Calculating Divorce Maintenance
In New York, determining maintenance (spousal support or alimony) can be a burdensome task. This task can become more complicated in situations where one spouse is receiving disability or a long term/permanent personal injury settlement in the form of a tax free annuity. Although the line between separate property and marital property with regard to such payments is often blurred, the fact of the matter is that these payments can have an effect on child support and even maintenance. Disability or annuity income can be factored in for the purposes of calculating how much maintenance a spouse should be paying to the injured party.
More importantly, the disability or annuity income should be used by the disabled spouse for the purpose of taking care of the children. This money should not be discounted when determining who pays carrying costs. It absolutely should be used to contribute to the support of the children.
Divorce Attorneys
If you are contemplating a divorce in which one of the spouses is receiving some type of disability or personal injury settlement payment, call (516) 858-2620 to speak to a divorce attorney today!
New York Child Support Standards.
Child support in New York is governed by the New York Child Support Standards Act, Domestic Relations Law 240 Section 1-b and Family Court Act 413 (identical statutes). The Act assigns to courts a standard for allocating child support obligations between divorced parents. The purpose of the Act is to ensure that children of divorced parents receive the same standard of living they would have enjoyed had their parents remained together, while at the same time dividing financial obligations fairly.
Generally, the Act directs courts to take the following steps:
(1) Determine the combined total income of the parents.
Courts are directed to look at each parent’s gross income, but may make certain deductions or consider additional income sources or assets where appropriate. Additionally, if a court believes that a parent is misrepresenting income, it may assign a number it considers to represent the actual income of the parent.
(2) Calculate the children’s share of the parents’ combined total income.
Usually the court will determine the child or children’s expenses to be a statutorily assigned percentage of the parents’ total income, but some exceptions may be made in high-income cases.
(3) Assign a pro-rata share of the child/children’s expenses.
Generally, this means that each parent’s obligation to the child/children’s expenses will be in proportion to each parent’s share of the total combined income. Again, a court may assign an amount greater than the statutorily assigned proportion in high-income cases.
High income exceptions may be made at any step in this process, and a court may assign add-on expenses such a child care, medical expenses, or tuition. Tax issues also often arise in determining child support obligations.
As always, if you are have any questions regarding child support or you are having an issue with child support, please call (516) 858-2620 to speak with a Family Law Attorney today!
*Contributions of research and preparation for this blog were made by Jason Bernard Mays, J.D. (awaiting admission in NYS)
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