WAG 13-01-07: Child Support Income Exclusion

PM 13-01-07

Child Support Income Exclusion

• Court-ordered child support payments are treated as an income exclusion from the Food Assistance household's total gross income when comparing to the Maximum Monthly Gross Income Standard for the household size. This includes when determining expedited service. See PM 02-08-01 and WAG 02-08-01. Do not allow as an income deduction in the net benefit calculation. For verification sources see WAG 02-07-03-l.
• Allow as an income exclusion, legally obligated child support payments that are paid by a Food Assistance household member to, for, or on behalf of a person who is not a Food Assistance household member. This includes payments made to a third party on behalf of the non-household member (such as rent paid as a vendor payment) and payments paid toward child support arrearages. Alimony payments are not allowed.
• Determine the child support income exclusion amount as follows:

1. Use the actual support payments made in the last 30 days. 
2. IES is currently not performing the expense calculation correctly to enter the actual individual child support dollar amounts with cents and pay frequency on the Support Expenses- Expenses Page. IES should drop cents, if applicable, from the total child support expense and exclude the payment amount when comparing the SNAP household's gross monthly income to the Maximum Monthly Gross Income Standard for the household size. A JIRA ticket has been logged to correct this issue. Until IES is modified to perform this calculation correctly, workers should determined the actual support payments made in the last 30 days and convert to a monthly amount. Include cents when adding each individual amount and drop cents from the total. IES will exclude the child support payment amount when comparing the SNAP household's gross monthly countable income to the Maximum Monthly Gross Income Standard for the household size. If eligible, the household's income minus the child support excluded amount is used in the benefit's 20% EI calculation.

Example 1: Mr. T is applying for Food Assistance and is a one person household. The Maximum Monthly Gross Income Standard for a household size of one is $2,071. His gross monthly income is $2,169. His court-ordered child support is $400 per month. Mr. T verifies his support payments by showing his veteran's income statement received in the last 30 days. His rent is $500 and he pays for air conditioning and heat. Mr. T's countable income minus the child support income exclusion ($400) is $1,769. Mr. T is gross income eligible for SNAP. His countable income when completing the net income benefit calculation is $1,769 x .80 = $1,416 (round up).

Example 2: Ms. B is applying for Food Assistance and is a one person household. The Maximum Monthly Gross Income Standard for a household size of one is $2,071. Ms. B's gross monthly income is $1,290. Her rent is $450 and she pays for air conditioning and heat. Her court-ordered child support is $56.47 weekly. Ms. B verifies her support payments by using her pay stubs received in the last 30 days. Ms. B's countable income minus the child support income exclusion ($242) is $1,048 and is determined by adding the individual amounts together including cents, then dividing by 4 and multiplying the result by 4.3 (drop cents).

($56.47 + $56.47 + $56.47 + $56.47 = $225.88 ÷ 4 = $56.47 X 4.3) = $242.82 (drop cents). Ms. B's countable income when completing the net income benefit calculation is $1,048 x .80 = $839 (round up).