In the Matter of Marriage of Stokes

228 P.3d 701, 234 Or. App. 566, 2010 Ore. App. LEXIS 298
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedMarch 31, 2010
Docket050665; A136795
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 228 P.3d 701 (In the Matter of Marriage of Stokes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In the Matter of Marriage of Stokes, 228 P.3d 701, 234 Or. App. 566, 2010 Ore. App. LEXIS 298 (Or. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

*568 ORTEGA, J.

Wife appeals a judgment dissolving the parties’ marriage. She assigns error to the trial court’s calculation of child support, to the calculation of her share of husband’s military pension, to the trial court’s failure to require husband to elect a survivor’s annuity, and to the trial court’s allowance of an offset of temporary spousal and child support arrearages. Because we agree with wife that the trial court erred in each respect, on de novo review, ORS 19.415 (2007), 1 we remand the judgment for entry of a modified judgment.

The facts are largely undisputed. Husband and wife were married in January 1993 and have one child, a son, born in 1997. At the time of trial in August 2006, wife was 34 years old and husband was 36. Husband has been in the Air Force since 1991. He was stationed overseas from August 2003 to August 2004, and when he returned, the parties separated. We will describe other facts later on as they pertain to the issues discussed.

The first issue on appeal concerns the calculation of child support — specifically, whether husband’s military allowances for housing and food are included in his “gross income” for the purpose of calculating his child support obligation. The “basic allowance for housing” (BAH) is a monthly sum paid to active duty members of the military who do not reside in government-supplied housing and is intended to offset the cost of civilian housing. 37 USC § 403(a)(1). The amount varies according to the member’s pay grade, geographic location, and dependency status. Id. The “basic allowance for sustenance” (BAS) is an additional monthly sum paid to active duty members to subsidize the cost of meals purchased for the benefit of the individual member on or off base. 37 USC § 402(a)(1). Both allowances are excluded from gross income for federal income tax purposes. 26 USC § 134(a) (“Gross income shall not include any qualified military benefit.”). Together, husband’s BAH and BAS come to about $1,275 per month, and that amount is included in his semi-monthly paychecks.

*569 The trial court ruled that, because husband’s BAH and BAS are excluded from income for federal income tax purposes, they do not constitute income for purposes of calculating child support. On appeal, wife contends that, although the BAH and BAS are not subject to federal income taxation, they are nonetheless part of husband’s “gross income,” as that term is defined in the Child Support Guidelines, OAR 137-050-0340. Husband contends that the guidelines unambiguously exclude those allowances from gross income.

ORS 107.105(l)(c) is the source of the trial court’s authority to make provision in the dissolution judgment “for the support of the children of the marriage by the parties.” The trial court is required to calculate the amount of support by using the formula established pursuant to ORS 25.275. ORS 107.105(l)(c).

ORS 25.275 provides, in part:

“(1) The Division of Child Support of the Department of Justice shall establish by rule a formula for determining child support awards in any judicial or administrative proceeding. In establishing the formula, the division shall take into consideration the following criteria:
“(a) All earnings, income and resources of each parent, including real and personal property;
^ ‡ ‡
“(2) The formula described in subsection (1) of this section must also comply with the following standards:
“(a) The child is entitled to benefit from the income of both parents to the same extent that the child would have benefited had the family unit remained intact or if there had been an intact family unit consisting of both parents and the child.
“(b) Both parents should share in the costs of supporting the child in the same proportion as each parent’s income bears to the combined income of both parents.”

The Oregon Department of Justice has, in turn, developed a formula for the calculation of child support, and that formula is set forth in the Oregon Child Support *570 Guidelines, OAR 137-050-0320 to 137-050-0490. OAR 137-050-0320(5) provides that a parent’s “basic child support obligation” is determined by “applying the parent’s adjusted gross income * * * to the scale in the manner set out in OAR 137-050-0490.” Under OAR 137-050-0320(8), “gross income” means “the income of the parent calculated pursuant to OAR 137-050-0340, 137-050-0350 [relating to self-employment,] and 137-050-0360 [income presumptions in special circumstances].” OAR 137-050-0340(1) states that “gross income” includes

“income from any source including, but not limited to, salaries, wages, commissions, advances, bonuses, dividends, severance pay, pensions, interest, honoraria, trust income, annuities, return on capital, Social Security benefits, workers’ compensation benefits, unemployment insurance benefits, disability insurance benefits, gifts, prizes, including lottery winnings, and alimony or separate maintenance received.” 2

Gross income also includes “[e]xpense reimbursements or in kind payments received by a parent in the course of employment, self employment, or operation of a business * * * if they are significant and reduce personal living expenses.” OAR 137-050-0340(2). The question on appeal is whether father’s BAH and BAS are part of his “gross income” for purposes of child support.

In construing the child support guidelines, our role is to determine the intent of the enacting body by looking first to the text and context of the rule. Perlenfein and Perlenfein, 316 Or 16, 20, 848 P2d 604 (1993). We note, initially, that the texts of OAR 137-050-0320(8) and OAR 137-050-0340(1) do not define “gross income” in terms of taxable income. Nor do they cross-reference the Internal Revenue Code’s definitions of “gross income” or “adjusted gross income.” 3 Rather, OAR *571 137-050-0340(1) sets forth a nonexclusive list of sources that make up “income from any source.” We note, further, that some of the listed sources, such as Social Security and disability benefits, are potentially not taxable. See 26 USC § 86; 26 USC § 105. In at least one case, we have held that earned income that is not subject to federal income tax should nonetheless be treated as part of “gross income” in the child support calculation. See Halpert and Leonard,

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Bluebook (online)
228 P.3d 701, 234 Or. App. 566, 2010 Ore. App. LEXIS 298, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-matter-of-marriage-of-stokes-orctapp-2010.