Opinion
No. 549.
August 26, 2011.
Civil Procedural Rules Docket.
ORDER
AND NOW, this 26th day of August, 2011, upon the recommendation of the Domestic Relations Procedural Rules Committee; the proposal having been published for public comment in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, 41 Pa.Bull. 1617 (March 26, 2011) and West's Pennsylvania Reporter, 13 A.3d No. 2 (April 1, 2011):
IT IS ORDERED pursuant to Article V, Section 10 of the Constitution of Pennsylvania that Rule 1910.16-2 and Rule 1910.16-4 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure are amended in the attached form.
This ORDER shall be processed in accordance with Pa.R.J.A. No. 103(b), and shall be effective on September 30, 2011.
Additions to the rule are shown in bold and are underlined.
Deletions from the rule are shown in bold and brackets.
Rule 1910.16-2. Support Guidelines. Calculation of Net Income.
Generally, the amount of support to be awarded is based upon the parties' monthly net income.
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(b) Treatment of Public Assistance, SSI Benefits, Social Security Payments to a Child Due to a Parent's Death, Disability or Retirement and Foster Care Payments.
(1) Public Assistance and SSI Benefits. Neither public assistance nor Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits shall be counted as income for purposes of determining support.
(2) Social Security Payments for a Child. If a child for whom support is sought is receiving Social Security benefits as a result of a parent's retirement, death or disability, the benefits the child receives shall be added to the combined monthly net incomes of the obligor and the obligee to calculate the income available for support on the vertical axis of the basic child support schedule set forth in Rule 1910.16-3. The presumptive amount of support as set forth on the schedule at the combined income of the obligee, obligor and child's benefits shall then be reduced by the amount of the child's benefits before apportioning the remaining support obligation between the parties pursuant to Rule 1910.16-4. This calculation presumes that the primary custodial parent, or the shared custodial parent who is the obligee, is receiving the child's benefits. In cases in which the obligor is receiving the child's benefits, the amount of the child's benefit shall be added to the obligor's income and support shall be calculated as in any other case without deduction of the amount of the benefit from the presumptive amount of support set forth in the basic support schedule. For purposes of determining the support obligation of a surviving parent when the child is receiving benefits as the result of the other parent's death, the income of a non-parent obligee who is caring for a child but has no support obligation to that child shall include only those funds the obligee is receiving on behalf of the child.
(3) Foster Care Payments. If either party to a support action is a foster parent and/or is receiving payments from a public or private agency for the care of a child who is not his or her biological or adoptive child, those payments shall not be included in the income of the foster parent or other caretaker for purposes of calculating child support for the foster parent's or other caretaker's biological or adoptive child.
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Rule 1910.16-4. Support Guidelines. Calculation of Support Obligation. Formula.
(a) The following formula shall be used to calculate the obligor's share of basic child support, either from the schedule in Rule 1910.16-3 or the formula in Rule 1910.16-3.1(a), as well as spousal support and alimony pendente lite obligations. In high income cases, Part IV shall be used as a preliminary analysis in the calculation of spousal support or alimony pendente lite obligations:
PART I. BASIC CHILD SUPPORT
Include in the obligor's income the child's monthly Social Security retirement or disability benefit if the obligor is receiving the child's benefit. (See Rule 1910.16-2(b)(2)) Do not add child's benefit if included in the obligor's income in line 4. (Do not deduct the child's benefit if the obligor is receiving the child's benefit.)
OBLIGOR OBLIGEE 1. Total Gross Income Per Pay Period ____________ ___________ 2. Less Deductions (____________) (___________) 3. Net Income ____________ ___________ 4. Conversion to Monthly Amount ____________ ___________ (if pay period is other than monthly) 5. Combined Total Monthly Net Income ___________ 6. Plus Child's Monthly Social Security, Death, +___________ Retirement or Disability Derivative Benefit, if any. (See Rule 1910.16-2(b)(2)) 7. Adjusted Combined Monthly Net Income ___________ 8. PRELIMINARY BASIC CHILD SUPPORT ___________ OBLIGATION (determined from schedule at Rule 1910.16-3 based on number of children and line 7 adjusted combined monthly net income) 9. Less Child's Monthly Social Security ___________ Derivative Benefit 10. BASIC CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGATION ___________ 11. Net Income Expressed as a Percentage ___________% ___________% Share of Income (divide line 4 by line 5 and multiply by 100) 12. Each Parent's Monthly Share of the Basic ___________ ___________ Child Support Obligation (multiply line 10 and 11)