Child Support

Child Support Guidelines Need Not Follow IRS Tax Guidelines for Allowable Expenses in Determining Child Support

In the child support case of Camche v. Copperman, 20-21-3146, App. Div. the father/plaintiff appealed an order that substantially denied his motion for reconsideration of an order granting an increase in child support to Mother/defendant. The panel affirmed, substantially for the reasons expressed below. It stated that the court did not err in calculating the new child support award, noting that there are certain expenses that the IRS allows for tax purposes but the Guidelines do not permit the joint owner of a closely held corporation, such as plaintiff, to exclude from the business’s income as ordinary and necessary expenses, that retained earnings can be deemed an income source for purposes of the Guidelines calculations, and that the appropriate analysis includes a focus on the legitimate need of the corporation to retain income and whether the company retained excessive earnings which could otherwise have been disbursed to the supporting parent as income, thus enabling him to pay increased child support. Also, the panel stated that the lower court did not abuse its discretion in imputing only $75,000 in income to defendant or in modifying plaintiff’s child support obligation back to December 15, 2009 since defendant’s motion to modify support was filed on that date.

Reference: Case & Analysis, New Jersey Law Journal, 215 N.J.L.J. 789 (March 17, 2014)Filed Under: Child Support; Support Guidelines: Modification of Child Support Order

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