Opinion ID: 1435482
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Calculation of Defendant's Gross Income

Text: The defendant argues that in determining the amount of child support he should be obliged to pay, the trial justice committed error in failing to complete properly the appropriate worksheet provided for this purpose. Specifically, defendant contends that the trial justice's finding that defendant's weekly gross income was $560 was incorrect. The facts reveal that defendant was receiving $420 per week in workers' compensation benefits, and based on this figure, the trial justice apparently added an additional one-third ($140) and found defendant's gross income to be $560 per week. In support of his argument that this calculation constituted error on the part of the trial justice, defendant cites G.L. 1956 (1988 Reenactment) § 15-5-16.2(a), which requires that in determining the amount of child support that is appropriate, the trial justice must calculate the amount utilizing a formula and guidelines adopted by an administrative order of the family court. It must be noted, however, that § 15-5-16.2 offers no guidance to a trial justice concerning how to treat workers' compensation benefits for child-support purposes. In addition, because the child-support guidelines adopted by the Family Court determine the amount of child support to be ordered based on gross income and the number of dependent children, it was necessary for the trial justice to make an approximate calculation of defendant's gross income, taking into account deductions that would ordinarily be applied to his gross income, in order to reach the net-income figure represented by his workers' compensation benefits. In the case at bar, the trial justice specifically stated that she was treating defendant's $420 weekly benefit as two-thirds of what [defendant's] gross is and proceeded to calculate his gross income to be one-third greater than his benefit, or $560. We must examine the propriety of this calculation in view of the fact that gross income in the form of wages, tips, and other traditional sources of income are subject to withholding taxes and social security deductions that do not apply to workers' compensation benefits, and we conclude that in this case the gross-income figure upon which the award was based cannot be viewed as significantly incorrect. If one were to adopt the $560 figure as determined by the trial justice to be defendant's gross income and then were to deduct the appropriate amount of withholding taxes and social security deductions that would be applicable to such a gross income, the net figure would be reasonably close to defendant's actual net weekly workers' compensation benefit. When reviewing a trial justice's decision on a motion to modify a support decree, we accord great weight to the trial justice's finding, and we shall only disturb such a finding if it is clearly wrong. Morry v. Morry, 426 A.2d 265, 266 (R.I. 1981). In the present case, taking judicial notice of the impact of income tax and social security deductions on gross income, we cannot say that the trial justice was clearly wrong.