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best interest, cash, child, child support, disbursement, dividend, estate, executor, impute, income, inheritance, inter vivos, interest, money, obligation, probate, transfer, trust, wealth, will
It is well established that an inheritance to one party in a marriage is separate property. If that property can be traced, then that party is entitled to recoup that amount.
But what about an inheritance as it relates to child support? There, the law is much foggier and states vary as to how they may treat that money.
The District of Columbia Court of Appeals overviewed the problem in a recent opinion, saying in a footnote,
In some jurisdictions, the entire amount of the inheritance is included as gross income for the purposes of determining child support. Other states, however, have held that only the interest generated by the inheritance constitutes gross income. A third approach, adopted in NEw york, is to treat inheritances as a factor in deviating from the basic child support obligation and awarding additional child support. At least one jurisdiction {Colorado} adopted a hybrid approach, treating only that portion of an inheritance that a parent withdrew and spent as gross income, and the remainder of the inheritance as an interest-generating asset.
While the answer is not straightforward, it is plain enough to see that an inheritance of a relatively significant amount is something that the obligee (custodial parent receiving support) should inquire about with legal counsel. Failure to do so could hurt the parties’ children more than anyone else!
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