Children do not make an uncontested divorce impossible. They make it longer and more precise. Alabama requires three specific child support forms in every case — CS-41, CS-42 and CS-43 — and Rule 32 creates a rebuttable presumption that the guideline number is the correct number. Parents can agree to something different, but the court has to make a written finding to accept it.
Child support is calculated, not negotiated
This is the part parents most often misunderstand. Child support in Alabama is not a figure the two of you settle on the way you settle who keeps the boat. Rule 32 of the Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration states that there is “a rebuttable presumption, in any judicial or administrative proceeding for the establishment or modification of a child-support order, that the amount of the order that would result from the application of these guidelines is the correct amount of child support to be ordered.”
You can agree to a different number. But the presumption has to be rebutted, and the rule requires “a written finding on the record indicating that the application of the guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate.” A judge is not obliged to accept an agreed-upon deviation just because both parents signed it — particularly where the number is below the guideline.
The three forms Alabama requires in every case
Rule 32(E) is specific. Every action to establish or modify child support must include all three of these. Missing one is one of the most common reasons an otherwise complete uncontested file gets sent back.
| Form | What it is | Who completes it |
|---|---|---|
| CS-41 | Child-Support-Obligation Income Statement/Affidavit — sworn statement of income | Each parent, separately |
| CS-42 (or CS-42-S) | Child-Support Guidelines form — the actual calculation | Prepared from both CS-41s |
| CS-43 | Child-Support Guidelines Notice of Compliance | Filed with the other two |
The CS-41 is sworn. Understating income on it is not a negotiating position; it is a false statement under oath, and it is the kind of thing that surfaces later in a modification or contempt proceeding with consequences.
What the guideline schedule actually covers
The Schedule of Basic Child-Support Obligations appended to Rule 32 runs across combined adjusted gross incomes from $0 to $30,000 a month. Within that band, the calculation is largely mechanical: both parents’ incomes, the number of children, and specific adjustments.
Above $30,000 a month combined, the schedule stops. Those cases are handled differently and are outside what a straightforward uncontested filing looks like.
Work-related child care and the cost of the children’s health insurance coverage are handled inside the guideline calculation, not outside it. If one parent is carrying the insurance or paying daycare, that belongs in the numbers rather than in a side agreement. Bring the actual premium amount and the actual daycare invoice.
Custody: the vocabulary matters
Alabama separates two ideas that ordinary conversation runs together.
- Legal custody is decision-making authority — school, non-emergency medical care, religious upbringing. It is frequently joint even where the children live primarily with one parent.
- Physical custody is where the children actually live and sleep.
A great many Alabama uncontested divorces end in joint legal custody with primary physical custody to one parent. That combination is common enough that parents sometimes assume it is automatic. It is not — it is a term you are agreeing to, and it should reflect how you actually intend to raise the children rather than a default someone typed into a template.
The parenting plan questions people skip
The schedule is where uncontested cases quietly fail. “Reasonable visitation” is not a schedule; it is an invitation to argue every holiday for the next decade. A plan that holds up answers the boring questions in advance.
- Regular schedule: which nights, which weekends, and what time exchanges happen.
- Where exchanges happen, and who drives which direction.
- Every holiday by name, including the ones your family actually cares about, alternating by even and odd years.
- Spring break, fall break, and the summer schedule — with a date by which summer weeks must be chosen.
- The children’s birthdays, and each parent’s birthday.
- Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
- How the schedule flexes when a parent travels for work, and how much notice is required.
- Who has the children when school closes unexpectedly.
- Whether either parent may relocate, and what notice the other gets. This one has its own statutory framework in Alabama and deserves a real conversation rather than a line in a form.
- How the two of you will communicate about the children, and what happens when you disagree.
Several Alabama circuits require divorcing parents of minor children to complete a parenting or co-parenting seminar before a judgment is entered. This is imposed by local court rule or standing order rather than by a single statewide statute, so whether it applies to you — and which providers your judge accepts — depends on the county. We confirm this with the clerk in your circuit rather than assuming. Do not pay for an online class before you know it will be accepted.
Support does not end at eighteen automatically, and other timing points
- A child support obligation and the schedule that goes with it are always modifiable when circumstances change materially. Property division generally is not. That asymmetry is worth understanding before you trade one against the other in negotiation.
- The 30-day floor under § 30-2-8.1(a) applies here exactly as it does in a childless case — no final judgment before 30 days from filing.
- Cases with children commonly take longer than that, because the support forms have to be right and because a required parenting class takes time to complete.
What we do not do
We handle uncontested divorce where the parents have reached agreement on custody, the schedule and support. We do not litigate contested custody, we do not handle paternity actions, and we do not take modification or contempt proceedings. We also do not take any case involving allegations of abuse or a pending protection from abuse petition — those need a lawyer who does that work every week, and we will help you find one.
Limestone, Madison, Morgan, Lauderdale, Colbert, Franklin and Lawrence Counties. Filing fees and local practice differ from one circuit clerk to the next.
Bring the numbers to the first call.
Both parents’ gross income, the health insurance premium for the children, and the daycare cost. With those three, the support figure stops being a mystery.
Questions parents ask us
Can we just agree on a child support amount ourselves?
You can propose one, but Rule 32 creates a rebuttable presumption that the guideline figure is correct, and departing from it requires a written finding on the record that applying the guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate. A judge can decline to approve an agreed number that falls below the guideline. Start from the calculation, then discuss.
What are CS-41, CS-42 and CS-43?
They are the three forms Rule 32(E) requires in every action to establish or modify child support. CS-41 is each parent’s sworn income statement, CS-42 is the guidelines calculation itself, and CS-43 is the notice of compliance. All three go in the file.
Is joint custody automatic in Alabama?
No. Joint legal custody with primary physical custody to one parent is a very common outcome, but it is an agreement you are making, not a default the court applies. Decide it deliberately.
Do we have to take a parenting class?
It depends on the circuit. Several Alabama courts require a parenting seminar for divorcing parents of minor children by local rule or standing order rather than by statewide statute. We confirm the requirement and the approved provider list with the clerk in your county before you sign up for anything.
What if our combined income is very high?
The Rule 32 schedule covers combined adjusted gross income up to $30,000 a month. Above that the schedule does not give an answer and the case is handled differently — which usually means it is not a simple uncontested filing.
Can the schedule be changed later?
Child support and custody arrangements remain modifiable when there is a material change in circumstances. Property division generally does not. Keep that in mind when one is being traded against the other.
What if we agree on everything except one holiday?
Then you are close, and that is worth solving before filing rather than after. An unresolved term makes the case contested regardless of how friendly the two of you are about it.
Get the support number first
Almost every other decision in a divorce with children gets easier once the support calculation is on paper. It is usually the first thing we do.
Daniel Shawn Pickens
Daniel S. Pickens Law · 300 West Green Street, Athens, Alabama 35611 · 256-434-1678. Office hours Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; phones answered 24/7.
Questions about an uncontested divorce? Email divorce@dsp.law or call 256-434-1678.
Daniel S. Pickens Law · 300 West Green Street, Athens, Alabama 35611
