Calculation of maintenance in 2026

Need to determine, increase or decrease child support? We can help you prepare a proposal that fits the current situation of the child and the parents.

Principles of calculating child support according to the guideline table

The recommendation table works with a child’s life stages – preschool age, grade 1 elementary school, grade 2 elementary school, and high school or further studies. It also takes into account the total number of dependants, i.e. how many children a parent is supporting and the extent of their care. There is also a so-called lower limit, i.e. how much the obliged (paying) parent has to keep. Depending on the number of dependent children and their age, child support can amount to approximately 20 per cent of the parent’s net income. The table is only a guideline and other aspects that have not been reflected in the table must be taken into account when determining maintenance.

However, no tables can capture all aspects of life and its differences. What remains fundamental is, firstly, the financial circumstances of both parents and their abilities and possibilities and, of course, the (specific) needs of the child.

It is not the case that if a parent has a very low income, even though he or she might have a higher income, maintenance will automatically be assessed on that very low income. In the case of minor children, the court may base its decision on the so-called potentiality of the parent.

Thus, maintenance is still not a mere mathematical operation, but it is necessary to ascertain in detail the parents’ financial circumstances, not just their income from employment or business. To take this to the extreme: if a parent owns, for example, several properties, several cars and valuables worth tens of millions of crowns, and is employed by a friend and receives a net salary of 20,000 crowns, the other parent need not worry that he or she would only be entitled to maintenance of 2-4,000 crowns. The real maintenance will probably be considerably higher.

Example from our law practice

We were contacted by the mother of a 10-year-old boy who was formally in alternate care. The father argued that since they had split custody in half, he should not have to pay anything. However, in reality, the mother was paying for most of the school supplies, clothing, clubs, telephone and medication costs. In addition, the father had almost twice the income and the child had no comparable background with him. We prepared a summary of the actual costs, documenting the difference in income and the extent of the payments the mother regularly made. As a result, the court awarded child support despite alternating custody because the goal was not mathematical half custody, but a comparable standard of living for the child with both parents.

Determining a specific percentage of child support

The table works by setting a specific percentage of child support, for example, from 15 to 19% of income. There is always one recommended percentage of a parent’s net pay.

Division into four life stages

The child is placed in one of the four life stages defined in the table. These are pre-school age, the first and second years of primary school, and secondary school and further studies. The older the child is, the higher the percentage amount he or she is entitled to.

Taking into account other maintenance obligations

Courts always take into account a parent’s other maintenance obligations when setting child support and reduce the percentage with each additional child (i.e. additional maintenance obligation). For example, maintenance for a pre-school child should be about 14% of net pay, but if the parent has two children, the amount is reduced to 12%.

Use for standard cases

The table does not cover any outliers. If a family is faced with some non-standard situation, the values in the table should not be taken dogmatically, but adapted flexibly. On the one hand, we can imagine, for example, a serious illness of a dependent child which requires higher costs and, on the other hand, reduced earning capacity of the caring parent. On the other hand, the presence of a new, solvent boyfriend or girlfriend who increases the family’s standard of living may be taken into account. Housing, energy and other regular household expenses may also play an important role and may vary considerably between families. Individual circumstances that may affect the final child support calculation can be found in the Department of Justice’s Guide to the Recommended Child Support Table.

Taking into account the number of days the child is looked after

The amount of child maintenance is also related to the number of days the other parent cares for the child. For example, if it is 25 days a month, the maintenance will be significantly higher than if it is split in half. Some parents mistakenly believe that maintenance cannot be awarded in the latter case, but it all depends on the parents’ income and how they pay for the child. If one of the parents has a net salary of CZK 40 000 and the other of CZK 240 000, the primary assumption is that a similar standard of living is to be ensured for both parents and therefore the parent with the lower income is entitled to maintenance.

In our practice, on the other hand, we have encountered a situation where, although the parents in alternating care were both earning approximately CZK 70,000 net, they took turns to care for the child in a shared apartment (i.e. they always moved and not the child, who had a stable home). The arrangement was that the mother provided most of the household expenses, buying clothes for the child and school supplies. In such a case, she was also entitled to some child support even with a similar income and level of care for the child.

The control amount that remains with the parent

The table also includes a special row that thinks of the paying parent. It leaves the parent with a so-called control amount, i.e. a certain amount of money that should remain after paying maintenance. It is necessary to compare the amount resulting from the sum of the maintenance obligations with the amount set as the control amount. The amount which is more favourable to the payer will then apply. Therefore, if the maintenance provisionally fixed exceeds the control amount, then a reduction should be considered. Such a situation may typically arise in the case of multiple maintenance obligations.

Judges and parents now have a nice tool to help them figure out a guideline amount of child support. It is still true, however, that our legal system is not based on the so-called objectification of child support, but child support is always determined after a case-by-case assessment. In principle, it is still the case that maintenance should provide or at least approximate financially a similar situation to that which would exist in a functional family.

As an example, we can take two situations which are identical in table terms but diametrically opposed in real life.

The father of fourteen-year-old Samuel earns fifty thousand net. He sees him every Sunday of the week. But Sam has no nursery, no equipment and no clothes. Everything is provided by Sam’s mother, who has now lost her job through no fault of her own. Samuel is seriously ill and his mother has to devote much of her time to looking after him, visiting doctors, hospitals and rehabilitation.

The father of fourteen-year-old Emmi also has a monthly income of fifty thousand net. The care is divided approximately so that about ⅔ of the time with Emma is spent by her mother and a third by her father. The mother is a lawyer and earns more than the father. In addition, she is now living with a new boyfriend who is a doctor and contributes a reasonable amount to the running of her new family. Emmička’s father drives her out of town for horseback riding lessons, which he also pays for. Emma has her own facilities with him, including a computer and clothes.

Even without legal training and detailed knowledge of the law and case law, it is obvious at first glance that child support in the two cases will be set at different amounts, although simple internet spreadsheets would judge the cases identical.

Summary

Calculating child support in 2026 is not limited to simply plugging a parent’s income into an online calculator. The Department of Justice’s recommendation table is a useful tool to help get a rough idea of the amount, but it is never a substitute for an individual assessment of a particular family situation.

The court looks not only at the parent’s net income, but also at the parent’s actual resources, assets and standard of living. If a parent formally earns little but realistically has high assets or is deliberately depriving himself of income, the court may also base itself on his potential earnings. Equally important are the child’s needs – age, health, school costs, clubs, commuting and the overall environment in which the child is growing up.

Child support may also be addressed in alternate custody cases. If one parent pays most of the expenses or the other parent has a significantly higher income, child support may be appropriate even if the child spends a similar amount of time with both parents. Conversely, more child support or a significant drop in income may warrant a reduction.

The most important thing, therefore, is not to be bound by a spreadsheet alone. Child support should reflect the real needs of the child and the parents’ means. If the parents cannot agree, the court will decide – and well prepared documentation can make all the difference.