Question about child support

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-15-2003
Question about child support
4
Wed, 08-02-2006 - 11:37pm

A friend of mine told me that unless child support is paid through the court to me that I can't claim it as income in the event that I try to get a loan. Is this true? It makes sense in that in order to get a loan, I would need to prove income and something from the court would be much more "real" and steady than copies of checks from X but I've never heard this before. I don't know if it varies from state to state (I live in Tennessee) or if it depends on the lender or what.

Does anybody know anything about this?

Thanks,
Stephanie

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-02-2006
Thu, 08-03-2006 - 7:25am
The best thing to do is to call a financial institution and ask what they would need in order to use child support as income. That is what I would do. Most don't really need anything depending on your credit.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 08-03-2006 - 9:19am

Hi Stephanie-

I have refinanced my home on my own since my divorce. I did claim child support as income. My child support payments come directly from my ex’s employer, not the court. It is a steady amount bi-weekly plus every other paycheck he gets commission. I sent the lender a copy of my divorce decree plus 3 months worth of my bank statements with the child support deposits circled. They also wanted proof of my children’s ages as my child support ceases when my kids turn 18. The lender wanted to ensure the payments would continue for at least 3 more years.

I hope this helps.

Karen

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Sat, 08-05-2006 - 12:16am
Hi.... I'm guess that different financial institutions do things differently, but whenever I've applied for anything, I just write in the amount.

Karen ~ wildlucky4me ~

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-08-2004
Sat, 08-05-2006 - 11:15am
Steph, it depends on the financial institution. When I recently applied for a mortgage, they said I could use child support as income if I needed to....but I didn't. If necessary, you can use your decree to prove the amount. Good luck!