Child Maintenance Calculator
It will give you an estimate of how much child maintenance should be paid for your child or children.
You can then discuss this amount with the other parent.
Significant costs related to disability, childcare, education or medical needs are not included in the child maintenance estimate. These costs are typically shared equally between parents.
- You do not have to use the calculator – using it is completely voluntary.
- The calculator does not save or track any of your information.
- You can print out the results at the end.
If you already have a court order for child maintenance, the estimated amount provided by the calculator will not change the court order.
You should read the information in each of the six boxes below before you begin your calculation.
Information You Need Before
You Use The Calculator
Information You Need Before You Use The Calculator
1. Both parent’s gross annual income
Annual income before tax
This is the yearly income before tax is taken away.
It includes income from all sources (employment, grants, subsidies, rental income, pensions or shares).
It also includes benefits or allowances received from the Department of Social Protection (e.g. Carer’s Allowance, Child Benefit, Disability Allowance, Domiciliary Care Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance, Jobseeker’s Benefit). The only Department of Social Protection benefits or allowances which should not be included as income are the One Parent Family Payment and the Supplementary Welfare Allowance.
Annual income does not include some payments
The following payments should not be included as income when calculating child maintenance:
- One Parent Family Payment
- Supplementary Welfare Allowance.
How to find your gross annual income
The best way to find your gross annual income is by looking at your:
- payslip (if you are unsure, ask your employer what your gross annual income is), and/or
- payment statements on mywelfare.ie.
You can also request a payment statement from your local Intreo Centre or Branch Office.
2. How much parenting time each parent provides
Parenting time and child maintenance
The calculator considers how much parenting time a parent provides for a child when calculating how much child maintenance they should pay.
What the calculator will ask you
- How many overnights each parent spends with the child or children each year.
- If one parent does not parent overnight, then you will be asked how many times per year that parent provides parenting time for more than 8 hours per day.
For example: John has parenting time every Saturday for 12 hours. This is longer than 8 hours in one day, so it is treated as equal to one overnight stay per week. One overnight stay per week is multiplied by 52 (the number of weeks per year) and so it is counted as 52 nights of parenting time per year.
If John has parenting time twice a week for longer than 8 hours each day, this would be equal to 104 nights per year.
If John has parenting time three times a week for longer than 8 hours each day, this would be equal to 156 nights per year.
If John has parenting time four times a week for longer than 8 hours each day, this would be equal to 208 nights per year.
If John has parenting time five times a week for longer than 8 hours each day, this would be equal to 260 nights per year.
If John has parenting time six times a week for longer than 8 hours each day, this would be equal to 312 nights per year.
3. Other dependent children
The calculator will ask if either parent has other dependent children.
A dependent child is a child who normally lives with you who is:
- under 18 years old, or
- over 18 and under 23 years old and in full-time education or
- of any age with a mental or physical disability that prevents them from supporting themselves
Where a parent has other dependent children the calculator deducts an amount from their eligible income.
How The Calculator Works Out Child Maintenance
How The Calculator Works Out Child Maintenance
The calculator estimates the amount of child maintenance based on the Irish Child Maintenance Guidelines 2025. It looks at:
1. both parents’ eligible incomes
- This is gross annual income minus a self-support allowance and deductions for other dependent children.
- A self-support allowance is the minimum amount a parent needs to support themselves (for housing, food, transport, and so on). This amount is taken off each parent’s gross income before any calculation is made. This is a set amount and is the same for everyone. The current amount is €17,998.
- A dependent child is a child:
- under 18 or under 23 if in full-time education
- who is suffering from mental or physical disability and cannot support themselves.
2. how much parenting time each parent has per year
- The calculator considers how much parenting time a parent provides for a child when calculating how much child maintenance they should pay.
3. the ages of the child or children
- The calculator asks for the ages of the child or children. The calculator estimates the cost of the child or children based on their age and how many children maintenance is being calculated for.
This Calculator Is Not Suitable
For Everyone
This Calculator Is Not Suitable For Everyone
The calculator may not be suitable in the following situations:
| Significant assets |
|---|
| If either parent has significant financial or other assets including property, this calculator may not be useful. |
| Significant additional expenses |
This calculator may not be useful if there are significant costs related to:
These types of expenses are handled outside the standard way of calculating maintenance. Costs are typically shared equally between parents. |
| High income |
| If parents have combined incomes of more than €288,956 gross per year, this calculator is unsuitable. |
| Maintenance for children from different relationships |
| This calculator is unsuitable if a parent is paying child maintenance for more than one child where the children are from different relationships. |
| This calculator is unsuitable for non-parent carers |
| This calculator is not designed to work out child maintenance for non-parents, like grandparents, involved in a child’s care. |
| High earning dependants |
| This calculator is unsuitable where there are dependants with significant earnings, property or other financial resources. |
| More than three children |
| The calculator applies the same cost estimate to all families with three or more children. It estimates the costs of care based on the age of the three eldest children. While this is in line with international best practice, it may not reflect the particular circumstances of some families where there are more than three children. |
How To Use
The Calculator
How To Use The Calculator
| ‘Start Child Maintenance Calculations’ is the first button to use. |
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| ‘Previous Step’ and ‘Next Step’ are the buttons at the bottom of the page to move between pages. |
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| The information icons contain helpful information about the nearby word or description . |
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| You can print the results of the child maintenance calculation when you have finished. |
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| For privacy reasons, the calculator does not save any of your information. |
| If you stop using the calculator for an hour (60 minutes), all entries you entered will be lost. Your online session is now over. You will have to re-input any data you have entered. |
How Often Should You
Use The Calculator?
How Often Should You Use The Calculator?
We recommend you review child maintenance calculations either:
- every year
or - where there are significant changes in the circumstances of either parent or the child.
Examples of significant changes include:
- a substantial increase or decrease in income
- a change in parenting time
- a change in living arrangements
- additional needs or expenses relating to the child.
Where any of these things happen, it may be appropriate to review and recalculate the child maintenance amount using updated information.
Other Important
Information
Other Important Information
- Estimate won’t guarantee payment
The calculator provides guidance on an appropriate level of child maintenance. However, you should not rely on its estimate as a guarantee of future income or payment. The estimate can be a starting point for discussion with the other parent.
- You must know both parents’ details
If you do not know the other parent’s details, you won’t be able to use this calculator. We cannot provide the other parent’s details to you.
- You must give correct information
This estimate is based on information you provide. If any information is incorrect, the estimate will be incorrect.
- Calculator does not store your information
If you stop using the calculator for an hour (60 minutes), all entries you entered will be lost. Your online session is now over. You will have to re-input any data you have entered.
- Find help from a mediator
Where agreement between parents is not possible, parents are encouraged to talk to a mediator to assist them in coming to an arrangement on child maintenance.The Legal Aid Board’s Family Mediation Service provides free mediation to all families. You can request a call back on the Legal Aid Board’s website.
Tip: The information you use on the calculator will not be saved after you exit the calculator.
Don’t worry though as you will be able to download the result at the end.
