Lance J. Nelson, Esquire

Lump sum inheritances generally escape consideration under current child support guidelines

Are you divorced and paying child support? Have you recently inherited some money and wonder if this will increase your child support payments? The Pennsylvania Supreme Court tackled this question in Humphreys v. DeRoss, concluding that lump sum inheritances are not income and should not always increase child support payments.

Section 4322 of Pennsylvania's Divorce Code requires courts to follow established guidelines when they are computing child support obligations. Under Rule 1910.16-2(a)(8), these guidelines automatically include certain lump sum awards, such as lottery winnings, income tax refunds, insurance settlements, and verdicts. As a result, these kinds of awards can increase child support obligations. A second provision of Rule 1910.16-2 states that "income from an interest in an estate or trust" is also a part of a person's monthly gross income covered by the guidelines. Given these provisions, the question posed by Humphreys is: How can lump sum inheritances escape both of these rules and have no effect on child support?

The Court's Reasoning
The Supreme Court provided a simple answer. Neither of the rules specifically includes lump sum inheritances. A more complicated explanation involves the goals behind the rules.

Pennsylvania's child support guidelines are organized "so that persons similarly situated shall be treated similarly." To achieve this goal, the guidelines consider the net incomes and earning capacities of the parties when calculating child support. In Humphreys, the Court explained how including lump sum inheritances as income under the guidelines would defy the goals of the Divorce Code.

For an illustration of the Court's reasoning, consider the following example. Imagine that you have just inherited $50,000. Your short-term income would obviously increase, and the money would probably go to purchases, investments or savings. Now imagine that you have received a $50,000 pay raise. The raise would probably be used to meet daily living expenses, and could eventually support a heightened standard of living. Clearly, the two scenarios are not alike, and will not be treated similarly under the newly defined lump sum inheritance exception.

Exceptions
While lump sum inheritances generally escape consideration under the support guidelines, Humphreys does not guarantee that the Court will ignore inheritances in all cases. Divorce courts can still use their discretion to stray from the guidelines and increase child support payments in cases where an inheritance makes more income available for support.

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