What Project 2025 Proposes to Change About Child Support

Project 2025 is a policy document, not law, and most of its child support proposals have not been enacted

Project 2025 is a set of policy recommendations written by the Heritage Foundation and released in 2024. It proposes changes to federal child support rules, but it is not legislation and has not become law. Understanding what it says — and what it does not — matters because some proposals could affect how child support is calculated, enforced, or collected if they were adopted by Congress or a future administration.

The document focuses on federal policy, not state law. Child support is primarily a state responsibility: each state sets its own guidelines for how much a parent owes, how long they owe it, and how it is collected. Project 2025 proposes changes to federal incentives and rules that states follow, not direct changes to your own case.

This guide explains what the document actually proposes, which proposals have the most direct effect on child support payers and recipients, and what would need to happen for any of these ideas to change the rules you follow.

Key Takeaways

• Project 2025 proposes changes to federal child support policy, but these are recommendations only and have not become law.
• The document suggests tightening enforcement against parents who owe back support and reducing federal incentive payments to states for collections.
• It also proposes changes to how child support is calculated in cases involving shared custody and income imputation.
• Any actual change to child support rules would require Congress to pass new legislation or a state to adopt the proposals in its own law.
• Your current child support order remains in effect under existing state law unless a court modifies it.

What Project 2025 proposes about enforcement and arrears

The document recommends stricter enforcement against parents who owe back child support. Specifically, it proposes expanding the use of license suspension — driver's licenses, professional licenses, and occupational licenses — for parents with unpaid support. It also suggests increasing the use of passport denial, which already exists under federal law but would be applied more broadly.

Project 2025 also recommends reducing the federal incentive payments that states receive for collecting child support. Currently, the federal government reimburses states for a portion of the cost of running child support programs and pays bonus money when collections increase. The document proposes lowering these reimbursement rates, which could affect how much funding states dedicate to enforcement.

These proposals would not change your current order or the amount you owe. They would change how aggressively the state pursues collection if you fall behind. If you are receiving child support, stricter enforcement could mean faster action against a non-paying parent. If you owe support, it could mean more consequences for non-payment.

What the document says about custody and income calculations

Project 2025 proposes that child support guidelines should account more directly for shared custody arrangements. The document suggests that when both parents have substantial time with the child, the child support calculation should reflect that more clearly — potentially reducing the amount owed by the parent with less custody.

The document also addresses income imputation, which is the practice of assigning income to a parent who is voluntarily underemployed or unemployed. Currently, states can impute income — assume a parent could earn more — if they believe the parent is deliberately working less to avoid child support. Project 2025 proposes stricter limits on when states can impute income, making it harder for child support agencies to assume a parent should be earning more than they actually are.

These proposals would only affect new orders or modifications. If you have an existing order, it would remain unchanged unless you or the other parent asks a court to modify it based on a substantial change in circumstances. Even then, the court would explore the law in your state, not federal recommendations.

What would need to happen for these proposals to become real

Project 2025 is a policy document created by a think tank. For any of its proposals to affect child support law, one of two things would need to occur: Congress would need to pass federal legislation that changes how states must handle child support, or individual states would need to adopt the proposals in their own state laws.

Federal child support law sets minimum standards and creates incentive structures for states, but states retain broad authority to set their own rules. Congress could theoretically require states to change their guidelines or enforcement practices by conditioning federal funding on those changes. However, this would require a bill to be introduced, debated, and passed by both chambers of Congress and signed by the President.

More commonly, individual states might adopt ideas from policy documents like this one. A state legislature could pass a bill changing how child support is calculated in shared custody cases or how income is imputed. These changes would explore only to that state and would not affect orders in other states.

How Project 2025 differs from actual child support law today

Under current federal law, states must follow the Income Shares Model or a similar guideline when calculating child support. This model divides the cost of raising a child between both parents based on their combined income. Most states use this approach, though the exact percentages and adjustments vary by state.

Project 2025 does not propose abandoning this model but suggests adjusting how it accounts for shared custody and how strictly states can impute income. The document also does not propose eliminating child support entirely or changing the age at which support ends — these remain state decisions.

The document is more focused on enforcement and federal funding than on the fundamental structure of child support. Its main thrust is that enforcement should be stricter and that federal incentives to states should be reduced or restructured.

What this means if you are paying or receiving child support

If you are paying child support, Project 2025 does not change what you currently owe. Your order was set under the law in your state at the time it was issued. If the proposals were adopted and your state changed its law, you could request a modification, but the court would not automatically recalculate your order.

If you are receiving child support, the proposals could theoretically lead to stricter enforcement against a parent who is not paying. However, this would depend on whether your state adopts the proposals and how it implements them. Many states already use license suspension and passport denial, so the practical effect might be limited.

The most direct effect would come from changes to income imputation. If a parent is currently paying support based on imputed income — income the court assumed they could earn — and the rules for imputation became stricter, that parent could request a modification. This would require going back to court and proving that the imputation was improper under the new rules.

How to stay informed about changes to child support law

Child support law changes at the state level, not the federal level, in most cases. To learn whether your state is considering changes to child support rules, contact your state's child support enforcement agency or your state legislature's website. Many states post proposed bills online before they are voted on.

If you have an existing child support order and are concerned about how a potential change might affect you, speak with a family law attorney in your state. They can explain how your state's current law works and what would need to happen for your order to be modified.

Project 2025 is one policy document among many. It does not represent law, regulation, or official government policy. It is a set of recommendations that may or may not be adopted by any state or by Congress.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Project 2025 change my current child support order?

No. Project 2025 is a policy document, not law. Your current order remains in effect under the law in your state. The only way your order would change is if a court modifies it, which requires a request from you or the other parent and proof of a substantial change in circumstances.

If Project 2025 proposals become law, would my child support amount change automatically?

No. Even if Congress or your state adopted these proposals, existing orders would not automatically recalculate. You or the other parent would need to request a modification, and the court would explore the new rules only to that modification.

What is the Income Shares Model mentioned in the document?

The Income Shares Model is the method most states use to calculate child support. It divides the cost of raising a child between both parents based on their combined income and each parent's share of that income. Project 2025 does not propose eliminating this model, only adjusting how it handles shared custody and income imputation.

Could Project 2025 make it easier for me to reduce my child support if I have shared custody?

Project 2025 proposes that shared custody should reduce child support more directly, but this is only a recommendation. Whether your state adopts this proposal depends on your state legislature. If it does, you could request a modification based on the new rules, but you would need to go to court.

Where can I find the full text of Project 2025?

Project 2025 was published by the Heritage Foundation and is available on their website. The document is lengthy and covers many policy areas beyond child support. For information specific to child support, you may want to consult a family law attorney or your state's child support enforcement agency.