State / Credit for Child Support Ordered vs. Paid / Credit for afterborn children / Gross Income Includes / Shared Custody /
Alabama
Rule 32, Alabama
Rules of Judicial
Administration for
cases filed after 1/1/2009. (Taken from the website http://www.alacourt.gov/ChildSupportInfo.aspx) / (6) Preexisting Child-Support Obligation. The amount of child support actually being paid by a parent pursuant to an order for child support of other children shall be deducted from that parent's "gross income." If a parent is legally responsible for and is actually providing child support for other children, but not pursuant to an order of child support, a deduction for an "imputed preexisting child-support obligation" may be made from that parent's gross income. The imputed preexisting child-support obligation shall be that amount specified in the schedule of basic child-support obligations based on that parent's unadjusted gross income and the number of other children for whom that parent is legally responsible. "Other children" means children who are not the subject of the particular child-support determination being made. If the proceeding is one to modify an existing award of child support, no deduction should be made for other children born or adopted after the initial award of child support was entered, except for child support paid pursuant to another order of child support. / (1) Income. For purposes of the guidelines established by this rule, "income" means actual gross income of a parent, if the parent is employed to full capacity, or the actual gross income the parent has the ability to earn if the parent is unemployed or underemployed.
(2) Gross Income.
(a) "Gross income" includes income from any source, and includes, but is not limited to, salaries, wages, commissions, bonuses, dividends, severance pay, pensions, interest, trust income, annuities, capital gains, Social Security benefits, workers' compensation benefits, unemployment-insurance benefits, disability-insurance benefits, gifts, prizes, and preexisting periodic alimony.
(b) "Gross income" does not include child support received for other children or benefits received from means-tested public-assistance programs, including, but not limited to, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Supplemental Security Income, food stamps, and general assistance.
(3) Self-Employment Income.
(a) For income from self-employment, rent, royalties, proprietorship of business, or joint ownership of partnership or closely held corporation, "gross income" means gross receipts minus ordinary and necessary expenses required to produce this income, as allowed by the Internal Revenue Service, with the exceptions noted in subsection (B)(3)(b).
(b) "Ordinary and necessary expenses" does not include amounts allowable by the Internal Revenue Service for the accelerated component of depreciation expenses, investment tax credits, or any other business expenses determined by the court to be inappropriate for determining gross income for purposes of calculating child support.
(4) Other Income. Expense reimbursements or in-kind payments received by a parent in the course of employment, self-employment, or operation of a business shall be counted as income if they are significant and reduce personal-living expenses. / The Alabama child support guidelines do not specifically address the problem of establishing a support order in joint custody situations. Such a situation may be considered by the court as a reason for deviating from the guidelines in appropriate situations, particularly if physical custody is jointly shared by the parents.
-From Rule 32 of the Alabama Child Support Guidelines
Arizona
ARIZONA CHILD SUPPORT GUIDELINES
ADOPTED BY THE ARIZONA SUPREME COURT
EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2005 (taken from https://www.azdes.gov/az_child_support/ click on Arizona Child Support Guidelines (PDF)) / 6. ADJUSTMENTS TO GROSS INCOME
B. The court-ordered amount of child support for children of other relationships, if actually being paid, shall be deducted from the gross income of the parent paying that child support. Court-ordered arrearage payments shall not be included as an adjustment to gross income.
D. An amount may be deducted from the gross income of a parent for support of natural or adopted children of other relationships not covered by a court order. The amount of any adjustment shall not exceed the amount arrived at by a simplified application of the guidelines (defined in example below). / 5. DETERMINATION OF THE GROSS INCOME OF THE PARENTS
NOTE: Terms such as "Gross Income" and "Adjusted Gross Income" as used in these guidelines do not have the same meaning as when they are used for tax purposes.
A. Gross income includes income from any source, and may include, but is not limited to,
income from salaries, wages, commissions, bonuses, dividends, severance pay,
pensions, interest, trust income, annuities, capital gains, social security benefits (subject to Section 26), worker's compensation benefits, unemployment insurance benefits, disability insurance benefits, recurring gifts, prizes, and spousal maintenance. Cash value shall be assigned to in-kind or other non-cash benefits. Seasonal or fluctuating income shall be annualized. Income from any source which is not continuing or recurring in nature need not necessarily be deemed gross income for child support purposes. Generally, the court should not attribute income greater than what would have been earned from full-time employment. Each parent should have the choice of working additional hours through overtime or at a second job without increasing the child support award. The court may, however, consider income actually earned that is greater than would have been earned by full-time employment if that income was historically earned from a regular schedule and is anticipated to continue into the future.
The court should generally not attribute additional income to a parent if that would require an extraordinary work regimen. Determination of what constitutes a reasonable work regimen depends upon all relevant circumstances including the choice of jobs available within a particular occupation, working hours and working conditions. B. Gross income does not include sums received as child support or benefits received from
means-tested public assistance programs including, but not limited to, Temporary
Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Food
Stamps and General Assistance.
C. For income from self-employment, rent, royalties, proprietorship of a business, or joint ownership of a partnership or closely held corporation, gross income means gross receipts minus ordinary and necessary expenses required to produce income. Ordinary and necessary expenses do not include amounts determined by the court to be inappropriate for determining gross income for purposes of child support. Ordinary and necessary expenses include one-half of the self-employment tax actually paid.
D. Expense reimbursements or benefits received by a parent in the course of employment or self-employment or operation of a business shall be counted as income if they are significant and reduce personal living expenses.
6. ADJUSTMENTS TO GROSS INCOME
For purposes of this section, “children of other relationships” means natural or adopted children who are not the subject of this particular child support determination.
Adjustments to Gross Income for other support obligations are made as follows:
A. The court-ordered amount of spousal maintenance resulting from this or any other marriage, if actually being paid, shall be deducted from the gross income of the parent paying spousal maintenance. Court-ordered arrearage payments shall not be included as an adjustment to gross income.
B. The court-ordered amount of child support for children of other relationships, if actually being paid, shall be deducted from the gross income of the parent paying that child support. Court-ordered arrearage payments shall not be included as an adjustment to gross income.
C. An amount shall be deducted from the gross income of a parent for children of other relationships covered by a court order for whom they are the custodial parent. The amount of the adjustment shall be determined by a simplified application of the guidelines (defined in example below).
D. An amount may be deducted from the gross income of a parent for support of natural or adopted children of other relationships not covered by a court order. The amount of any adjustment shall not exceed the amount arrived at by a simplified application of the guidelines (defined in example below).
7. DETERMINING THE ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME OF THE PARENTS
Adjusted Gross Income is gross income minus the adjustments provided in Section 6 of these guidelines. The Adjusted Gross Income for each parent shall be established. These amounts shall be added together. The sum is the Combined Adjusted Gross Income. / 12. EQUAL CUSTODY
If the time spent with each parent is essentially equal, the expenses for the children are equally shared and adjusted gross incomes of the parents also are essentially equal, no child support shall be paid. If the parents' incomes are not equal, the total child support amount shall be divided equally between the two households and the parent owing the greater amount shall be ordered to pay what is necessary to achieve that equal share in the other parent's household.
California
Cal. Fam. Code § 4001
Cal. Fam. Code §3585 / Cal. Fam. Code § 4059
4059. The annual net disposable income of each parent shall be
computed by deducting from his or her annual gross income the actual
amounts attributable to the following items or other items permitted
under this article:
e) Any child or spousal support actually being paid by the parent pursuant to a court order, to or for the benefit of any person who is not a subject of the order to be established by the court. In the absence of a court order, any child support actually being paid, not to exceed the amount established by the guideline, for natural or adopted children of the parent not residing in that parent's home, who are not the subject of the order to be established by the court, and of whom the parent has a duty of support. Unless the parent proves payment of the support, no deduction shall be allowed under this subdivision. / Cal. Fam. Code § 4058
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.
(2) Income from the proprietorship of a business, such as gross receipts from the business reduced by expenditures required for the operation of the business.
(3) In the discretion of the court, employee benefits or
self-employment benefits, taking into consideration the benefit to the employee, any corresponding reduction in living expenses, and other relevant facts.
(b) The court may, in its discretion, consider the earning capacity of a parent in lieu of the parent's income, consistent with the best interests of the children.
(c) Annual gross income does not include any income derived from child support payments actually received, and income derived from any public assistance program, eligibility for which is based on a determination of need. Child support received by a party for children from another relationship shall not be included as part of that party's gross or net income. / Cal. Fam. Code § 4055
4055. (a) The statewide uniform guideline for determining child support orders is as follows: CS = K [HN -- (H%)(TN)].
(b) (1) The components of the formula are as follows:
(D) H% = approximate percentage of time that the high earner has or will have primary physical responsibility for the children compared to the other parent. In cases in which parents have different time-sharing arrangements for different children, H% equals the average of the approximate percentages of time the high earner parent spends with each child.
Cal. Fam. Code § 4057
4057. (a) The amount of child support established by the formula provided in subdivision (a) of Section 4055 is presumed to be the correct amount of child support to be ordered.
(b) The presumption of subdivision (a) is a rebuttable presumption
affecting the burden of proof and may be rebutted by admissible evidence showing that application of the formula would be unjust or inappropriate in the particular case, consistent with the principles set forth in Section 4053, because one or more of the following
factors is found to be applicable by a preponderance of the evidence, and the court states in writing or on the record the information
required in subdivision (a) of Section 4056:
(5) Application of the formula would be unjust or inappropriate due to special circumstances in the particular case. These special circumstances include, but are not limited to, the following:
(A) Cases in which the parents have different time-sharing arrangements for different children.
(B) Cases in which both parents have substantially equal time-sharing of the children and one parent has a much lower or higher percentage of income used for housing than the other parent.
Colorado
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 14-10-115 / Colo. Rev. Stat. § 14-10-115
(6) Adjustments to gross income. (a) The amount of child support actually paid by a parent with an order for support of other children shall be deducted from that parent's gross income.
(b) (I) At the time of the initial establishment of a child support order, or in any proceeding to modify a support order, if a parent is also legally responsible for the support of other children for whom the parents do not share joint legal responsibility, an adjustment shall be made revising the parent's income prior to calculating the basic child support obligation for the children who are the subject of the support order if the children are living in the home of the parent seeking the adjustment or if the children are living out of the home, and the parent seeking the adjustment provides documented proof of money payments of support of those children. The amount shall not exceed the schedule of basic support obligations listed in this section. For a parent with a gross income of one thousand eight hundred fifty dollars or less per month, the adjustment shall be seventy-five percent of the amount calculated using the low-income adjustment described in sub-subparagraphs (B) and (C) of subparagraph (II) of paragraph (a) of subsection (7) of this section based only upon the responsible parent's income, without any other adjustments for the number of other children for whom the parent is responsible. For a parent with gross income of more than one thousand eight hundred fifty dollars per month, the adjustment shall be seventy-five percent of the amount listed under the schedule of basic support obligations in paragraph (b) of subsection (7) of this section that would represent a support obligation based only upon the responsible parent's income, without any other adjustments for the number of other children for whom the parent is responsible. The amount calculated as set forth in this subparagraph (I) shall be subtracted from the amount of the parent's gross income prior to calculating the basic support obligation based upon both parents' gross income, as provided in subsection (7) of this section.