The links below correspond to screens in the software.
Child Support
In most states, the child support data entries are all on a single screen.
This screen is labeled "Support Data" (or something similar).
It is important that you make your entries on this screen, and not directly on the guideline worksheet.
That is because these entries on the "Support Data" screen carry not only to child support, but also to the tax calculation, the financial affidavit, the Budget Report, Child Support What If, Other What If, and so on.
Entries that you make directly on the child support guideline worksheet will not carry anywhere else.
On the Support Data screen, click the triangles to open each group of entries.
The child support result appears in a banner at the top of the screen and updates with each entry you make.
At the top of the screen, you will see links for "Quick" and "Complete."
Both are screens where you can enter child support information.
On the Quick screen, you can enter information for the 80% of cases that have just wage income, health insurance and child care.
On the Complete screen, you can handle any child support situation that arises.
Any item of information that you enter on the Quick screen will also appear on the Complete screen, and any item of information that you enter on the Complete screen will also appear on the Quick screen, to the extent that the item is shown on the Quick screen.
Enter the number of children and click the link to update the screen, to get started.
Click the "add child" button to add another child.
The child's birth date is used to determine whether the child is of eligible age. It is also used in the projections, relating to step-downs of child support in future years.
The software will set the "eligible age" box based on the birth date, but you may change that setting if, for example, the child is disabled and will remain eligible for child support after reaching the age of majority.
There is a separate group of entries for children of another relationship, labeled "Other Children."
You enter children of other relationships because they may count as tax exemptions, which affect the tax calculation.
Also, many states give credit in the child support guideline calculation for children who are living with a party who are not of the relationship. These credits include:
· The adjustment for a hardship child in California.
· The Imputed Child Credit in Connecticut.
· The deduction for legal responsibility for children not of this marriage in Colorado
· The Other Dependent Deduction in New Jersey.
· The adjustment for children of other relationships in Illinois.
· The adjustment for non-joint children in the home in Minnesota.
· The adjustment for other minor children not of this order in Ohio.
· The Multiple Family reduction in Pennsylvania.
All you have to do is the in the group for "Other Children," and the software will do the rest.
Fill in all of the other relevant entries on each line. As appropriate, click the help buttons next to each entry.
Please note that the little blue button on this line with a little "bed" icon (next to the overnights) is a helpful pop-up overnights calculator.
In this calculator, you can enter the number of overnights per week, per every two weeks, per month, and holidays. The software will automatically calculate the number of overnights per year and the percentage of overnights.
Alternatively, you can directly enter the percentage, and the software will calculate the number of overnights per year.
The overnights calculator will only appear in states where the number of overnights is a factor in the child support guideline calculation.
In states where shared custody is calculated differently than sole custody, the software will automatically determine whether shared custody applies based on the number of overnights and any other factors used by the state. (For example, in New Jersey, the parties' incomes are a factor.)
The shared custody worksheet will automatically appear on the guideline worksheet.
There is nothing you have to do, other than entering the number of overnights for each child.
If a different party is primarily custodial for different children, the software will automatically do a Split Custody calculation.
One exception to this is New York, where you may calculate child support in split custody situations as follows: enter only the children in the custody of one party and calculate child support. Enter only children in the custody of the other party and calculate child support. Manually net the two numbers.
In this section, enter each party's wages for a pay period that you choose, and filing status.
If you change the pay period, that will not automatically cause wages to change.
You must manually make sure that the wages and pay period are in sync.
You also see a check box to specify whether the "wages" are actually self-employment income (as from a consulting business, for example).
If it is self-employment income, check the box.
As an alternative, you can enter self-employment income as income from a Business. You would enter that with the Business asset.
Typically, if the business has any value, then you would enter it with a Business assets.
If there is no separate business value, as, for example, if the individual is simply a consultant, then there is no need to create a Business asset.
Do not enter the same income twice. That is, do not enter it both with wages and with the Business asset. That would be double counting.
If the person works two jobs, click the "add wage" button, located below the wage data entry fields, for each additional job.
By default, the software assumes that the wage income is subject to State, FICA, and Medicare taxes.
If that is not the case, click "more info" (the green 3-dots button) and specify on the "more info" screen which taxes apply.
On the "more info" screen, you can also change assumptions that relate to cash flow projections, including the rate of growth of wages (which is assumed to be the same as the anticipated rate of inflation).
The filing status in the current year is used in the child support guideline calculation.
The software may ask for the filing status in future years, which is used for cash flow projections.
If you do not see an entry here for filing status in future years, it will also be found on the Parties & Children screen.
Below the Wages section, there will be sections for other types of income which count for child support calculation purposes.
The program also asks here about public assistance income and new spouse income. These do not count for child support purposes, but we ask them here so that you can keep all similar items together.
Public assistance and new spouse income do flow to the Budget Report and to tax calculations, as appropriate.
New spouse income will flow only to the tax report, and then only if the filing status is "joint with new spouse."
If any income is nontaxable, place an "X" in the box labeled "non-tax"? Certain forms of income, such as public assistance, child support, and workers compensation, that are generally not taxable, are already marked with an "X."
Click the button for a footnote to enter a footnote for the income. The footnote will appear on the Budget Report and the financial affidavit.
If you know the annual or weekly amount, but "monthly" is listed, just click the small calculator icon that appears in the field where your cursor is.
A pop-up will appear, which allow you to enter the number annually, or weekly, or for any time period.
If you wish to specify an entry such as "Unknown," or "To be determined" for the entry, click the "[#]" button that appears in the field where your cursor is resting.
This section allows you to enter income from assets to be counted for child support (and the financial affidavit, Budget Report, What If Analysis, etc.).
To create the asset, click the button to add the asset.
Enter the asset's value (which is used elsewhere, but not for the child support calculation), and the income from the asset.
Also be sure to enter the percent ownership of the asset, because this is used to determine how much of the income should flow to each party in the child support calculation.
In this section, you enter items that are deductible for child support guideline purposes.
These are sometimes the same as items that are deductible for tax purposes, but some items are deductible for child support and not taxes, and some items are deductible for taxes but not child support.
Depending on your state, you may see links for additional worksheets in this section.
Please be sure to click those links.
This section appears at or near the bottom section of this screen, and it is a very important section.
Using the entries on this screen, the software calculates child support.
In the section on "child support to use," you specify whether you want this calculated amount to be used in the Budget Report, What Ifs, and other financial reports.
Also, if you are doing financial projections, you can click the link to view the software's calculation of step-downs, and override it if you find it is not correct in this case.
In this section, you specify that alimony that you want to use in the Budget Report, What If Analysis, and other financial reports.
In some states, the software will calculate an alimony amount.
In that case, you specify whether the alimony amount should be used in the other financial reports.
In some states, the alimony that you enter will also be used in the child support guideline calculation.
If your state is one of those, then be sure to enter a number here, if appropriate, so that it can carry to the child support guideline calculation.
In states where the software calculates alimony, there are sometimes also provisions to calculate duration of alimony. Those calculations typically depend on start date and end date of the marriage. Be sure to enter those dates.
Below the alimony entries, the software automatically calculates and shows you the present value of the alimony payments.
By default, alimony (spousal support, maintenance) is specified to be not taxable to the recipient and not tax deductible to the payer for federal income tax purposes.
You will find the checkbox that controls this either at the top of the screen on the Client Info tab where you enter child support data, or on the same screen, in the section on Alimony to Use.
If the alimony (spousal support, maintenance) is from an agreement that was entered into before 2019, and it is taxable and tax deductible, clear this checkbox.