Alimony you pay to the other parent is not subtracted from your gross income when Georgia child support is calculated, but the court may treat the payments as a deviation from the presumptive amount if it says so in writing.
What the Statute Says
Under OCGA 19-6-15(i)(2)(F), “[a]ctual payments of alimony shall not be considered as a deduction from gross income but may be considered as a deviation from the presumptive amount of child support,” and “[i]f the court or the jury considers the actual payment of alimony, the court shall make a written finding of such consideration.” The receiving side matches: under OCGA 19-6-15(f)(1)(A)(xxi), gross income includes only “[a]limony or maintenance received from persons other than parties to the proceeding before the court,” so alimony from the other parent in the same case is not the recipient’s income either.
How It Works
Alimony is set on its own factors, described in our post on factors that affect alimony awards in Georgia, and none of the Schedule B adjustments in our post on Georgia’s income shares model subtracts it. The deviation is the only route into the calculation, and it needs the findings described in our post on required findings for deviations.
Alimony Cannot Replace Child Support
In Hardman v. Hardman, 295 Ga. 732 (2014), a settlement agreement had the father pay $7,000 a month in “alimony” and no child support, and the worksheet erased his $2,127 presumptive child support with a downward deviation for “alimony paid.” The Supreme Court observed that the arrangement “appears contrary to Georgia law, because divorcing parents may not agree to waive child support to augment the amount of alimony,” that the deviation did not match the alimony figure, and that the required findings were missing. It also flagged, without deciding, whether alimony paid between the same parties supports the deviation at all, since that alimony is not income to the recipient.
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!