| The percentage guidelines are applied to the | | | | 2) State Tax. |
| supporting parent's net income. The starting | | | | |
| figure for net income is the total income | | | | 3) Social Security. |
| from all sources and is interpreted broadly. | | | | |
| For example, a worker's compensation award | | | | 4) Mandatory retirement contributions. |
| has been held to constitute income (In re | | | | |
| Marriage of Dodds, 222 Ill. App. 3d 99). | | | | 5) Union dues. |
| Additionally, pension benefits, when paid, | | | | |
| are considered income for purposes of | | | | 6) Dependent and individual health insurance. |
| calculating support (In re Marriage of | | | | |
| Klomps, 286 Ill. App. 3d 710). In re Marriage | | | | 7) Prior obligations of support or |
| of Baylor, 324 Ill. App. 3d 213, mother's | | | | maintenance with a court order. |
| military allowance for off-base housing and | | | | |
| other living expenses should have been | | | | 8) Expenditures for repayment of debts |
| included in net income. | | | | incurred for the production of income, |
| | | | certain medical expenses and certain |
| Some courts have made exceptions from the | | | | expenditures for the benefit of the child or |
| statutory inclusion of "all income from all | | | | other parent, exclusive of gifts. |
| sources". In re Marriage of Feesen, 275 Ill. | | | | |
| App. 3d 97, the court properly refused to | | | | Determining net income should not be a highly |
| consider passive income reported on Husband's | | | | contested issue. The calculation is truly |
| income tax returns because the testimony | | | | mechanical with the exception of the court's |
| proved that Husband did not receive the | | | | discretion on whether or not an expense is |
| income. The income was retained by his | | | | "reasonable and necessary". In some cases, a |
| company and simply was an effort to reduce | | | | party will have expenses being deducted from |
| the company's debt. With regard to a | | | | pay which are not necessary in an effort to |
| personal injury settlement, the court found | | | | reduce the net income. For example, the |
| that only the portion of the recovery that | | | | person may have an auto payment being |
| replaced past and future lost income could be | | | | deducted from pay. In that case, the payment |
| considered (Villanueva v. O'Gara, 282 Ill. | | | | needs to be added back into the calculation |
| App. 3d 147). | | | | for net income. In other cases, there may be |
| | | | an unnecessary deduction for installment |
| Several expenditures are subtracted from | | | | purchases that someone permits to be deducted |
| total income to derive the net income. The | | | | from the paycheck. As above, that payment |
| following are said expenditures: | | | | must be added back for proper calculation |
| | | | purposes. |
| 1) Federal Tax. The tax must be at the | | | | |
| properly calculated level. If a | | | | If the parties are adequately represented by |
| non-custodial parent over withholds and | | | | counsel, many of the issues regarding net |
| overpays his or her income tax, the | | | | income will become simplified. Once a party |
| overpayment should be added back for the | | | | is made aware of the guidelines and the |
| purpose of determining net income. | | | | court's likely ruling, an agreement should be |
| | | | easily obtainable. |