Income for child support purposes goes beyind paychecks

Child support payments are based on the incomes of both parents. A percentage of their combined incomes is supposed to be devoted toward the support of the child. The dollar amount of support depends on the total income and number of children who require support. Each parent must pay a pecentage share of the overall support, based on their respective incomes.
The law broadly interprets how "income" is defined. Generally, any money - earned or otherwise - that is within reach, possession or control of either parent is included in the calculations to determine child support obligations. In addition to weekly paychecks, this means that annual bonuses, perfomance bonuses, overtime pay, and sales commissions are all treated as regular income.
The scope of income that is considered eligible for child support extends beyond wages. For example, a parent who owns rental property will see any cash flow, as well as tax depreciation, treated as income under child support guidelines. The extra cash you stash in your IRA each week? That's income. The early retirement buy-out from your employer? That's income, too.
For example, a Berks County judge ruled that a tax-exempt cash payment, resulting from a parent's lump sum personal injury lawsuit settlement, was to be considered income for child support purposes.
The parent was ordered to amortize, or spread out, the total amount of lawsuit money over the number of years the child was eligible for support. So instead of a one-year bump in the parent's income, and a corresponding one-year increase in support, the child was able to benefit from the parent's windfall for the remaining years of the child's minority. The parent had tried to argue the child should only be eligible to receive the interest earned on the cash award.