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MS 5510

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Volume 2 - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) MS 5510 - R. 12/15/25 – OMTL - 686 Child Support Deduction

Allow a child support deduction for household members who are legally obligated to pay and are verified as paying child support for an individual living outside the household. The deduction is based on the amount of legally obligated child support the household pays, or expects to pay, during the certification period. Do not allow more than the legally obligated amount unless the excess is toward a verified arrearage. The child support payments may be paid directly to the custodial parent or other caretaker, or paid through a third party, such as a court. Alimony or spousal support payments, or payments made in accordance with a property settlement, are not allowable as part of the child support deduction.

Example: An individual is court-ordered to pay $550 in current child support obligation and $50 in arrearages, a total of $600 per month. An application is taken in April; January, February, and March are considered when reviewing the prior three months payments. The individual paid an average of $650 in the prior three months. In this situation, no more than the $600 court-ordered obligation (current and arrearage) is allowed as a deduction, based on the verified payments and court-ordered amount.

There are situations in which an obligation to pay child support may continue even if the child, or the child and the other parent, resides in the same household as the individual paying the child support. This may occur if the child moves back and forth between parents or if the payer has a continuing obligation to make arrearage payments to the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) after the family is reunited. Do not allow a child support deduction if the payments are made to a household member. Payments to an individual or agency outside the household are allowable, even if the child for whom the support is paid is a household member.

Allow a deduction only for payments that are paid or anticipated to be paid on a continuing basis. Allow a deduction for amounts collected from income, such as Unemployment Insurance Benefit (UIB) intercepts, salary garnishments, and income tax refund intercepts. For child support collected through tax intercept, allow the household the option of using it as a one-time deduction or having it averaged over the certification period.

If a household member reports paying legally obligated child support to someone outside the household, the system forwards that information to DCSS. DCSS then matches it against their files and sends information back to the system.