How Overtime And Bonuses Are Handled In A Divorce

In many divorces, one of the spouses earns either overtime pay or receives a bonus.  This article will explain how the Court handles overtime pay and bonuses in a divorce.

All the income you earn, whether it is by working overtime or via a bonus counts towards your gross income.  Your overtime and/or bonus pay will show up on your W-2 statement.  When calculating child support or spousal maintenance, the first thing a Court will look at is your last year’s W-2 statement.  If that included your overtime or bonus pay, then that is likely to be used, by the Court, in their calculations.

In some situations, the amount of overtime you earn in the current year may be well less than what you earned last year.  Similarly, you might not have received the same amount of bonus money or even any bonus this year.  In these situations, you must demonstrate to the Court, that your income has decreased and why it has decreased.  However, the Court does not have to accept your explanation and can still count last year’s overtime and bonus money as income.

Although, the Court may consider last year’s overtime as your income, it cannot make you accept any new overtime pay or overtime opportunities that may be currently available to you.  In other words, as long as you are earning your base pay, the Court can’t force you to work overtime, just so you can show a certain level of income.

If you are getting divorced and you have overtime pay or earned a bonus, you need an experienced Long Island divorce attorney to guide you through the process.  David Badanes and the Badanes Law Office, P.C. know how the laws apply to overtime pay and to bonus pay.  Our office represents clients in Suffolk and Nassau County, as well as in New York City.

Call David Badanes and the Badanes Law Office today at 631-239-1702, email at david@dbnylaw.com or visit our website at www.dbnylaw.com.  The Badanes Law Office has offices in Northport and Uniondale.

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