Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Re: Child Support Calculation Wages include Severance

First, the severance pay question: it really is impossible to know what the court might do about severance pay without knowing a lot of specific facts about your and your ex, and your financial circumstances. The court might consider the degree of hardship you are put in by the loss of your job, the reason for loss of the job, your general financial situation including savings and investments, the affluence of lack of resources of your ex, and anything else the judge thinks might have to do with what is fair to you and your ex and relevant to the best interest of the child(ren).

Second, the "25% rule": the rule in section 12-202(b) of the Family Law Article is only concerned with the effect, back in 1989 when the child support guidelines went into effect, of those guidelines on already determined child support orders. To avoid burying the court under every case on the books to change every chlld support order to conform with the guidelines, the legislature voted that existing child support which was within 25% of the guideline amount, would not be subject to change. In other words, the enactment of the guidelines was not a trigger for a modification of support which fell within 25%, up or down, from the guidelines numbers. The law concerning a modification of child support orders which are already based on the guidelines is in section 12-104 of the Family Law Article. It says nothing about 25%, but merely provides that a "material change of circumstance" is grounds for asking for a modification. A material change of circumstance might be an increase or decrease in income, or it might be the birth of another child to one of the parties. It might be a move to somewhere far enough away from the child to require expensive travel for visitation. It might be a large gift or inheritance which adds substantially to the assets of the parent, even if it doesn't add substantially to the actual income. This is another area where the court has some latitude to consider specific facts.

Third, your ex's income: Yes, your ex can (and probably should) be required to provide proof of his income. The usual proof is pay stubs and income tax returns.