Author: Daniel Caine

In marriage dissolution cases, the alimony and child support you calculate depend on the parties’ net incomes. “Net income” Seems like a simple concept. But sometimes it is not so simple to figure out the amount of money that is actually available to spend. Often during divorce, the client who will be required to pay […]

Many state child support statutes are fuzzy when parents have exactly equal parenting arrangements. Let’s consider Colorado, for one example. In Colorado, the question is whether we should calculate exactly equal parenting as “shared” or as “split” custody. Under the statute, “shared” physical care means that each parent keeps the children overnight for more than […]

As the global pandemic began to impact the U.S. economy, Congress passed sweeping legislation in an attempt to deal with the anticipated fallout. First, Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Shortly thereafter Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Between the two acts there are provisions that […]

Let’s look at the hypothetical case of a state trooper who has been working 10 years. His accrued pension benefit is $2,500 a month. If he works another 10 years, his accrued pension benefit will be $4,500 a month. He is 52 years old and seems likely to work until regular retirement at age 62. […]

In some states, including California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, current alimony is a factor in calculating child support. What if the party is paying the negotiated monthly alimony in a lump sum instead of monthly? How should child support reflect that fact? One approach would be to calculate […]

A client receives income from a private disability policy that is not subject to income tax. Where do we enter this amount and show it is not taxable? Go to Client Info > Income & Expenses > Wage-Like Income. Scroll down to the line for disability income Check the box next to the entry for […]

If judge says, “Impute $25,000 of income,” how should I treat that income for tax purposes — as pre-tax or after-tax? Ultimately, it comes down to the imputation of income – was it intended to be gross or net? While it is true the party with imputed income will not be paying taxes on that […]

We have a new system for working with client online files. It allows you to view and edit the same file the client is currently working in. Start by going to the screen where you opening create files, and click the link labeled “Register Client.” Once the client has created their file, what you do […]

We have updated the generational adjustment table of the RP-2014 table to use the Mortality Improvement Scale 2018. Our observation is that pension values calculated using the RP-2014 table are now slightly lower than before. Presumably, this reflects the widely-documented decline in life expectancy in recent years.