when appropriate, giving judges latitude to tailor cost-sharing to a family’s unique circumstances.
College and Post-Secondary Contributions
For children over 18, Massachusetts courts retain discretion to order child support and contributions toward higher education. The new guidelines reaffirm an important limit: unless a judge explicitly finds otherwise, no parent can be required to cover more than 50% of the in-state undergraduate cost at UMass Amherst.
For the 2025–2026 academic year, that benchmark sits at $37,015, covering tuition, fees, room and board, and books. Judges must also weigh a family’s financial reality, including whether a parent would need to borrow or liquidate assets to meet their share of the college contribution.
Clearing Up the Alimony and Child Support Puzzle
The interplay between alimony and child support has long been a challenging area for courts and families alike. The 2025 Guidelines codify the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s ruling in Cavanagh v. Cavanagh, which requires judges to calculate support using a three-step comparison:
- Calculate alimony first, then child support.
- Calculate child support first, then alimony.
- Compare the outcomes and choose the fairest result.
This structured approach promotes transparency and consistency and ensures that support orders serve a family’s needs as equitably as possible. The guidelines do not address the recent decision in what is being referred to as Cavanagh 2 in which the Court ruled that the recipient’s need must be addressed as part of any alimony calculation.
Conclusion
The 2025 Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines represent a thoughtful modernization of the state’s approach to supporting children after parental separation. By updating income definitions, adjusting for rising child care and medical costs, clarifying support for older children, and reinforcing procedural transparency, the new guidelines aim to make support orders more equitable, responsive, and grounded in today’s economic realities.
For parents currently under a support order, these changes may offer a strong basis for modification. For those negotiating a new order, the updated structure provides clearer guideposts for what courts will likely deem “presumptive.” And importantly, the guidelines underscore that child support is fundamentally about children’s needs—and making sure the system works to serve them. For questions about the new child support guidelines, please feel free to contact Attorney Schutzbank.
