Opinion ID: 2316731
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Melson Formula Generally

Text: The procedure for calculating child support used by the Family Court is the Melson Formula. Dalton v. Clanton, 559 A.2d at 1210. This Court has recognized the validity of that procedure. Id. See also Kenton v. Kenton, Del.Supr., 571 A.2d 778, 782 (1990). The basic principles of the Melson Formula have been summarized as follows: Parents are entitled to keep sufficient income to meet their most basic needs in order to encourage continued employment. Until the basic needs of children are met, parents should not be permitted to retain any more income than that required to provide the bare necessities for their own self-support. Where income is sufficient to cover the basic needs of parents and all dependents, children are entitled to share in any additional income so that they can benefit from the absent parent's higher standard of living. Dalton v. Clanton, 559 A.2d at 1203. The basic procedures which are performed in an application of the Melson Formula are: Step 1: Determine Available Income of Each Parent. The Melson Formula starts with net income. After determining net income for each parent, a self-support reserve (primary support allowance) is subtracted from each parent's income. This reserve represents the minimum amount required for an adult to meet his or her own subsistence requirements. Step 2: Determine Childrens' Primary Support Needs. The next step in applying the formula is to compute the primary support amount for each dependent. Like the self-support reserve, the primary support amount represents the minimum amount required to maintain a child at a subsistence level.... Work-related child care expenses are added to primary support as are extraordinary medical expenses. The child's primary support needs are pro-rated between the parents based upon available net income as determined in Step 1.... Step 3: Determine Standard of Living Allowance (SOLA). After primary support obligations of each parent are calculated in Step 2, including obligations for child care expenses and extraordinary medical expenses, a percentage of remaining income is also allocated to support of the child. The standard of living allowance enables the child to benefit from the higher living standard of a parent.... If a parent has dependents other than the child for whom support is being sought, and such other dependents are not covered by a court order, primary support amounts for such dependents are deducted from obligor income available for the Standard of Living Allowance. Dalton v. Clanton, 559 A.2d at 1203-1204. In this case, John's primary support needs and extraordinary expenses are not in dispute (Step 2). The issue which must initially be resolved is how to properly determine the Father's net income (Step 1). The resolution of that question has a direct impact on the standard of living adjustment (Step 3).