Child support · New Mexico
New Mexico child support calculator
New Mexico uses the income-shares model: both parents’ gross monthly income is combined and applied to the basic child support schedule, child care and insurance are added, and the total is split in proportion to income. This calculator applies NMSA 1978 § 40-4-11.1 Worksheet A and shows every step.
Calculate guideline support
Enter both parents’ gross monthly income. Add work-related child care and the children’s health, dental and vision insurance if any.
Method & source
Show the work Step-by-step calculation
The basic obligation schedule
The heart of the calculation is the basic child support schedule in § 40-4-11.1, republished at 8.50.108 NMAC. It is written as income bands rather than points — a first band of $0–$1,450, then $50 bands up to $40,000 of combined gross monthly income, for one to six children. Above $40,000 the schedule keeps going by formula: for two children, $4,341 plus 7.7% of the income over $40,000.
Basic child support schedule, 8.50.108.10 NMAC (Appendix 1).
Child care, insurance and the self-support reserve
To the basic obligation New Mexico adds work-related child care and the children’s health, dental and vision insurance, shared in proportion to income. From January 1, 2024 the schedule also carries a self-support reserve of $1,200 a month, drawn as a shaded area. Its effect is unusually strong: if the paying parent’s income and number of children fall in it, only that parent’s income is used, that parent is 100% responsible for the schedule figure, and child care and insurance are left out — even where the other parent earns far more. The shaded area reaches $1,800 for one child, $2,200 for two, $2,500 for three, $2,700 for four, $2,900 for five and $3,100 for six.
8.50.108.10 NMAC (self-support reserve); NMSA 1978 § 40-4-11.1(M)(2).
Shared responsibility and deviations
Where each parent has the children 35% or more of the time, New Mexico switches to Worksheet B, the shared-responsibility worksheet, which reflects the cost of two households and is expressly not subject to the self-support reserve. Because that turns on the timeshare percentage, this calculator runs Worksheet A — the basic-visitation case.
NMSA 1978 § 40-4-11.1(D) (Worksheet B); § 40-4-11.2 (deviation).
A number with the method attached is the honest form of the same figure.
What this calculator does not do
It combines both parents’ gross income, reads the basic child support schedule, adds child care and insurance, applies the self-support reserve, and splits the total by income share. It does not compute gross income from your pay stubs, run Worksheet B for shared responsibility, credit other children a parent supports, or apply a deviation the court may order. For a figure you can file, use the official New Mexico worksheet or consult an attorney.
Common questions
How is child support calculated in New Mexico?
On Worksheet A, combine both parents’ gross monthly income, read the basic child support schedule for the number of children, add child care and the children’s insurance, and split the total in proportion to income.
What is the New Mexico child support schedule?
The basic child support schedule in NMSA 1978 § 40-4-11.1, republished at 8.50.108 NMAC — income bands from $0–$1,450 up to $40,000 of combined gross monthly income, for one to six children, with a formula above $40,000.
What is the self-support reserve?
A $1,200 monthly reserve added to the schedule in 2024, shown as a shaded area. If the payer’s income and number of children fall in it, only the payer’s income counts, the payer is 100% responsible for the schedule figure, and child care and insurance are excluded.
What about shared responsibility?
Where each parent has the children 35% or more of the time, New Mexico uses Worksheet B instead, which is not subject to the self-support reserve.
Is child support taxable in New Mexico?
No — federally it’s not taxable to the recipient or deductible by the payer, the same in New Mexico as everywhere.
Sources
- Basic child support schedule (NMSA 1978 § 40-4-11.1; 8.50.108 NMAC, effective January 1, 2024): income bands from $0–$1,450 up to $40,000 of combined gross monthly income by one to six children. All 772 bands parsed and verified two ways — text extraction and coordinate-grid reconstruction agree on every band: 8.50.108 NMAC, Appendix 1.
- 8.50.108.10 NMAC — the self-support reserve of $1,200 a month and the rule that a payer inside the shaded area is assessed on their own income alone, with the added expenses excluded. The shaded area was read directly from the shading in the official NMAC PDF and independently confirmed by the schedule’s own arithmetic: the full-rate phase-in ends at exactly the last shaded band in all six columns.
- New Mexico Courts, child support forms and worksheets: nmcourts.gov.
Schedule verified against 8.50.108 NMAC — July 2026 · educational, not legal advice