Since the 1989 enactment of the Child Support Standards Act (CSSA) there has been a fair measure of confusion with respect to the treatment of inter-parental maintenance payments vis-à-vis the determination of parental income for child support purposes. The statute is clear that spousal maintenance paid by one parent to the other entitles the payor to a deduction from CSSA income, provided the order contains a specific prospective adjustment of the child support amount at such time as the maintenance obligation may terminate.
The impact of that specific adjustment on the parties’ right to modification, however, has been somewhat less clear. Additionally, the flip-side of the issue, to wit, whether the maintenance is to be added to the payee’s income for child support purposes, has proven particularly vexatious. This article will explore recent legislation that brings greater clarity to these issues.1
