Effect Of Spousal Support On Child Support Calculation

[525601minutes]

CAlifornia - I went to court this morning and got blind-sided. I saw a family law facilitator in November and they calculated CS based on income of my X and me. It worked out to about $200 more than he was paying me, so I filed (pro per) for a modification.

In court today the judge entered my income, my X's income AND he included the amount my X pays me in spousal support as additional taxable income for me. Is this right??? If I/the facilitator had known this then I would not have filed. As it turned out - adding on the spousal support reduced the amount my X pays by about $70. I'm really frustrated.

I can't find the code that says spousal support is considered as taxable income when calculating CS - I thought it was only employment income that was considered. Can anyone find the code for me or give me advice?

[525601minutes]

4058. (a) The annual gross income of each parent means income from
whatever source derived, except as specified in subdivision (c) and
includes, but is not limited to, the following:
(1) Income such as commissions, salaries, royalties, wages,
bonuses, rents, dividends, pensions, interest, trust income,
annuities, workers' compensation benefits, unemployment insurance
benefits, disability insurance benefits, social security benefits,
and spousal support actually received from a person not a party to
the proceeding to establish a child support order under this article.

Seriously - did the judge screw up - because the spousal support I get is from a person who IS A PARTY to the proceeding

[Xena]

4058. (a) The annual gross income of each parent means income from
whatever source derived, except as specified in subdivision (c) and
includes, but is not limited to, the following:
(1) Income such as commissions, salaries, royalties, wages,
bonuses, rents, dividends, pensions, interest, trust income,
annuities, workers' compensation benefits, unemployment insurance
benefits, disability insurance benefits, social security benefits,
and spousal support actually recieved from a person not a party to the proceedingto establish a child support order under this article.

Seriously - did the judge screw up - because the spousal support I get is from a person who IS A PARTY to the proceeding

It would seem that the bolded portion should have been considered. You should print a copy of that out and get a quick consult with an attorney, this may be the type of mistake of law that would warrant either a reconsideration or a full appeal.

[525601minutes]

Xena - thank you so much for writing back - I've been spending the afternoon thinking I am crazy for reading the law this way. I made an appointment with a paid lawyer (not the free facilitator) for next week. I hope you are right and I can get this reversed!

[CourtClerk]

This may be why the judge did what he did. You have to read further down in the code:

c) In cases where spousal support is or has been ordered to be paid by one parent to the other, for purposes of allocating additional expenses pursuant to Section 4062, the gross income of the parent paying spousal support shall be decreased by the amount of the spousal support paid and the gross income of the parent receiving the spousal support shall be increased by the amount of the spousal support received for as long as the spousal support order is in effect and is paid.

[525601minutes]

I did .. and the very next paragraph under C is this...

(d) For purposes of computing the adjusted net disposable income
of the parent paying child support for allocating any additional
expenses pursuant to Section 4062, the net disposable income of the
parent paying child support shall be reduced by the amount of any
basic child support ordered to be paid under subdivision (a) of
Section 4055. However, the net disposable income of the parent
receiving child support shall not be increased by any amount of child
support received.

4062. (a) The court shall order the following as additional child
support:
(1) Child care costs related to employment or to reasonably
necessary education or training for employment skills.
(2) The reasonable uninsured health care costs for the children as
provided in Section 4063.

Section 4055 is long part of the code talking about the math used in the calculations. So it seems like the section C you copied is either in conflict with the section D I just pasted it. The only thing in section 4062 that applies here is $155 my X pays for our child's insurance.

[When does it end?]

Can someone post a link for the California child support guidlines? I thought I had it at one time but can't find it for some reason. It would help to be able to view everything instead of pieces of it. Thanks.

p.s. I'm jumping the gun without knowing, but could you be confusing the parts about support being paid/received from other spouses not a party to the proceedings?

[aaron]

The guidelines; a summary; a calculator based on the guidelines.

[When does it end?]

Thank you Aaron.

Okay from what I gather: Inclusions to income and deductions from income

Spousal support between the parties... Spousal support payed is deducted from the income of the one who pays it and included as income for the one who receives it.

Spousal support related to outside parties... Spousal support payed is not considered, but spousal support received is considered.(?)

Chid support between the parties...child support payed is not deducted from the payor, and is not included as income for the payee.

Child support related to outside parties... Child support received for other children is not income to the receiver but child support payed for other children is a deduction for the person who pays it (as long as it is court ordered, or you have other written documentation of paying it).

Correct?

[525601minutes]

I THINK spousal support is deducted from the payor only as far as taxes are concerned - and I do not think it is supposed to be included as income to the payee UNLESS it comes from a spouse who is not part of the child support calculation.

I also THINK child support is deducted as part of the payees income only if the CS order is OLDER than the age of the child for whom child support is being calculated.

Can anyone else read the laws and let us know your interpretation(s)?