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Child Support Guidelines Worksheet 12.902(e): Line by Line

Reviewed by the Amicably document team · Updated September 8, 2026

Form 12.902(e), Florida's Child Support Guidelines Worksheet, is the calculation that turns both parents' incomes, a few actual costs, and the time-sharing schedule into the specific monthly child support number Florida's guidelines call for. Every Florida divorce case involving minor or dependent children has to include it, and it is one of the few forms in the packet that cannot be waived or skipped by agreement between the parents.

What the worksheet calculates, and why it can't be skipped

The worksheet takes each parent's net monthly income, adds in real costs like child care and health insurance, and runs the total through Florida's statutory guidelines chart to produce a "Presumptive Child Support to be Paid" figure. The worksheet itself has no signature line in its body; it is filed under a short Notice of Filing that the filing parent signs, with a certificate of service showing the other parent received a copy the same day.

Florida does not treat child support as something the parents can privately opt out of, because the right to support belongs to the child, not to either parent. That means the worksheet is required in every case with children even when both spouses have already agreed on money between themselves and would rather skip the paperwork.

Who has to file it

The worksheet belongs to Amicably's Uncontested-with-Children package. It is required any time a case involves a minor or dependent child, and it is also required when a spouse is pregnant at filing, since Florida treats that as a children's case even before the baby is born. Either parent can file it first; in practice it is usually whichever parent's Financial Affidavit is ready first, since the worksheet's numbers depend on that form.

Where the numbers come from

The worksheet is not a fresh income disclosure. Every number it uses is pulled from paperwork that already exists elsewhere in the packet:

Because the income figure has to match the sworn financial affidavit exactly, Amicably's specialist team cross-checks the two forms against each other before either one is finalized, so a customer never signs a worksheet that quietly disagrees with their own affidavit.

How the guideline amount is worked out

The worksheet's math follows a fixed order. In plain terms, it works like this:

1. Add both parents' net monthly incomes together, then work out each parent's percentage share of that combined total.
2. Look up the combined net income and the number of children on Florida's guidelines chart to find the basic support obligation.
3. Split that basic obligation between the parents using the percentage share from step one, so the higher earner covers a larger portion.
4. Add in the actual child care and health or dental insurance costs from the inputs above, split the same way.
5. Apply the shared time-sharing adjustment if it applies (see the next section).
6. Net the two parents' shares against each other. Whichever parent owes more after netting pays the other the difference; that figure is the worksheet's presumptive child support amount.

Two edges sit outside that ordinary math. When the two parents' combined net income comes to less than $800 a month, the guidelines chart does not produce a number at all, and the court sets support case by case instead. When combined net income runs above $10,000 a month, the chart does not simply stop; it extends by a set percentage of the amount over $10,000, applied on top of the top-bracket figure. Most amicable cases fall well inside the ordinary chart and never touch either edge.

Shared time-sharing and the gross-up adjustment

When each parent has at least 20 percent of the year's overnights with the children, roughly 73 nights, the worksheet applies a "gross-up" adjustment: the basic obligation from step two above is increased before it is split, on the theory that both households are separately covering everyday costs like housing and food during their time with the kids. Below that overnight threshold for either parent, the worksheet stays on the ordinary calculation from the steps above.

Sharing time close to equally does not mean support drops to zero. The gross-up changes how the number is calculated, but a parent with meaningfully higher income can still owe support after the adjustment, because the formula is still driven by each parent's share of the combined income. Amicably enters the overnights the two of you actually agree to, rather than guessing a number from the wording of the parenting plan, since a rounding error at this step changes the final figure.

Asking for a different amount than the guideline

Couples are free to agree to a child support number that differs from what the worksheet computes, but Florida only allows that without extra paperwork when the agreed amount stays within 5 percent of the guideline figure. Outside that range, a Motion to Deviate from Child Support Guidelines, Form 12.943, has to be completed and filed alongside the worksheet, stating the reason in the parents' own words. Amicably prepares this motion whenever the agreed number calls for it.

An agreed amount of zero is not automatically treated as a deviation. If the worksheet itself computes to zero, which can happen with offsetting incomes and closely shared time, an agreement of zero matches the guideline and no motion is required. If the guideline computes to a positive number and the parents want to agree on zero support anyway, that is a deviation like any other and needs the completed motion attached.

Filing, signatures, and timing

The worksheet body itself carries no jurat or notary block, so it is never notarized. What it does require is the short Notice of Filing that accompanies it, which the filing parent signs, along with a certificate of service confirming the other parent received a copy on the same date.

1. Gather the numbersBoth parents' net income figures come from their financial affidavits, along with actual child care and health insurance costs and the agreed overnight count.
2. CalculateA specialist runs the figures through the current guidelines chart, applying the gross-up adjustment if the overnight threshold is met.
3. ConfirmBoth parents review the completed worksheet and the resulting figure before anything is signed.
4. Sign and fileThe filing parent signs the Notice of Filing, no notary required, and it is filed with the clerk alongside the financial affidavits and the rest of the packet.
5. ServeA copy goes to the other parent the same day, with a certificate of service on file.
6. Final judgmentThe guideline or agreed amount carries into the settlement agreement and the final judgment, and, once support is ordered, into the Income Deduction Order.

Why clerks send it back

• Missing entirely. A case involving children with no worksheet on file is one of the more common holds, even when the parents handled support informally between themselves.
• Income that does not match the financial affidavit. The net income figures have to agree with what each parent swore to on Form 12.902(b) or 12.902(c).
• No certificate of service. The other parent has to receive a copy, and the worksheet's Notice of Filing has to say so.
• A deviation without the motion. An agreed amount more than 5 percent off the guideline number needs a completed Form 12.943 attached, not just a note in the settlement agreement.
• Overnights that don't add up. The two parents' overnight counts for the year should reconcile against each other and against the parenting plan's schedule.

The worksheet is short next to the parenting plan or the settlement agreement, but it is one of the few pieces of paper a children's case cannot move forward without, and it is also one where a small entry error changes a dollar figure the court relies on. Getting the income figures matched and the overnights confirmed before filing avoids a round trip with the clerk.

Frequently asked questions