Do Veteran Disability Benefits Count as Income for Utah Child Support?

You would think that figuring out income for Utah child support would be easy, right?

Like everything in the law, it’s not as easy as it should be. Something things are included, and some things aren’t.

For instance, wages up to a forty-hour-per week job count, but not wages from a second twenty-hour-week job.

On the other hand, rental income from a trust would count as income.

Veteran Disability Benefits

There are quite a few veterans in Utah. Quite a few of those veterans served during the Iraq War (and other conflicts), and suffered injuries, which means they receive veteran disability benefits every month.

The question becomes: are those benefits counted as income when we calculating Utah child support?

The answer is yes they are.

Utah law specifically addresses these benefits and includes them in the definition of income:

“Income” means earnings, compensation, or other payment due to an individual, regardless of source, whether denominated as wages, salary, commission, bonus, pay, allowances, contract payment, or otherwise, including severance pay, sick pay, and incentive pay. “Income” includes:

(a) all gain derived from capital assets, labor, or both, including profit gained through sale or conversion of capital assets;

(b) interest and dividends;

(c) periodic payments made under pension or retirement programs or insurance policies of any type;

(d) unemployment compensation benefits;

(e) workers’ compensation benefits; and

(f) disability benefits.

What This Means

What this means is if you receive veteran disability benefits, then that amount will be tacked on your regular monthly wage (if you have one) when calculating child support.

So, If you make $5000 per month at your job, and you receive $2000 per month in disability benefits from the VA, your income for child support purposes would be $7000 per month.