Gross Monthly Income

Gross Monthly Income includes:

• salaries
• wages
• commissions
• royalties
• bonuses
• rents
• gifts from anyone
• prizes
• dividends
• severance pay
• pensions
• interest
• trust income
• alimony from previous marriages
• annuities
• capital gains
• social security benefits (but not social security disability benefits)
• workers' compensation benefits
• unemployment compensation
• income replacement disability insurance benefits
• payments from "nonmeans-tested" government programs

Gross Monthly Income does not include benefits from:

• Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
• Family Employment Program (FEP)
• Subsidized housing programs
• Job Training Partnership Act
• Social Security Disability Insurance
• S.S.I.
• Medicaid
• Food Stamps
• General Assistance
• "Means-tested" benefits received by a parent
• Earnings or benefits of a child who is subject to this award

Income from earned income sources, such as employment, is limited to the equivalent of one full-time 40-hour a week job. Do not count income from overtime, other jobs or extra employment. However, if and only if during the time prior to the original support order, a parent normally and consistently worked more than 40 hours at a job or jobs, the court may consider this extra time and the income generated as a pattern in calculating the parent's ability to provide support and you should include those amounts for gross income.

Gross income from self employment is the total income minus only those necessary expenses required for self-employment or business operation from the gross receipts. Only those expenses necessary to allow the business to operate at a reasonable level may be deducted from the gross receipts. Gross income for child support may differ from the amount of business income determined for tax purposes.

If a parent stipulates, defaults (i.e. fails to file an answer) or the court holds a hearing and the judge enters Findings of Fact as to the evidentiary basis for imputing income, the court can rely on employment potential and probable earnings for that parent derived from:

• employment opportunity,
• work history,
• occupation qualifications,
• and prevailing earnings for persons of similar backgrounds in the community, or the median earning for persons in the same occupation in the same geographical area as found in the statistics maintained by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

If and only if it is appropriate to impute income and a parent has no recent work history or their occupation is unknown, income shall be imputed at least at the federal minimum waged for a 40-hour work week, which would be $7.25 an hour and a gross monthly income of $1,257 as of July 24, 2009.

Income may not be imputed if:

(1) child care costs for the custodial parent approach or equal the amount of income the parent can earn,
(2) a parent is physically or mentally unable to earn minimum wage and the condition is not of a temporary nature,
(3) a parent is engaged in career or occupational training to establish basic job skills, i.e., the parent is in school, or
(4) unusual emotional or physical needs of a child require the custodial parent's presence in the home and the condition is not of a temporary nature.