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Ordinarily, the court will determine income from verified financial declarations required by the Family Court rules. However, in the absence of any financial declaration, or where the amounts reflected on the financial declaration may be an issue, the court may rely on suitable documentation of current earnings, preferably for at least one month, using such documents as pay stubs, employer statements, receipts and expenses if the parent is self-employed, and oral testimony provided under oath. Verification of current earnings, whether reflected on a financial declaration or not, can be supported with copies of the most recent tax returns filed by the payer. Income can also be verified through the Employment Security Commission or through the State Department of Revenue. 7. Monthly Alimony (this action) Any award of alimony between the parties should be taken into consideration by the court when utilizing these guidelines as a deduction from the payer spouse’s gross income, and as gross income received by the recipient spouse. Because of their unique nature, lump sum, rehabilitative reimburse- ment, or any other alimony the court may award, may be considered by the court as a possible reason for deviation from these guidelines. The purpose of this adjustment is not to give priority to alimony or child support payments, but to recognize that each parent’s proportional share of total combined monthly income changes with the introduction of any alimony award between the parties, and to provide for a sharing of the Total Combined Monthly Child Support Obligation based upon each parent’s actual percentage share of the total combined monthly income, taking into consideration the financial impact of any alimony award between them, rather than the parent’s share of the total combined monthly income as it existed before any alimony award. Accordingly, the court, in its discretion, may consider any modification or termination of any alimony award between the parties of a child support award made under these guidelines. This adjustment does not affect the Total Combined Monthly Child Support Obligation of both parents as determined under these guidelines, which may be determined before any determination on the issue of alimony, as the total combined monthly income of both parties will remain the same irrespective of any income shifting between the parents as the result of an alimony award. 8. Other Monthly Alimony or Child Support Paid Any previous or existing court orders requiring the payment of child support, alimony, or both, should be protected by any subsequent child support order. Alimony actually paid as a result of another marriage or child support actually paid for the benefit of children other than those considered in this computation, to the extent such payment or payments are required by a previous or existing court order, should be deducted from gross income. 9. Other Children in the Home Either parent shall receive credit for additional natural or adopted children living in the home, but not for step-children, unless a court order establishes a legal responsibility. Such credit shall be given whether or not such children are supported by a third party. The basis of this is to recognize the responsibility of the parent to whom support is owed and share in supporting those other children in the home just like that parent’s responsibility and share to the child or children in the present calculation. Using the income of the parent with the additional child(ren) in the home only, the basic child support obligation for the number of additional dependents living with that parent (from the Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations) is determined for that parent. This figure is multiplied by .75 and the resulting credit is subtracted from that parent’s gross income. 10. Basic Child Support Obligation The court can determine the basic child support obligation using the Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations. ‘‘Combined gross income’’ refers to the combined monthly gross incomes of the parents. Where combined gross income amounts fall between the amounts reflected in the Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations, the court is encouraged to extrapolate upwardly to set the basic award. The number of children refers to that number for whom the parents share support responsibility and for whom support is being sought. 11. Self Support Reserve A self support reserve allows a low-income parent with the legal duty to pay support to retain a minimal amount of income before being assessed a full percentage of child support. This insures that the parent with the legal duty to pay support has sufficient income available to maintain a minimum