Montana child support guide
Montana protects a personal allowance before allocating children’s needs. Remaining income can produce an additional standard-of-living adjustment.
Sources checked .
Open Montana worksheets and tables
Guideline at a glance
- Guideline model
- Primary allowances plus SOLA
- Income used
- Annual income after permitted deductions
- Current materials checked
- ARM 37.62 guidelines; tables effective February 1, 2026
- Our calculator
- Worksheets A–E calculation for supported arrangements
How Montana child support law works
Montana’s guidelines are in ARM 37.62. The state supplies Worksheets A–E and separately updated tables. The February 2026 tables set the annual personal allowance at $20,748; using an earlier year’s figures can change the result.
Sources: ARM 37.62 child-support guideline rules.
How the guideline is calculated
- Annualize income and eligible deductions for each parent, then apply the personal allowance.
- Determine primary child-support needs and supplemental expenses, including applicable child care and health costs.
- Allocate support and calculate the standard-of-living adjustment (SOLA) on remaining income. Use the minimum-support worksheet when directed.
- Apply expense credits and, where relevant, per-child parenting-day and long-distance-travel adjustments before converting the result to a monthly obligation.
The instructions use annual entries unless a line says otherwise. Worksheet B uses each child’s parenting days, so a single family-wide percentage may miss different schedules.
Sources: ARM 37.62 child-support guideline rules; Montana Worksheets A–E and instructions; February 2026 guideline tables, CS 404.2; Montana official guidelines resource page.
Documents that make the worksheet more useful
- The financial affidavit, three years of tax returns, and recent pay records.
- Annual child-care, insurance, and allowed work-cost records.
- A parenting-day calendar for each child and records of long-distance parenting travel.
Keep the source document beside each figure you enter. If a number is uncertain, note what still needs to be confirmed before relying on an estimate.
What this site’s worksheet covers
The educational guide and official resources are available now. Our Montana workflow collects both parents’ financial information and produces a printable accounting. It calculates a worksheet estimate using the 2026 personal allowance, minimum contribution, standard-of-living adjustment, per-child expenses and parenting days. Third-party custody, negative per-child expense-credit balances and increased personal allowances require the official worksheet.
Income-tax amounts and eligibility for deductions must be established before calculation. This is an independent implementation of the Montana worksheets, not a court-certified program.
How Montana cases actually get to a number
This site’s Montana module estimates Worksheets A–E for supported arrangements using the 2026 personal allowance and parenting days. Third-party custody and negative per-child expense-credit balances stay on the official worksheet.
Montana’s Administrative Rules set an income-shares guideline with a personal allowance, minimum contribution, standard-of-living adjustment, and per-child expenses on Worksheets A–E. That is a different path from neighboring states that use another model, so do not import a table, percentage, or overnight credit from somewhere else.
Parenting time in Montana
Parenting days are a first-class input on the Montana worksheets, not a final credit. Changing the day count can move both the standard-of-living adjustment and expense credits.
Costs Montana usually treats separately
- Per-child expenses on the worksheets
- Child-care and medical costs the rules include
- Standard-of-living adjustment
- Minimum contribution
When Montana courts leave the guideline
Unusual circumstances, other dependents, and imputed income can take a family off the ordinary worksheets. Income-tax amounts must be established before calculation.
Official Montana forms to keep beside this guide
Montana CS-404 worksheets and current guideline allowance tables. Worksheets A–E use February 2026 allowances, minimum-income brackets, SOLA, child-by-child expense allocation, primary/shared/split parenting and travel. Negative Worksheet B expense-credit balances, third-party custody, increased allowances, deduction eligibility and discretionary findings remain outside scope. The primary authority is the published Montana source. Fill the official form from source documents. Use this page only to check that you chose the right Montana path—primary versus shared, table versus percentage, add-ons versus basic support.
Where this is typically filed
District Court hears family cases; DPHHS CSE handles IV-D. Bring the current Montana Child Support Guidelines worksheets, not only an educational printout.
Questions specific to Montana
Is Montana a percentage-of-payer state?
No. It is an income-shares / Melson-influenced worksheet system with a personal allowance.
Why do parenting days matter so early?
They feed several worksheet lines, including expense credits, not just a terminal discount.
Does this site cover third-party custody?
No. Those cases require the official worksheets.
Use the official worksheet
Open Montana worksheets and tables. These resources are maintained by the state court or agency. Check the applicable version and instructions before preparing a filing.
To organize records first, open our Montana calculator. Its PDF is a record of your entries and worksheet steps, not a support order or a substitute for the state form.
Frequently asked questions
Why are there separate Montana tables and worksheets?
The forms describe the calculation; the tables supply figures that change over time. Pair the current tables with the worksheets and instructions rather than relying on amounts copied into an older example.
Does this guide also calculate alimony?
No. These steps concern child support. A worksheet may consider an existing spousal-support payment when its rules allow, but it does not determine a new alimony award.
Can I file the financial intake as the state worksheet?
Our intake is a preparation aid. Use the official state forms and the instructions for your court when submitting a proposed support calculation.