Bonuses, Variable income & Commissions

In Georgia, your monthly income is one of the key numbers used when calculating your monthly amount of child support to be paid. What if your income varies from month to month? What if you work a job where commissions, tips or bonuses are irregular or difficult to accurately predict? Even if your income is variable, you will still need to enter in a monthly income in the Online Child Support Calculator to determine the correct child support amount. Variable income generally includes commissions, bonuses, overtime pay, and dividends. Accordingly, if either parent receives variable income such as this, the court presiding over the case will average the income in a way that is reasonable under the circumstances of the case. The court will then add the averaged amount to the parent's fixed salary or wages to determine gross income.

What about a situation where the income is received on an irregular or one time basis? In this situation an average might not be an equitable resolution. Therefore, if the income is received on an irregular or one time basis, the court may, but is not required to, order the parent to pay a percentage of the variable income to the custodial parent as a one-time support amount. If you have variable income in your case, it's a good idea to talk with your family law lawyer about how your monthly income will be calculated so that you can accurately predict what your child support payment amount might be.