An Act Concerning the Treatment of Gross Income in Cases in Which Both Child Support and Spousal Support Are Considered
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 0235
Committee: Judiciary
Amends: 19-A MRSA §2001

Legislative Document 
No. 235 
H.P.190 
House of Representatives, January 23, 2003 
An Act Concerning the Treatment of Gross Income in Cases in 
Which Both Child Support and Spousal Support Are Considered 
Reported by Representative NORBERT of Portland for the Family Law Advisory 
Commission pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 19-A, section 354. 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed under Joint Rule 
218. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Jrl~/h.~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
s it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 19-A MRSA §2001, sub-§5, "A and E, as enacted by PL 
1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 and affected by Pt. E, §2, are amended to 
read: 
A. 
Gross income includes income from an ongoing source, 
including, but not limited to, salaries, wages, commissions, 
royalties, 
bonuses, 
dividends, 
severance 
pay, 
pensions, 
interest, 
trust 
funds, 
annuities, 
capital 
gains, 
social 
security benefits, disability insurance benefits, prizes, 
workers' 
compensation benefits, 
spousal 
support 
actually 
received pursuant to a preexisting order from a spouse who 
is not the parent of the child for whom support is being 
determined, and educational grants, fellowships or subsidies 
that are available for 
personal living expenses. 
Gross 
income does not include child support received by either 
party for children other than eaiJ:Eh:en the child for whom 
support is being determined. 
E. 
Gross income of an obligor does not include the amount 
of preexisting spousal maintenance to a former spouse who is 
not the parent of the child for 
whom 
support is being 
determined or 
g 
child 
support 
obligation actually paid 
pursuant to court or administrative order, or an appropriate 
amount of child support being voluntarily paid by a party 
who has a legal obligation to support that child. 
SUMMARY 
This bill clarifies that spousal support is not considered 
as part of the gross income of the recipient of child support in 
the computation of child support for the children of the marriage 
in an initial child support order and in any subsequent child 
support computation on an ensuing motion for children of that 
marriage. 
Spousal 
support 
from 
the 
child 
support 
payor 
to 
the 
recipient is not considered in the recipient's gross income in 
the initial computation of child support for children of the 
marriage because 
there is not 
a 
preexisting spousal 
support 
order. 
See the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 19-A, section 2001, 
subsection 5, 
paragraph A. 
Rather, 
the court first computes 
child support and then considers whether spousal support should 
also be ordered depending on the factors set forth in Title 19-A, 
section 951-A, subsection 5. 
When child support is modified in a subsequent proceeding, 
however, there exists confusion over whether spousal support from 
Page l-LR0403(1) 
the payor of child support, established in the original order, 
should be considered as gr,oss income to the recipient of child 
support in the new computation of child support for children of 
the marriage. 
This confusion arises from existing language of 
the child support law, Title 19-A, section 2001, subsection 5, 
paragraph A, which 
includes in the child support payee's income 
the amount of "spousal support actually received pursuant to a 
preexisting order." 
This 
language gives rise to 
opposite 
possible interpretations. 
One 
interpretation is that this means 
only spousal support from a different marriage unrelated to the 
children for whom support is being determined is to be included 
in the recipient's gross income. The other interpretation is that 
all spousal support, whether from the marriage before the court 
or from a different marriage, is included in the payee's income 
prior to determining child support. 
The 
same 
confusion exists in Title 19-A, 
section 
2001, 
subsection 5, paragraph E, which reduces the gross income of a 
child support 
payor 
for 
the 
amount 
of 
"preexisting spousal 
maintenance ..• actually paid ... " This language also gives rise to 
similar opposite possible interpretations. 
While existing law can therefore be interpreted to suggest 
that spousal support as an inclusion or exclusion from gross 
income 
might be treated differently at different times for the 
purpose of calculating presumptive child support, 
there is no 
logical 
reason 
to 
treat 
spousal 
support differently in 
the 
initial 
child 
support 
proceeding 
than 
in 
a 
child 
support 
modification proceeding. 
The treatment of spousal support in the computation of gross 
income should be clear and consistent from the entry of the 
initial child support order 
to 
any 
amendment 
of that child 
support order. 
This bill accomplishes that by clarifying that 
the only spousal support that is to be considered in gross income 
is 
spousal 
support 
paid 
or 
received 
pursuant 
to 
an 
order 
established as the result of a marriage that does not involve the 
children for whom child support is being computed. Not only does 
this proposed change create uniformity of treatment at all stages 
of the litigation, it is also consistent with the policy of the 
spousal support statute requiring the court to consider the child 
support payment 
when determining the 
spousal 
support payor's 
ability to pay spousal support. 
See Title 19-A, section 951-A, 
subsection 5 paragraph P, subparagraph (2).