Legal Question in Family Law in Michigan

federal employee abroad

One assumes that the 'sums' mentioned would appear on any formal statement of your employment status / income (such as a "w-2" or otherwise-jargoned form) provided by the government. That being the case, it would be fair to assume that those 'amounts' / that 'sum' _IS_ subject to being factored into the formula. Put otherwise - the taxable/non-taxable status of such sums isn't the determining factor - rather, whether such funds can be construed as INCOME.

Regards, etc.,

j. m. hayes

-> these musings are, you know, just a "seat-of-the-pants" analysis & are NOT intended to be construed as / understood as / utilized as Legal Advice & Counsel <-

federal employee abroad, continued:

Below, a snippet from Article 4 of New York's Family Court Act re: the support obligation / calculation [this language is pretty much dictated by the federal government, so one would expect MI's to be about the same]

"(5) "Income" shall mean, but shall not be limited to ...(i) gross (total) income as should have been or should be reported in the most recent federal income tax return ... (ii) to the extent not already included ... investment income ...; (iii) ... the amount of income or compensation voluntarily deferred and income received ... from the following sources: (A) workers` compensation, (B) disability benefits, (C) unemployment insurance benefits, (D) social security benefits, (E) veterans benefits, (F) pensions and retirement benefits, (G) fellowships and stipends, and (H) annuity payments;

(iv) at the discretion of the court, the court **MAY** may attribute or impute income from, such other resources as may be available to the parent, including, but not limited to: (A) non-income producing assets, (B) meals, lodging, memberships, automobiles or other perquisites that are provided as part of compensation for employment to the extent that such perquisites constitute expenditures for personal use, or which expenditures directly or indirecly confer personal economic benefits, (C) fringe benefits provided as part of compensation for employment, and (D) money, goods, or services provided by relatives and friends; (v) an amount imputed as income based upon the parent`s former resources or income, if the court determines that a parent has reduced resources or income in order to reduce or avoid the parent`s obligation for child support ..."As you can see - it is quite "all inclusive" and one supposes that the sums you ask about are easily characterized as being economically beneficial to you. Note, however, that such calculations are within the Court's discretion, which means (in theory) that they need not be lumped-in & subjected to the "raw" formula.Regards, etc.,jmhayes-> these musings are, you know, just a "seat-of-the-pants" analysis & are NOT intended to be construed as / understood as / utilized as Legal Advice & Counsel <-