Income” means the actual gross income of the parent, if employed to full capacity, or potential income if unemployed or underemployed as allowed under Section III.7. Gross income is used to avoid disputes over issues of deductibility that would arise if a net income was used.
These Guidelines presume that the parent with the legal obligation to pay support will file federal taxes as a single individual and have only one state exemption. Adjustments have been made in the Chart for federal and state income taxes, FICA, and average child-rearing expenditures (for example, out-of-pocket medical expenses of $250.00 per child per year).
The monthly child-support amount shall be converted to coincide with the payor’s receipt of salary, wages, or other income. For purposes of computing gross monthly income, a month is 4.334 weeks. Bi-weekly means a party is paid once every two weeks, or 26 times during a calendar year. Semi-monthly means a person is paid twice a month, or 24 times per calendar year.
“Child Support Gross Income” means gross income—minus amounts for preexisting child-support obligations paid to another who is not a party to the proceedings and on behalf of a child who is not the subject of the action of the court. Child support arrearage payments shall not be considered in determining a payor’s gross income.
“Combined Gross Income” means the combined gross income of both parties.
Gross income includes, but is not limited to, the following:
To further this State’s policy of interpreting “income” broadly for the benefit of children, a support order may include as its basis a percentage of a bonus to be paid in the future. The child support attributable to a bonus amount (or another one-time source of money) shall be in addition to the periodic child-support obligation. This child-support obligation shall terminate when the underlying child-support obligation terminates. Variable income such as commissions, bonuses, overtime pay, military bonuses, and dividends shall be averaged by the court over a reasonable period of time consistent with the circumstances of the case and added to a parent's fixed salary or wages to determine gross income. When income is received on an irregular, nonrecurring, or one-time basis, the court may, but is not required to, average or prorate the income over a reasonable specified period of time or require the parent to pay as a one-time support amount a percentage of his or her nonrecurring income.
One-time sources of money like an inheritance, gambling or lottery winning, or liquidating a Certificate of Deposit, for example, is income for these Guidelines purposes (as detailed in the previous paragraph). If the receipt of an asset is not sold or otherwise disposed of, however, then it has not “realized a gain” and therefore is not income under these Guidelines.
Structure Arkansas Code
Title 9 — Appendix Administrative Order Number 10 — Child Support Guidelines
Title 9 — Appendix Administrative Order Number 10 — Child Support Guidelines
section I. Authority and Scope
section II. Use of the Guidelines
section IV. Health Insurance, Extraordinary Medical Expenses, and Childcare Costs