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Chapter: 1800 Income Program: MSSI, SFP 20 1840.0700 SUPPORT (MSSI, SFP) Support payments are those funds paid by a legal or non-legal parent intended for the support or maintenance of a member of the SFU. This income is included as unearned income.

Examples of support payments that are included as unearned income are:

1. voluntary and court ordered child support payments received from a legal or non-legal parent; 2. monies received to pay basic living expenses; and 3. income received for additional living expenses such as recreation and transportation.

The income is considered Child Support income to the child for whom the payment is intended. 1840.0705 Alimony (MSSI, SFP) Alimony is court ordered payment by a spouse or former spouse to an individual. An individual's countable income cannot be reduced because the court has ordered part of that income to be paid to a spouse. Court ordered support received by the spouse is unearned income. This applies even if the individual is institutionalized.

A legal agreement or court order alone does not constitute income. The payment must actually be received. 1840.0706 Child Support (MSSI, SFP) Child support is payment from an absent parent to a child. One third of the child support payment for a minor child is excluded; the remainder is unearned income. Child support payments for an adult disabled child are not subject to the one-third exclusion.

For ICP, Hospice, HCBS and Institutional Hospice, the full amount of child support is included as unearned income.

A legal agreement or court order alone does not constitute income. The payment must actually be received. 1840.0708 Child Support Arrearages (MSSI, SFP) Payment of child support from an absent parent to a child is considered fulfillment of a legal obligation to support the child. Count gross income in the budgeting process for the payor even when child support payments are garnished or withheld from income.

An exception to the above policy in a deeming budget when an ineligible spouse, ineligible parent, ineligible child or eligible noncitizen makes the child support payments. In these cases, exclude actual child support payments made up to the amount of court ordered child support. 1840.0709 Receipt of Child Support Arrearages (MSSI, SFP) Child support arrearages payments received from an absent parent by a parent on behalf of a minor child are considered income to the minor child. Child support arrearage payments received from an absent parent by a parent on behalf of an adult child and retained by the parent are not income to the adult child. Consider child support arrearage payments retained by the parent and not given to the adult child as income to the parent.

Any portion of the arrearage payments received from the absent parent by the parent and given to the adult child would be income to the adult child would be income to the adult child in the month given.