Connecticut Child Support When Each Parent Has One Child

Attorney Answer

Your arrangement has a name in Connecticut — split custody — and it does not mean the two obligations simply cancel out. One parent usually still owes the other the difference.

The Child Support Guidelines define split custody at Regs. Conn. State Agencies § 46b-215a-1(24) as a case with more than one child in common where each parent is the custodial parent of at least one child. That is exactly your situation. The method is set out at Regs. Conn. State Agencies § 46b-215a-2c(c)(7)(A): a single obligation is calculated by offset. Each parent's theoretical presumptive support amount is computed for the child or children in the other parent's custody, the lesser amount is subtracted from the greater, and the difference is the presumptive current support order, payable by the parent whose theoretical amount is greater.

In practice that means income drives the result, not headcount. If your ex-husband earns more, the offset will usually run in your favor even though he has a child living with him. If you earn more, you may owe him something even though you have a child full time. Neither of you can determine that by conversation.

One currency note to raise with whoever runs your numbers: revised Child Support and Arrearage Guidelines took effect on August 1, 2026. The split-custody offset method carries forward, but the worksheet and the subsection numbering should be checked against the version in force when your case is calculated.

There is a second point the guidelines do not answer, and it may matter more. You are two years divorced, so you already have a judgment. If it contains a support order, that order controls until a court modifies it. His demand for money outside the order is not enforceable, and you cannot unilaterally start or stop paying based on it.

What you can do

1. Pull your divorce judgment and any separation agreement and find the support provision. Read what it actually orders, including which children it covers. 2. Gather current income for both households — recent pay stubs, last year's tax return, and any other income. 3. Have the current guidelines worksheet run using the split-custody offset, rather than guessing at a fair number. 4. If the judgment has no support order, or incomes or living arrangements have changed substantially since it entered, file a motion to modify. That is the only way the number legitimately changes. 5. Do not start paying, or stop paying, in response to his request alone. Voluntary payments outside an order are hard to get credited later. 6. Contact Support Enforcement Services if you want help calculating or enforcing, which costs far less than litigating the arithmetic.