What is Considered Income for Child Support in Albuquerque, New Mexico?

 

WHAT DOES CHILD SUPPORT TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION IN ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO?

 

Few hot button family law issues have the ability to get under one’s skin like the topic of child support. The odds are good that anyone stumbling onto this blog has strong feelings regarding child support, and often those feelings have been amplified by fuzzy explanations, urban legends and horror stories that one hears floating through Albuquerque, New Mexico like ghost stories being told over a campfire in the darkest hours of the night.

In the past I’ve written about all of the factors that go into creating the court ordered child support obligation. These factors range from the custody arrangement, combined gross income, and other monthly expenses paid on behalf of the children. This overview and explanation can be found by clicking, here:

 

CHILD SUPPORT QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS IN ALBUQUERQUE

 

The two major factors affecting child support are Custody Arrangement and Gross Income. The calculation regarding Custody Arrangement is relatively straightforward. A parent that has the children for less than 35% of the time – or less than 128 days a year – will pay a higher percentage of child support that is based on a Worksheet A. The percentage is higher with a Worksheet A because the court presumes that the primary care-giver is covering the majority of the child’s everyday living expenses.

The second major factor that affects child support – Gross Income – is more complex and multifaceted than Custody Arrangement. For this reason, it is important to present an in-depth review of the many factors that can affect Gross Income, and ultimately one’s overall child support payment.

New Mexico law defines “Gross Income” as income from any source, and essentially means a parent’s fixed monthly income, or income that a parent receives on a fixed basis. This includes a parent’s salaries, wages, tips, commissions, bonuses, dividends, fixed profit on rental properties, severance pay, pensions, interest, annuities, social security benefits, worker’s compensation, unemployment/disability benefits, and significant in-kind benefits (such as Basic Housing Allowances) that reduce personal living expenses.

One’s gross income is deducted by any alimony or child support payments, for prior born children, that is court ordered. Additionally, gross income does not include means tested income such as food stamps, TANF, or any other government assistance programs that are “means tested.” Lastly, gross income does not include any gifts that one receives.

Calculating gross income is generally straight forward when a parent’s income is composed by a fixed, monthly wage. On the other hand, determining gross income and one’s requisite child support obligation becomes a bit more complex in the following situations:

 

I.     Unemployment:

 

New Mexico courts presume that a parent will earn income based on full-time employment. Based on this presumption, New Mexico courts will impute (calculate) an unemployed parent’s gross income at minimum wage – $1,574 – for children that are six years or older. Conversely, the court refrains from imputing a parent at minimum wage only when the unemployed parent is the primary custodial parent actively caring for a child that is under the age of six.

 

II.     Underemployment:

 

The New Mexico child support statute offers little guidance for courts to determine when a parent is purposefully reducing one’s income with the aim of reducing the corresponding child support obligation. Similar to many other family law topics, judges’ have wide discretion to decide if a parent is not generating income at their full potential.

Courts can determine and then impute potential income to an underemployed parent in order to discourage parents from dodging the obligation to support one’s children and to goad the parent into full employment by attaching an unpleasant consequence (i.e. a mounting child support payment that is based on a higher income than one is actually earning).

When determining whether to impute income for underemployment, judges consider the credibility of the allegedly underemployed parent and decide whether that parent has acted in “good faith” in their career choice. “Good faith” typically means that the parent is acting for a purpose other than to reduce or avoid one’s child support obligation.

In cases where the court finds that a parent is not acting primarily to reduce one’s child support obligation, the court then examines the reasonableness of the career choice, and ultimately has wide discretion to decide if the parent’s career choices are being guided with an eye focused on reducing one’s child support obligation.

 

III.     Disability:

 

Individuals that are drawing disability benefits are still required to pay child support, and the gross income is determined by the total amount that one receives in disability.

There are two different types of Social Security Disability benefits that an individual can receive: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), or Supplemental Insurance Income (SSI). SSDI is only received by individuals who have worked enough years to qualify, whereas one is not required to have worked a certain amount of time to qualify for SSI.

The key distinction between the two types of disability benefits is the fact that children whose parents are eligible for SSDI benefits may be eligible to receive benefits. In other words, dependent children of family members that are receiving SSDI can receive money on behalf of the parent drawing SSDI benefits. In situations where the custodial parent receives Social Security payments on behalf of the child, the non-custodial parent may receive a credit against his/her support obligation but only up to the amount of the total obligation.

For example, if the non-custodial parent owes $300 a month in child support and the child receives $250 a month through SSDI, then the non-custodial parent’s child support obligation would be reduced by the $250 received by the child, and the non-custodial parent would be required to pay the deficiency of $50. In the event that the child receives more money each month through SSDI than the court ordered support obligation, the paying parent is not entitled to a reduction/offset over and above the court ordered support payment that can be used as a credit against support payments that were delinquent when the social security payments began.

On the other hand, dependents of SSI recipients are not entitled to receive auxiliary/derivative benefits on behalf of their children.  Nevertheless, the total amount received in SSI benefits will be used as the individual’s gross income for the purpose of calculating the requisite child support obligation, even if the total amount is lower than minimum wage.

 

(505) SANCHEZ IS HERE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT IS CONSIDERED INCOME FOR CHILD SUPPORT IN ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO

 

Do you still have questions about what is considered income for child support in Albuquerque, New Mexico?  Child support in Albuquerque, New Mexico often requires the experienced hand and knowledge that comes with years of courtroom practice.  Matthew Legan Sanchez has the experience needed to handle your unique case.  Sanchez can be reached by calling (505) SANCHEZ.