We start with official material
For legal rules, we look first to statutes, court rules, official forms, state agencies, and court self-help material. For filing costs, we use current state or county court fee schedules when available. Secondary sources may help identify an issue, but they do not replace an available primary source for a rule that changes a calculation.
We label different kinds of numbers
A statutory percentage, an income threshold, and a court filing fee are sourced facts. Attorney hours, hourly rates, mediation budgets, and other professional expenses are planning assumptions. Those assumptions remain visible and editable; we do not present them as official statewide averages when no reliable statewide average exists.
We also distinguish a guideline starting point from a result a judge must order. Courts can resolve disputed facts, apply exceptions, consider income outside a threshold, or deviate when the law permits.
What a review date means
A “last reviewed” or “sources checked” date means the editorial team compared the page’s material rules and linked sources on that date. It is not a promise that the law will remain unchanged afterward. The current California, New York, and Texas releases do not claim review by a licensed attorney.
How we handle corrections
We check reports against the governing source and calculator code. When a substantive error is confirmed, we correct the copy or logic, rerun the relevant tests, and update the review date. Send a specific report through the contact page; including the URL and source helps us investigate it faster.
Follow-up requests do not change the result
Some calculator pages let a visitor consent to follow-up from a participating family-law professional or service provider. Whether you make that request has no effect on the calculator math, the sources we cite, or what the editorial page says.