4.6.5 Child Support Payment Deduction

4.6.5.1 Child Support Payment Introduction

4.6.5.2 Allowable Child Support Expenses

4.6.5.3 Child Support Expenses Not Allowed

4.6.5.1 Child Support Payment Introduction

The FoodShare child support expense deduction may include only legally obligated or court-ordered child support payments including court-ordered arrearages actually made and/or reasonably anticipated to be made to a non-household member. This information is obtainable through court records and/or the KIDSKids Information Data System system. (Process Help Chapter 62.3 Child Support Court Ordered Amount) The average amount an individual is paying on a current obligation is allowed as the expense.

To determine a monthly average when the payment amounts fluctuate, IM workers should follow the same process used to determine prospective income. The average should be the best estimate of amounts paid, but also amounts expected to be paid in the future. The number of months used to calculate the average may vary depending on the amount of fluctuation in the payments. IM workers should document in case comments the number of months used to calculate the deduction and the reason those months were used (1.2.4.2).

If the member is behind on his or her court-ordered obligation and making arrearage payments, allow the total amount paid even if it exceeds the court-ordered obligation amount.

Example 1: Mike has a court-ordered child support obligation with Terri for their child in common to pay $250 a month in child support. Mike has been paying $250 per month for the past three months. Since this payment amount does not fluctuate, the $250 per month is budgeted as the child support expense as long as there is a reasonable expectation that Mike will continue to make payments.

Example 2: Ben has a new court-ordered child support obligation with Carrie for their child in common to pay $265 a month in child support. Because this is a new order and there is no history of payments, determine whether Ben can reasonably anticipate making payments in the future by considering his income and intent to pay. Ben currently receives unemployment compensation that could cover his child support obligation and has stated his intent to pay child support. In this case, the court obligated amount should be budgeted.

Example 3: Alex is a non-custodial parent with a court-ordered child support obligation of $178 per month. For some time, Alex had been unable to pay child support, but he just started a new job. In this case, there are no payments to average, but since Alex is now working and there is a court order to make deductions from his check to the custodial parent, the court-obligated amount is allowed as a deduction. The IM worker should review the payment amounts at the next renewal.

Example 4: Jane has a court-ordered child support obligation of $400 per month. Jane is self-employed. She did not make a payment in the previous month. Looking back for the last six months, payments have been sporadic and the amounts vary from month to month. To determine the best estimate for the deduction, the IM worker should average payments from the past six months as long as there is reasonable expectation that Jane will continue to make payments, even though the amount and payment dates may continue to fluctuate.

Note: Use the KIDS system to verify court-ordered obligations and payment history. If the information is not available in KIDSKids Information Data System, ask the applicant or member to provide a legal document, such as a divorce decree or other type of court-issued document, which specifies the amount of legally-obligated child support. Out-of-state child support orders and payments must be verified through the out-of-state child support agency or through other official court documentation in order for the deduction to be allowed.

If a child support obligation is reported but not verified or is found to be non-court-ordered, the FoodShare eligibility should be determined without the expense in the budget.

Update ongoing cases at renewal or reported change. At the time of SMRF, due to simplified reporting requirements, members are required to report if there has been a change in his or her legal obligation to pay support. Changes in the court-ordered obligation must be re-verified and the intent to pay evaluated if the member reports such a change.

BEST PRACTICE: Create a sequence whenever a member has a current child support obligation, even if there is no payment history or payments are not currently being made. If there are no payments being made and/or no expense to budget, enter $0.00. Creating a sequence for current legal obligations will remind any IM worker updating the case to check for payment history or changes to the obligation at SMRF or renewal.

A parent may be legally obligated to pay child support for a child living in his or her residence when the child does not reside in that parent’s home full-time. In these cases, the legally obligated child support and arrearage payments are allowable for the deduction as long as the payments are being made to a non-household member and none of it the payments will return to the household.

If the custodial and non-custodial parents reunite in one food unit that includes the child, the food unit can deduct arrearage payments made to a non-household member as long as the payments being made will not be returned to the household.

If a child support obligation exists for a non-custodial parent (NCPNon-Custodial Parent) for a child who currently resides with the NCP, allow the deduction for the NCP only in cases where the payment is made to an individual or agency outside the household.

4.6.5.2 Allowable Child Support Expenses

Allowable child support obligations are:

Court-ordered arrearages,
Legal obligation for a non-food unit member to pay for things such as rent or mortgage payment,

Legal obligation for health insurance payments,
A prorated share of child support paid by ineligible members,
Court-ordered Foster Care payments,
Court-ordered subsidized Guardianship payments, or
Court-ordered blood test expenses for the child included in the court-ordered obligation.

4.6.5.3 Child Support Expenses Not Allowed

CFRCode of Federal Regulations 273.9(d)(5)}

Do not allow:

Maintenance,
Payments made in accord with a property settlement.
Lying in costs for the birth of a child.
The annual child support R&D fee, or
An employer's check withholding fee.

4.6.5.4 Family Support

If the IM worker is unable to determine which part of a family support payment is child support, prorate the payment among the food unit members it is intended for and exclude the spouse’s share as a deduction.

This page last updated in Release Number: 18-01

Release Date: 01/08/2018

Effective Date: 01/08/2018