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A Guide To Tennessee Income Shares - DHS Rule Chapter 1240-2-4 - Tennessee
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Tennessee Department of Human Services Child Support Division A Guide to Tennessee Income Shares DHS Rule Chapter 1240-2-4 2004 Edition November 4, 2004 11-04-04 Version American LegalNet, Inc. www.USCourtForms.com TABLE OF CONTENTS I. II. III. Background............................................................... Basic Guidelines Introduction......................................... Calculation Tools...................................................... Child Support Schedule IV. Gross Income Calculations............................................ Adjustments to Income ................................................ 3 3 6 7 8 8 Other Income Considerations ......................................... 11 Willfully and Voluntarily Unemployment or Underemployment....................................................... Determining Each Parent's Percentage of Financial Responsibility............................................................. Determining the Basic Child Support Obligation................. Parenting Time Adjustment.......................................... Adding Mandatory Expenses......................................... Adjusted Support Obligation and Presumptive Child Support Order .................................. Deviations................................................................. Modifications ............................................................ Retroactive Support .................................................... Worksheets ............................................................... 11 V. VI. VII. VIII. 13 13 14 15 IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. 16 17 22 23 25 11-04-04 Version American LegalNet, Inc. www.USCourtForms.com I. Background The Child Support Amendments of 1984 (PL 98-378), 42 U.S.C. §§ 653-669, in particular §667 and 45 C.F.R. § 302.56, are part of the federal law implementing Title IV-D of the Social Security Act which establishes the processes and procedures for the operation of a child support enforcement program in every state. These provisions require that states establish guidelines for setting child support award amounts. The Guidelines, which are rebuttable presumptions, must be applied by all persons in the state whose duty it is to set child support award amounts in all child support cases. In Tennessee, these requirements are implemented pursuant to T.C.A. §§36-5-101(e); 71-1105(12), (16), and 71-1-132. Current Guidelines appear in Chapter 1240-2-4 of the Rules of the Tennessee Department of Human Services. The Department of Human Services, after two years of study and public comment, has elected to implement the Income Shares model to replace the existing Flat Percentage of income model. The Department first proposed Rules for the Income Shares model, now used in over thirty (30) other states, in the filing of a Notice of Rulemaking with the Secretary of State in March 2004. The Rules upon which this Guide is based are substantially different from that initial proposal. This Guide references Chapter 1240-2-4 of the Rules of the Department. The existing rules regarding the Flat Percentage model will be repealed and the new Income Shares Guidelines are implemented in the same Chapter. The new rules become effective on January 18, 2005. The Rules may be found at: http://www.state.tn.us/humanserv/is/incomeshares.htm II. Basic Guidelines Introduction A. Income: Reference: 1240-2-4-.04(3) The Incomes Shares rules consider the gross income, with some exceptions, from a wide variety of sources for both parents of the child for whom support is being set instead of only considering the net income of only the obligor as the Flat Percentage guidelines do. One of the basic concepts of Income Shares is that each parent's percentage share of the combined income of the parents is used to allocate responsibility for the support obligation for basic support and for mandatory expenses. This percentage of income (PI) is obtained by dividing each parent's adjusted gross income by the total combined adjusted gross income of both parties. B. Credits: Reference: 1240-2-4-.04(5) Credits for pre-existing orders are still available if support under those orders is being paid. No credits will be given for payments on arrears, however. In addition, parents may be able to use credits against the gross income calculation for other children for whom they are legally responsible and for whom they are actually supporting, even if they are not under an existing support order, and even if the children do not live with the parent claiming the support credit. Page 3 American LegalNet, Inc. www.USCourtForms.com C. Child Support Schedule: Reference: 1240-2-4-.09 A Child Support Schedule with pre-calculated support amounts for different numbers of children at different levels of combined parental income and with tax considerations included in the combined obligation, is used to determine the basic child support obligation before the addition of expenses for medical insurance and work-related child care, which are a required consideration in determining the amount of support if they exits, and before further adjustments for greater or less parenting time allowed by the Rules. D. Parenting Time Adjustments: Reference: 1240-2-4-.03(6)(e) The parent who resides more than fifty percent (50%) of the time with the child is called the "Primary Residential Parent" (PRP) instead of the "custodial parent" or "obligee". The parent who resides less than fifty percent (50%) of the time with the child is called the "Alternate Residential Parent" (ARP) instead of the "non-custodial parent" or "obligor". These new terms are consistent with those used in T.C.A. § 36-6-402 relative to Parenting Plans. Although there exist as many parenting plans as there are cases, the Department has divided cases into two (2) basic types for the purposes of determining the basic child support obligation and any adjustments to the basic support obligation for variations in parenting time: 1. - "Standard" parenting, in which all of the children being supported by the order in a case reside more than fifty percent (50%) of the time with the same parent, even though the exact time the different children who are subject to the order spend with each parent may not be the same (Reference: 1240-2-4-.02(23)); and 2. - "Split" parenting, in which the case has at least two (2) children and each parent resides with at least one (1) child more than fifty percent (50%) of the time. (Reference: 1240-2-4-.02(
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