Does Elon Musk Pay Only $2,760 a Month in Child Support? It’s Possible.
How could it be that the wealthiest man in the world would have to pay less than $1,000 a month in child support per kid? He chose his battleground wisely — a state with a child support cap.
Internet rumors say that Elon Musk pays only $2,760 a month for three of his children because his custody case with their mother, the musician Grimes, was in Texas.
The sky is not the limit for Musk’s SpaceX rocket ships, and theoretically, it wouldn’t be the limit for his support payments in states like Pennsylvania or New Jersey either.
Here’s why Texas was the best place for Musk to have a child support battle if he wanted to minimize how much he pays, and how that state compares to Pennsylvania and New Jersey in calculating child support for high-net-worth families.
Elon Musk’s child support calculation in Texas
Elon Musk and Grimes fought in two separate states for custody of their children. Musk filed in Texas, and Grimes filed in California. In November 2024, they settled in Texas. This may have been good news for Musk, because in the Lone Star State, there’s a child support maximum.
The Texas family code has guidelines requiring payers to pay 20% of their net resources for one child, 25% for two, 30% for three, and so on. The guidelines state that they apply to situations where net resources are less than the maximum amount, which is $9,200 per month.
We don’t know what Musk’s net monthly income is, but Forbes estimates his net worth at $356 billion. As far as Texas is concerned, $9,200 is the final word, regardless of how much more his net income may be.
As a disclaimer, I practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, not Texas, so I’m not intimately familiar with the ins and outs of support law in that state — nor can I give any legal advice about it. But family law attorneys who are licensed in Texas confirm that the state has a child support maximum.
How child support is calculated in New Jersey and Pennsylvania
Calculating child support is a complicated process. The calculation starts by determining parenting time as a percentage. This determination is important because it establishes the support ratio. The amount of time that each parent spends with the children affects the support amount.
In New Jersey, families calculate support based on the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines. The guidelines establish criteria for calculating support for a combined net income up to $187,200. But that’s not a cap — that’s just how far the guidelines go.
Beyond this threshold, the court instructs high-income families to supplement the guidelines-based amount with a discretionary amount based on additional income. It would be up to the parties to ideally negotiate support based on the guidelines, and if they cannot settle, the court will issue an order.
Naturally, the guidelines are important and helpful, but ultimately, the court has the final authority to determine the amount of child support.
Pennsylvania child support calculations are similarly based on how much time the children spend with each parent. The law has a convenient schedule that lists the basic support obligation for families based on their combined net income and how many children they have. This guideline calculates support for incomes up to $30,000 net per month, but that is not a cap. Beyond this threshold, the law directs high-income families to calculate at least the presumptive minimum basic obligation, plus a percentage of the income over and above the $30,000. For one child, the basic minimum is $3,608 per month, which is already above what Musk may be paying for three children in Texas.
Mo’ children, mo’ problems
Elon Musk is fighting more than one child support battle, which is a position most of us never want to be in. According to Vanity Fair, he has 13 children with four women, and recent reports say he has welcomed Baby #14. One of the mothers, Ashley St. Clair, filed in New York for sole custody of a boy, along with a request for the court to declare Musk’s paternity.
St. Clair alleges that Musk has seen the baby only three times and has been minimally involved in parenting. As we noted above, courts look at the time that a parent spends with a child when it considers how to calculate support, so these pleadings may be a strategy to try to get as much child support as possible. Of course, the number of children he has will also become a factor.
Elon Musk may have all the money in the world, but even he seems to want to limit how much he’s spending on child support. High-income and high-net-worth clients want to take care of their resources too, especially when they are in contentious child support cases. That is why I take a practical approach to my cases, always making the best interests of the children involved top priority.
Do you have a question about child support or custody? Reach out to me at [email protected].