Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Support
When calculating retroactive child support, if there is evidence of the parties’ actual incomes for the retroactive period, the court usually must use the actual income rather than the parties’ current incomes. This is because it may be unfair to apply current incomes if one parent’s income was much lower or much higher during the retroactive period. This was an issue in the case Rouson v. DOR, 2D2024-0107 (Fla. 2d DCA January 3, 2025).
In this administrative child support case, the court used the parties’ current incomes to calculate retroactive support. However, the father offered evidence of his actual income during the retroactive period which was different from his current income. The court entered a judgment which did not include child support guidelines. The father appealed.
The appellate court held “Here, the final order reflects that the ALJ was provided with records showing Rouson's actual income during the retroactive time period but that the ALJ failed to use this evidence to calculate his support obligation. We therefore reverse and remand to the Department of Administrative Hearings for recalculation of the retroactive support award in accordance with section 61.30(1)(a).”
The court concluded, “Finally, as the parties correctly point out, the ALJ failed to incorporate a child support guidelines worksheet in the final order. Without a guidelines worksheet, we cannot determine whether an award of retroactive child support is supported by the evidence. Thus, on remand, the ALJ is directed to attach a child support guidelines worksheet to the amended final order.”
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