Lawyers Manual - Unified Court System

154 Judy Reichler
insurance benefits, social security benefits, veteran’s benefits, pension and
retirement benefits, fellowships and stipends, and annuity payments. Income
from public assistance and supplemental security income (SSI) are excluded
from income because they are given to meet the parent’s own subsistence needs
and are not sufficient to support an additional person.
Business Deductions that Reduce Personal Expenditures
Certain expenses deducted from business income really represent personal
expenditures. There are countless ways in which a person who is self-employed
— especially if he is the sole owner of a business — may deduct things from
business income which really represent personal expenditures. This practice has
the effect of artificially reducing the amount of income that will be declared and
could have a significant impact on the amount of child support to be ordered.
It will be important to question each expense as to its relevance to the
business. For example, a person may attempt to deduct all expenses related to a
car when, in fact, it is the only car in the family. Naturally, the family runs
errands, shops for food and household items, goes on trips, etc. If you can
determine what portion of the car’s time is used for non-business purposes, that
amount of the deduction can be added back to income. A similar exploration can
be done with telephone, electricity, heat and repair bills — even meals and
entertainment expenses.
Also, look at such things as paying a relative (or a mate) as an employee of
the business. You will need to explore exactly what that person does in order to
determine whether it is a valid business expense or just a way to give an allowance
and have a business deduction at the same time.
Imputed Income
The court may attribute or impute income to resources that are available to
the parent, such as non-income-producing assets. This is nothing more than
examining the parent’s priorities to make sure he is not cash poor simply
because he has invested in things at the expense of his children — even if not
intentionally. For example, the parent may collect classic cars or invest in
expensive paintings or other collections.
Another area in which the CSSA suggests the imputation of income is when
meals, lodging, membership, automobiles and other perquisites are provided as part
of compensation for employment that really substitute for personal expenditures or
confer personal economic benefits. Typical examples of these are a house or
apartment that is supplied along with the employment. A superintendent or
doorman in a building, a gardener at an estate or a businessman who lives part of
the year in one area of the country and part of the year in another might be likely