Child Support Worksheet Check From the Guideline Text You Paste
Applies the guideline text or official worksheet you paste to the income documents you supply, showing each step's arithmetic and tracing each input to a document. Anything the text leaves open, and any deviation, comes back as a question. With no guideline text pasted, it computes nothing.
The Prompt
Variables (8)
| Variable | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| {{matter_name}} | Matter Name | Park v. Park |
| {{governing_state}} | Governing State | Minnesota |
| {{task}} | Task | Check an existing computation |
| {{guideline_text}} | Guideline Text or Worksheet | Paste the complete current guideline provisions and the official worksheet with its instructions, or write NONE |
| {{existing_computation}} | Existing Computation or NONE | Opposing counsel worksheet dated 09/15/2026 showing Parent One net monthly income $5,800 and Parent Two $3,100. |
| {{parent_one_income}} | Parent One's Income Documents | Pay stub 09/15/2026: gross $3,400 semimonthly, YTD $30,600. 2025 W-2: wages $79,200. |
| {{parent_two_income}} | Parent Two's Income Documents | 2025 Schedule C: net profit $41,880. Bank deposits August 2026 total $4,120 per statements. |
| {{other_inputs}} | Other Inputs the Text May Call For | Two children, born 03/2015 and 11/2018. Child care invoice $640/month. Health premium for children $212/month per employer benefits statement. |
Expected Output
With guideline text pasted: conflicts between sources; the numbered steps quoted from your text; an input table tracing each input to a document and quoted line; the computation with every operation shown; a line-by-line comparison with any existing computation; deviations and open points as questions; the result labeled as computed from your text and the listed inputs; missing information and declined items; and a Verification list. With no guideline text: a short statement that nothing was computed, the list of documents received and an authority marker.
Usage Notes
Use to check a worksheet received from the other side or to prepare your own. Paste the complete current guideline text or the official worksheet with its instructions; the prompt will not reconstruct either from memory and, without them, it computes nothing by design. Failure mode to watch: a figure that did not come from your documents or your pasted text, or a silent rounding choice. Trace every number in the result to its quoted source and confirm the pasted text is the current version. Not legal advice. The attorney remains responsible for verifying every fact, figure and authority before use.
Double-check before use
- Redo every division on a calculator. In testing, the model produced a wrong decimal and a check that did not actually verify it.
These are the places where this prompt was seen to slip when tested on sample cases with a small AI model.
Legal Sources Referenced
- 45 C.F.R. § 302.56 (state child support guidelines must be based on specific descriptive and numeric criteria and result in a computation of the support obligation; deviation requires a written or specific finding on the record)
- 42 U.S.C. § 667(a) (each State must establish guidelines for child support award amounts within the State)
Originally featured in: Prompt Engineering for Lawyers: The Complete 2026 Guide
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* These prompts are drafting and analysis aids for licensed attorneys. They are not legal advice and do not replace professional judgment. AI output can contain errors, including invented citations and incorrect deadlines: verify every fact, figure, authority and deadline against primary sources before relying on it. Rules vary by jurisdiction, and you remain responsible for the final work product.