Glossary

Melson formula

A child support model used in Delaware, Hawaii and Montana that reserves a self-support allowance for each parent before anything is calculated for the children.

The Melson formula runs in three steps. Each parent first keeps a primary support allowance — an amount treated as the minimum needed to live. Only income above that allowance is available for support. Second, the children's own primary support need is met from what remains, divided between the parents in proportion to their available income. Third, a standard of living adjustment applies a further percentage of whatever the paying parent still has left, so children share in a higher standard of living where one exists. The practical consequence is that a payer whose income does not clear the self-support allowance produces no guideline figure at all before a court applies its own judgment.

Official source ↗

← All terms