Court Opinion

ID: 9935731
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-09 18:56:37.378411+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:29:08.482985
License: Public Domain

I agree with the majority that the portion of the father's gross income which is voluntarily placed in his 401(k) retirement plan is to be included in his gross income for purposes of calculating his child support obligation; however, I would not hold as a matter of law that voluntary contributions to a retirement plan, or deferred income, is included in gross income for calculating a parent's child support obligation. I would apply *Page 167 
factors on a case-by-case basis such as whether the parent has been making voluntary deferments during the marriage, and, therefore, that income has not been used for current family support; or whether the parent started deferring income after the divorce in an attempt to reduce his or her disposable income. Other relevant factors would be the percentage of income being deferred and the reasonableness of the amount of the deferred income.