Travel Nursing Stipend and Child Support

RN9742 · Jul 17, 2015

Why did everyone assume he was trying to pay less support? Maybe he is just trying to ensure he is paying the correct amount (which is often a set percentage of gross pay) whether it be more or less is irrelevant.

As for what is considered part of your gross pay, I would advise seeking the advice of an attorney in the state that the child support is ordered through. State laws vary on what is considered income. For example when my husband's ex took him to court for an increase, she attempted to get a full percentage of his military pay including housing and such, however the judge only considered his base pay. (Which surprised both me and my husband, who is not a deadbeat).

NedRN · Jul 17, 2015

I'm surprised about the base pay too, but judges have a lot of power and there may be other circumstances that we don't know about. I doubt that court orders allow a floating percentage of gross pay on the honor system, it is usually a set amount per month for child support until a change by either party is requested. Regardless, if there is any question about a particular case, it should be posed to the courts or personal lawyer, not to an unrelated non-legal forum. I have no doubt there are support sites that might be able to provide better guidance than this one, but often forum posts are made to elicit support for one's position and only those replies are considered. Human nature.

Travel nurse pay takes advantage of what is effectively a loophole in the tax law. Business travel reimbursement is based on short term hotel rates, not 3 month apartment rentals. Thus travelers who work away from their tax home can usually pocket the excess. Nothing wrong with that, it is completely legal, and the "loophole" has too many advantages for both the IRS and regular business travelers (actually their employers) for it to be changed. However, as I mentioned earlier in this thread, the total compensation is rightly considered for workers comp claims, support, and mortgage applications. However, not all judges or bank officers will see it that way no matter how obvious it is.

Trauma Columnist · Jul 17, 2015

The OP has received good advice to contact an attorney and on this note, this thread is closed.