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Chapter: 2400 Budgeting Income Program: FS 6 2410.0332 Determining the Deduction Amount (FS) Once the legal obligation has been established, the amount of child support payment to be budgeted must be determined. The legally obligated amount, including arrearages and payments to obtain court ordered health insurance coverage for the child(ren), will be allowed in determining the amount of the deduction. Additionally, child support payments made to a third party (e.g., a landlord or utility company) on behalf of the CP in accordance with a court or administrative order shall be included in the child support deduction. The amount of the payments which is allowed as a deduction in the food stamp budget may not exceed the legal obligation unless the excess amount is being paid against past child support debt (arrearage).

Health insurance costs as a result of a legal obligation to provide health insurance can be allowed as a deduction only when there is an actual out-of-pocket expense due to providing the insurance. If the NCP has a family coverage policy and adding the child(ren) for whom child support is provided does not increase the cost of the policy, no deduction for providing the coverage can be allowed.

Important: A three month (twelve week) average of child support payments will be used to determine the amount of the deduction to be allowed. The average over this period will be obtained based on the frequency of payment, i.e., weekly, biweekly, twice a month or monthly. The eligibility specialist must consider any anticipated changes in the legal obligation or other changes that may affect the amount paid. Care must be taken not to allow more than the legally obligated monthly amount unless the excess is toward a verified arrearage.

If, at the time of application or of initially allowing the deduction, the NCP does not have a three- month record of payment, the eligibility specialist will base the deduction allowed on anticipated payments, exclusive of payments toward arrearages. 2410.0333 Changes in the Obligation/Payment (FS) The non-custodial parent is required to report changes in the legal obligation (court order) to pay child support within 10 days.

The non-custodial parent is not required to report changes in the actual payments made during the current certification period. However, at the next certification action, the AG in which the non- custodial parent is included must report any change in payment and the eligibility specialist must verify and budget the change(s). 2410.0334 Verification of Obligation/Payment (FS) Before we can allow the deduction, the AG must provide verification of the legal obligation by providing a copy of a court or administrative order, or staff may access electronic Child Support Enforcement (CSE) information on the following FLORIDA screens: AIAC, FMCA, IICH, QUAP, QUCP, FMCH, FMCS and IICM. The AG must also verify that the child support payments are being made, as documents verifying the AG's legal obligation to pay child support do not provide verification of actual child support payments.

When the non-custodial parent (NCP) claims an arrearage as a part of his child support payment, the payment of the arrearage must be verified. We cannot allow the arrearage payment as part of the deduction if we counted the money involved in the arrearage payment as a regular child support payment.

The actual payment of child support and the amount paid must be verified before the deduction can be allowed and at each recertification. Acceptable forms of verification for the actual payment of child support include, but are not limited to:

1. canceled checks, 2. wage withholding statements,