Under New Hampshire law, child support is generally calculated by using both parties’ monthly gross income. While this number is fairly easily to calculate if both parties are W-2 wage earners, it is more complicated when one of the parties is self- employed.
In October 2012, the New Hampshire Supreme Court clarified how a court calculates a child support obligation when the obligor is self-employed. In the case of In re: Woosley, the New Hampshire Supreme Court held that a obligor’s gross income is not the same as his business’ gross income. To calculate child support with a self-employed obligor, the Supreme Court stated that the obligor’s gross income is the gross income of the business less the business expenses.
In cases involving self-employed parties, the examination of the business tax returns and profit and loss sheets become very important as it is quite possible for a person to incorrectly inflate business expenses to thereby lower their gross income and thus their child support obligation.
Andrew J. Piela is a Director at Hamblett & Kerrigan, P.A. Mr. Piela concentrates his practice in civil litigation, family law, probate and land use litigation. You can reach Attorney Piela by e-mail at [email protected].