What If …?
Income Questions
… I Have A Case With Self-Employment Income?
Enter the income on the Income Page under Net Business Income (Sch. C) or
you can click on the Yes button for “Is Any of the Income from Self-Employment?”
and enter it on that page.
The Alimony Calculator will automatically calculate the self-employment income
tax.
…. I Have Tax-Free Income?
Enter each item of income on the Income Page rather than using the Monthly
Income (gross) box on the Front Page, and enter the tax-free income on the line
called “Nontaxable Income (not included above).”
The Alimony Calculator will automatically calculate the income tax only on the
taxable income and will not calculate tax on the nontaxable income. It will,
however, use the nontaxable income for the purposes of calculating the child
support, disposable income and the like.
… A Spouse Pays Alimony For A Previous Marriage?
You need to enter this under the Adjustments To Income near the bottom of the
Income Page if the alimony is deductible; if it nondeductible, then do not enter it
on the Income.
You will need to enter it, however, in any event on the Front Page in the Child
Support Factors box so that the Alimony Calculator will take it into account in
calculating the Guidelines child support.
Child Support Questions
… I Have A Split Custody Case?
That’s easy. Go to the Front Page and enter the number of children with the
husband and the number of children with the wife under the Child Support
Factors box. The computer will automatically recognize a split custody case if the
are some children with the husband and some with the wife.
… I have a Shared Custody Case?
Go to the Front Page and enter the number of children in either the husband’s box
or the wife’s box under Child Support Factors, depending on who has custody.
Then click the Shared Custody checkbox to the left of that, and a Shared Custody
Box will pop up on the far right side of the screen and you will need to enter the
number of overnight visitations that the noncustodial parent will have.
… I Have A Split Custody Case With Shared Custody (More Than 109
Overnights)?
I have no clue. The Guidelines instructions do not tell us what to do, and any
guess on my part on how to program the Alimony Calculator or the Child Support
Calculator would be a pure guess.
… The Parties’ Incomes Exceed The Guidelines?
If you have a total monthly income for both parties over $20,000, you will be off the
DSS Guidelines charts. The program will recognize that and prompt you to enter
manually a child support number.
I started to write the program to extrapolate the child from the Tables, which may
be fair if the total income is barely off the Tables, but I do not think it is necessarily
fair if the income is way off the Tables. I have not programmed the Alimony
Calculator to extrapolate, out of fear of unfairness at high income levels. I think
the Tables may be worthless if the total income is $30,000 a month, for example.
… I Want To Deviate From The Guidelines?
Enter all of the information of the Front Page as you normally would, but then
simply click the Deviate From The Guidelines box on the Front Page (just to the
left of the STOP button). That will cause a box to appear in the bottom right hand
corner where you can enter the amount of child support you wish to use. You will
also need to designate who will be paying the child support.
Be sure to Uncheck that box when you want to go back to the Guidelines
calculation.
… There Are No Children?
Simply make sure that all of the entries under Child Support Factors on the Front
Page on empty or “0”.
… I Want To Calculate Only Child Support Without All Of These Other
Calculations?
You are far better off to use the All-In-One Child Support Calculator for this, but
you can use the Alimony Calculator for only child support. Here’s how:
Simply enter each parent’s income on the Front Page. You do not need to fill in
the number of exemptions and the filing status.
Then fill out the Child Support Factors boxes on the Front Page.
If alimony is awarded, then put the amount of alimony in the Alimony box at the
bottom left of the Front Page, and then simply click the CALCULATE button (the
blue cash register icon).
Alimony
… I Want The Alimony To Be Nontaxable/Nondeductible?
Go to the Front Page and simply click on the Nontaxable? Box in the bottom right
hand corner. Be careful, though, that you “uncheck” it to calculate the alimony as
taxable/deductible.
Results
… Does The Alimony Calculator Use The Standard Deduction Or Itemized
Deductions?
Actually, both. The program will first calculate the South Carolina Income Tax and
automatically insert that onto the Itemized Deductions Page. You can enter more
itemized deductions if you have that information. Most of the time you will not have
it.
Then the program will calculate the Federal Income Tax, and in doing so, it will
read the total Itemized Deductions and compare that with the Standard Deduction
and automatically choose the higher number. You can tell which deduction it
used for each party by going to the Taxes Page and looking to see if the computer
used the Itemized Deduction or the Standard Deduction for a particular spouse.
… A Party Is Subject To The Alternative Minimum Tax?
You’re out of luck here. I have purposely not put that calculation in since it usually
applies only to high income cases where there are a lot of deductions, losses,
etc. I decided not to include it in order to keep the program as easy to use as
possible. The odds of it making a material difference are slim to none.
… A Party Is Entitled To The Earned Income Tax Credit?
This calculation will be added in the future. It applies only to very low income
cases.
Income Questions
… I Have A Case With Self-Employment Income?
Enter the income on the Income Page under Net Business Income (Sch. C) or
you can click on the Yes button for “Is Any of the Income from Self-Employment?”
and enter it on that page.
The Alimony Calculator will automatically calculate the self-employment income
tax.
…. I Have Tax-Free Income?
Enter each item of income on the Income Page rather than using the Monthly
Income (gross) box on the Front Page, and enter the tax-free income on the line
called “Nontaxable Income (not included above).”
The Alimony Calculator will automatically calculate the income tax only on the
taxable income and will not calculate tax on the nontaxable income. It will,
however, use the nontaxable income for the purposes of calculating the child
support, disposable income and the like.
… A Spouse Pays Alimony For A Previous Marriage?
You need to enter this under the Adjustments To Income near the bottom of the
Income Page if the alimony is deductible; if it nondeductible, then do not enter it
on the Income.
You will need to enter it, however, in any event on the Front Page in the Child
Support Factors box so that the Alimony Calculator will take it into account in
calculating the Guidelines child support.
Child Support Questions
… I Have A Split Custody Case?
That’s easy. Go to the Front Page and enter the number of children with the
husband and the number of children with the wife under the Child Support
Factors box. The computer will automatically recognize a split custody case if the
are some children with the husband and some with the wife.
… I have a Shared Custody Case?
Go to the Front Page and enter the number of children in either the husband’s box
or the wife’s box under Child Support Factors, depending on who has custody.
Then click the Shared Custody checkbox to the left of that, and a Shared Custody
Box will pop up on the far right side of the screen and you will need to enter the
number of overnight visitations that the noncustodial parent will have.
… I Have A Split Custody Case With Shared Custody (More Than 109
Overnights)?
I have no clue. The Guidelines instructions do not tell us what to do, and any
guess on my part on how to program the Alimony Calculator or the Child Support
Calculator would be a pure guess.
… The Parties’ Incomes Exceed The Guidelines?
If you have a total monthly income for both parties over $20,000, you will be off the
DSS Guidelines charts. The program will recognize that and prompt you to enter
manually a child support number.
I started to write the program to extrapolate the child from the Tables, which may
be fair if the total income is barely off the Tables, but I do not think it is necessarily
fair if the income is way off the Tables. I have not programmed the Alimony
Calculator to extrapolate, out of fear of unfairness at high income levels. I think
the Tables may be worthless if the total income is $30,000 a month, for example.
… I Want To Deviate From The Guidelines?
Enter all of the information of the Front Page as you normally would, but then
simply click the Deviate From The Guidelines box on the Front Page (just to the
left of the STOP button). That will cause a box to appear in the bottom right hand
corner where you can enter the amount of child support you wish to use. You will
also need to designate who will be paying the child support.
Be sure to Uncheck that box when you want to go back to the Guidelines
calculation.
… There Are No Children?
Simply make sure that all of the entries under Child Support Factors on the Front
Page on empty or “0”.
… I Want To Calculate Only Child Support Without All Of These Other
Calculations?
You are far better off to use the All-In-One Child Support Calculator for this, but
you can use the Alimony Calculator for only child support. Here’s how:
Simply enter each parent’s income on the Front Page. You do not need to fill in
the number of exemptions and the filing status.
Then fill out the Child Support Factors boxes on the Front Page.
If alimony is awarded, then put the amount of alimony in the Alimony box at the
bottom left of the Front Page, and then simply click the CALCULATE button (the
blue cash register icon).
Alimony
… I Want The Alimony To Be Nontaxable/Nondeductible?
Go to the Front Page and simply click on the Nontaxable? Box in the bottom right
hand corner. Be careful, though, that you “uncheck” it to calculate the alimony as
taxable/deductible.
Results
… Does The Alimony Calculator Use The Standard Deduction Or Itemized
Deductions?
Actually, both. The program will first calculate the South Carolina Income Tax and
automatically insert that onto the Itemized Deductions Page. You can enter more
itemized deductions if you have that information. Most of the time you will not have
it.
Then the program will calculate the Federal Income Tax, and in doing so, it will
read the total Itemized Deductions and compare that with the Standard Deduction
and automatically choose the higher number. You can tell which deduction it
used for each party by going to the Taxes Page and looking to see if the computer
used the Itemized Deduction or the Standard Deduction for a particular spouse.
… A Party Is Subject To The Alternative Minimum Tax?
You’re out of luck here. I have purposely not put that calculation in since it usually
applies only to high income cases where there are a lot of deductions, losses,
etc. I decided not to include it in order to keep the program as easy to use as
possible. The odds of it making a material difference are slim to none.
… A Party Is Entitled To The Earned Income Tax Credit?
This calculation will be added in the future. It applies only to very low income
cases.
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| Traxler Legal Software Solutions, LLC |
| Alimony Calculator - What If ...? |
Alimony Calculator
Child Support Calculator
Equitable Apportionment
Worksheet
Other Useful Links
Child Support Calculator
Equitable Apportionment
Worksheet
Other Useful Links