Glossary

Self-support reserve

An income floor a support guideline leaves with the paying parent before calculating an order.

Most guidelines recognise that an order leaving a payer unable to live is unlikely to be paid. The mechanism varies: some states set a reserve below which a reduced or minimum order applies, others publish an entirely separate low-income schedule, and the Melson formula builds the idea into its first step as a primary support allowance. The figure is published, changes on the state's own schedule, and is not the same as any federal poverty measure.

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