The Support Impact screen is great for helping clients understand key aspects of the situation, including the following:
- What the bottom line of each party will look like given the numbers you have entered.
- The impact of child support, spousal support, and taxes on the situation.
- The percent of combined after-tax funds that each party will be receiving.
The chart on the screen has four bars.
The two bars on the left show gross incomes of each party.
The two bars on the right show incomes of each party after child support, spousal support, and taxes.
Typically, the values shown in the two bars on the right will be closer to each other, because of the leveling effect of child support, spousal support, and taxes.
The closer together the bars are, the more the situation has been leveled by child support, spousal support, and taxes.
Looking at the numbers in the chart at the top of the screen, you will see on the line labeled “% of combined” the percent of the combined cash available after taxes that each party is receiving.
This is another measure of the equity of the child support and spousal support.
(If you want to find out how much alimony or spousal support is needed to reach a desired percent of combined cash available, click on the Meet Recipient Need screen on the Analysis tab.)
You can click a link in the middle of the page for the Expanded Report.
At the top of the screen, you will see options to display values for the current year and the next year.
The reason we do this is that the child and spousal support in the current year may not start until midyear.
The next year will include the full year of both child support and spousal support.
Note that the software automatically increases wages and expenses for inflation, and so the gross income numbers will be different in the next year than in the current year.
At the top of the screen, there is a link for options.
One option is the ability to show or hide living expenses.
If you include living expenses, you will get a true bottom line after expenses for each party.
If you hide living expenses, you will show only the income after taxes, that is, the income available to pay living expenses.
A second option allows you to change the time period for the display.
The third option concerns the items that are deductible in the calculation of “Income After Taxes.” The more items you include, the closer the result is to a measure of income after all non-discretionary expenditures have been made. The fewer items you include, the closer the result is to simply income after taxes.