Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia
Child Support calculations
Pls advise: does military BHA (housing allowance), BAS (food allowance), and special duty pay factor into the obligor's and obligee's gross monthly income total to determine the monthy child support obligation? Both custodial and non-custodial are in the military. Also can the following factors be used to determine a child support obligation increase or decrease: non-custodial remarried, has a new biological child, 1 step-child that he claims on military pg 2 and that he provides 100% support to and child doesn't not recieve support from bio-father and bio-father has not been in child's life for over 4yrs now, and new wife is a stay at home mom. Pls advise. Thank you,
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Child Support calculations
Section 20-108.2(C) of the Virginia Code defines gross income to be considered for the purpose of calculating child support obligations under the Child Support Guidelines used in the Commonwealth. Gross income is defined for purposes of the Guidelines as "all income" including, but not limited to wages, salaries, commissions ,etc.
There are four types of income listed as excluded from gross income which include income from federal SSI bemefits as well as other social services programs. The kinds of benefits/allowances payable to active duty military referenced in the question are not listed as excludable from gross monthly income for purposes of calculating a child support obligation under the Guidelines and therefore they should apparently be included.
A step-child or new biological child in a party's household may be considered in calculating an obligor's child support obligation (owed for his child[ren] outside his household), basically, as long as it doesn't result in a decrease in a previously ordered support obligation
(but such factor(s) could prevent or modify future increases from what otherwise might have been ordered.)