If you need to calculate or recalculate child support based on an initial Complaint for Divorce or a Motion to Modify Child Support, you may want to approach this carefully if you are the child support payer and you work extra hours.

The Rhode Island Family Court judge may consider overtime in determining the amount of child support you must pay. This is complicated not because the calculations become more cumbersome nor because case law or statutes provide any specific way to determine how much, if any, extra time must be taken into account in your gross income to calculate your child support obligation of Rhode Island. Rather, this is complicated because this particular issue is left to the discretion of the Rhode Island family court judge presiding over your case.

This wouldn’t be so complicated were it not for the fact that each judge may exercise their discretion differently and have different ideas about whether and why overtime pay should be counted in your gross income to calculate child support.

Overtime pay continues to be an issue that has led to very frustrating results for some parents who appear in the Rhode Island Family Court system for that very reason.

As you can imagine, it’s very difficult to meet a client who asks the question, “Will the extra 20 hours I work each week count toward my gross income when it comes time to figure my child support?” and give them an answer as definitive as . . . . “maybe” . . . or, “it depends.”

Not surprisingly, prospective clients and those who consult attorneys on this subject are often upset to discover that there is no set answer that applies universally to every case. Most people expect consistency from family court judges on this unique issue and are surprised to find that this actually depends on the judge’s ideas on the issue and, occasionally, your attorney’s ability to emphasize a point. strong enough point for the Rhode Island family court judge to see. as inequitable to include overtime pay in the gross income of the parent paying child support.

Ultimately, when it comes to the issue of overtime and whether it should be considered as part of a parent’s gross income, it can become a matter of which judge is assigned to your case and your particular views on the subject. .

Does this lead to consistent results on the issue of including overtime in gross income for child support purposes? No, he does not do it. At best, there can be consistency regarding a particular judge’s decisions on the issue. However, there is really no consistency in the Rhode Island family court judiciary on this issue.

So it should come as no surprise that a Rhode Island attorney who focuses his or her practice in the areas of divorce and family law can be your best advocate here and provide you with the best indicators of success regarding this issue once he or she becomes aware of it. . Whose judge will be in your case?

As a general rule, you should anticipate that overtime pay will be considered and factored into your gross income in determining child support under the Rhode Island Child Support Guidelines if you work overtime with any degree of regularity. and consistency.

It’s like the old saying. Plan for the worst but hope for the best.

It pays to have the right attorney on your side!