The following information has been prepared to supply general information about the child support guidelines. Also available are the tables for determination of child support obligation. The Maryland General Assembly passed the Child Support Guidelines to require courts to use guidelines when establishing or modifying child support order amounts in Maryland.
Federal law requires all states to have such laws.
An appropriate amount for a support order must be established that is fair to the interests of the children as well as to both parents. To insure that support order amounts are established in a uniform manner throughout the State, the law authorizes child support guidelines for determining appropriate child support order amounts. Both parents share responsibility to support their children. While the custodial parent provides valuable resources in the form of physical and emotional care, this does not relieve that parent of the responsibility to contribute to the financial support of his or her children. The support due each child is based on the parents' respective financial resources, the needs of the child, and the standard of living the child would have enjoyed if the parents and child were living in an intact household.