As a divorce lawyer, you will have no doubt had to deal with tricky child support situations. In theory, child support calculations are pretty straight forward. The calculations are based on the combined income of the parents, the number of children and the nights per week that each parent has custody. When a parent’s job issues a W-2 form, the income calculation is easy, however, the water becomes muddy when more non-traditional forms of income come into the equation. One of the most challenging factors that influence child support calculations is disability, whether the disability is of a parent, step-parent or the child.
Child support statute, section 14-10-115, C.R.S
The income of the parents is the first calculation that needs to be done to determine the child support payments. Social security benefits that are paid to the parent as a result of the death of a stepparent or a disability of the aforementioned parent is seen as income for child support calculating purposes. It often happens that the child also receives a benefit, but this money can only be taken into account when the disability benefit is paid as a result of death of a parent or disability of a parent and not a stepparent. When this money is taken into account, it is used to lower the financial obligation of both the parents.
Part-time earnings by the child
Another factor that can be taken into account to lower the parental financial obligations is money that is earned from a part-time job by the child. It is argued that if the child is old enough to hold a part-time job, he or she also has an obligation to pay for basic expenses which results in a reduction of payments for both the parents.
Disable parent
A further factor that influences the child support payments is the disabled parent. If the disabled parent is not the custodial parent or the parent that has the majority of the custody, the disability benefit is seen as income. In these cases, the custodial parent can apply to be made the payee of the disability benefit. Therefore, the non-custodial parent will get a reduction in child support to the full value of the disability payment that is made to the custodial parent.
Social security disability payments
There are so many nuances with child support calculations and social security disability payments. These calculations are further complicated when the child receives an income as a result of disability. The custodial parent is generally going to be the one who receives less child support payments, regardless of which parent receives disability benefits. To put it in another light, the child that receives an income due to the disability of either parent benefits seeing that the money will go towards the custodial house where the child is predominantly.
Ask the experts
When social security benefits due to disability comes into play with child support calculations, it is important to make informed decisions. To make things easier, you can visit Crosscor’s website. They are experts in the field and can provide valuable insight and advice. To find out more, you can contact them by clicking on the link contact Crosscor or call them on (949) 264-1455.
