Can child support be calculated by including non-guaranteed overtime? 

Hello and Thanks for the email. To answer your question fully I need additional information. First I need to know whom you are referring to when you say they. Are you talking about the Friend of the Court, the opposing attorney or the Court. If you are talking about the Friend of the Court or the opposing attorney then they may not be able to add your overtime. The Court will be the best resource for you to determine if the overtime should be included in the child support obligation. I answer questions like these every Sunday from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm on my radio show www.thelawshow.com we aire every sunday from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm from the Detroit Studios of Newstalk AM 760 WJR. You can live stream the show from www.thelawshow.com to hear me, Brian Dailey, founder of the Dailey Law Firm, PC in Royal Oak, MI www.daileylawyers.com. You can also reach me at 866 665 2993 www.86666lawyer.com. Good luck and call me if you need further advice.

Brian Dailey

The Michigan Child Support Guidelines that are currrently in use provide that where monthly income varies due to seasonal factors (for example, overtime, second jobs, bonuses or profit shating) income includes those factors and the lookback period for calculating income is one year.  Where income varies considerably year-to-year due to the nature of the parnt's work, it is recommended that three years information be used to determnine that parent's income.  The court can consider evidence showing that that overtime, second job, or other types of income will vary in the future.

As you can see the possebilities of whether overtime will be considered vary with the facts of the case and in many instances will vary depending on the mind set of the Judge who is hearing the case.  This should be thoroughly explored with your attorney or the one you hire. 

In order to ensure grater uniformity in child support awards, The Michigan Child Support Formula was developed to assist judges, friends of the court, and attorneys in recommending and establishing child support obligations.  While this formula is used in determining the amount of the award to be established, the formula can also be used in modifying the support order as well. 

Specifically, under this formula overtime is be considered as income when computing an award of child support even if it is not guaranteed.  However, evidence produced that overtime hours will be changed in the future may be considered.  Additionally, there may be special cases where the formula cannot be relied on exclusively.  For these cases, the formula will provide the court and friend of the court with points of reference from which a support determination can be made.

At this point, you should consult directly with a divorce/family law attorney in your area.  In the  meantime, here is a link to a site that you might find to be of help:  http://courts.mi.gov/scao/resources/publications/manuals/focb/2004MCSFmanual.pdf