Employer Paid Health Ins. Not Income
A divorce court may not consider employer paid contributions to a health or accident insurance plan as income for purposes of support determinations unless, after making the relevant findings, the court determines that the employers contributions immediately support the employee in a way that is akin to earned income. If the employee has the power to either accept or redirect the payment has he sees fit to have it included in his or her paycheck, then such an amount could be considered in the income calculation. However, this would be a very unusual circumstance and would not apply to the common employer paid health insurance plan. Since the employee does not have the ability to take these contributions and use them for general living expenses, like similar contributions to a retirement plan, these employer paid premiums are not considered in the gross income calculation for computing support. Contact a
divorce mediator at Divorce Help Center to discuss your situation.