Summary
The North Dakota Supreme Court reviewed a modification of Paul Reed’s child support obligation. The court held that military disability benefits and military pension payments are generally income, but pension amounts allocated as the former spouses’ property in prior divorce proceedings are not Paul Reed’s income for child support purposes. The court reversed and remanded for recalculation of child support using the corrected income amount.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether military disability benefits and military pension payments are income under the North Dakota child support guidelines.
- Whether military pension amounts allocated to former spouses as property under prior divorce judgments are income of the obligor for child support purposes.
- Whether the monthly Survivor Benefit Plan payment must be included in the obligor's income.
Holdings
- Military disability benefits and military pension payments payable to the obligor fall within the broad statutory and regulatory definitions of income for child support purposes.
- Retirement benefits allocated to former spouses as property in prior divorce proceedings are not income of the obligor for child support purposes.
- The $189.72 monthly Survivor Benefit Plan payment was properly included in Paul's income because it was not included in the property division of the divorce judgment.
Key quotations
“The definition of income is “very broad and is intended to include any form of payment to an obligor, regardless of source, which is not specifically excluded under the guidelines.”” (¶ 5)
“Paul Reed’s monthly gross income includes $1,541.25 from his military pension and $2,571.85 from his military disability benefit, totaling $4,113.10.” (¶ 10)
Factual background
Paul Reed and Ellen Reed were previously married and share three children. After their 2017 divorce, Ellen received primary residential responsibility and Paul was ordered to pay child support. Paul received a monthly military disability benefit of $2,571.85 and a military pension of $2,491.00, from which $622.75 was paid to his first ex-wife and $327.00 was allocated to Ellen under prior property divisions; his first ex-wife also received a $189.72 Survivor Benefit Plan payment. The district court included all amounts in Paul's gross income and modified his monthly child support obligation to $1,657.
Procedural history
Paul Reed and Ellen Reed divorced in 2017, with Ellen receiving primary residential responsibility and Paul ordered to pay child support. In 2022, the State moved to modify Paul's child support obligation. The district court included Paul's military disability benefit and full military pension in his income, declined to deduct pension amounts allocated to his former wives, and set monthly child support at $1,657. The North Dakota Supreme Court reversed and remanded for findings and recalculation consistent with its opinion.
Remand instructions
The district court must recalculate Paul's child support obligation using monthly gross income of $4,113.10, consisting of $1,541.25 from his military pension and $2,571.85 from his military disability benefit, and make findings consistent with the opinion.