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Can a spouses income be included in a child support hearing?

Hello me and my wife are going through a custody battle with her sons father and haven't been able to come to an agreement on child support and custody. We pretty much know well get custody and child support but now him and his lawyer are saying that there's a way to include my income along with hers therefore not making it necessary for him to pay child support. Is that true?

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As a general rule, no your income is not included in the child support guideline calculation. In fact, your income is not even automatically discoverable and they may not even be entitled to learn your income information unless you are raising an affirmative defense that puts it at issue. Typically the support is based solely upon the incomes of the mother and father - their spouses incomes are irrelevant. If, however, the obligor/payor spouse has additional biological children from another relationship, the income of that other parent may be discovered in order to do something called a Smith/Speed calculation to allow the obligor/payor parent a credit/deduction from their income based upon what their support obligation to their current spouse would be if that spouse left them.

Based upon the limited information you provided it appears it may be in your best interests to have your case reviewed by a Family Law attorney in your area to determine if the opposing side is properly calculating the support obligation.

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