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May 14, 2012, 08:25:00 AM
Views: 22569
Are they allowed include my new spouse's income when setting child support?
In general, a new or subsequent spouse's income is not supposed to be included in figuring child support calculations. Doing so will almost always raise the support amount for the non-custodial parent. Even though it's not supposed to be included, judges and attorneys will often attempt to add it in one way or another.
It's not uncommon for your spouse's financial data to be requested by either the court or opposing counsel as part of a child support modification. Typically they'll want you to provide your spouse's tax returns, bank statements, and pay stubs, although often just the income tax return will be enough for them to draw a figure from.
You can "black out" portions of income tax forms and other joint financial statements to prevent release of your spouse's wage information, but it's difficult to prevent your ex (or their attorney) from obtaining it- if they want it badly enough, they'll subpoena the records from you and/or your spouse.