Sec. 1. 19-A MRSA §2001, sub-§5, ¶¶A and E, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 and affected by Pt. E, §2, are amended to read:

A. Gross income includes income from an ongoing source, including, but not limited to, salaries, wages, commissions, royalties, bonuses, dividends, severance pay, pensions, interest, trust funds, annuities, capital gains, social security benefits, disability insurance benefits, prizes, workers' compensation benefits, spousal support actually received pursuant to a preexisting order from a spouse who is not the parent of the child for whom support is being determined, and educational grants, fellowships or subsidies that are available for personal living expenses. Gross income does not include child support received by either party for children other than children the child for whom support is being determined.

E. Gross income of an obligor does not include the amount of preexisting spousal maintenance to a former spouse who is not the parent of the child for whom support is being determined or a child support obligation actually paid pursuant to court or administrative order, or an appropriate amount of child support being voluntarily paid by a party who has a legal obligation to support that child.

SUMMARY

This bill clarifies that spousal support is not considered as part of the gross income of the recipient of child support in the computation of child support for the children of the marriage in an initial child support order and in any subsequent child support computation on an ensuing motion for children of that marriage.

Spousal support from the child support payor to the recipient is not considered in the recipient's gross income in the initial computation of child support for children of the marriage because there is not a preexisting spousal support order. See the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 19-A, section 2001, subsection 5, paragraph A. Rather, the court first computes child support and then considers whether spousal support should also be ordered depending on the factors set forth in Title 19-A, section 951-A, subsection 5.

When child support is modified in a subsequent proceeding, however, there exists confusion over whether spousal support from