Ferry Farm, Virginia · Child Support

If you own a business or work for yourself, child support is rarely as simple as pointing to a pay stub, because there is not one, and that can feel daunting. Maybe you worry the court will use a number that ignores a hard year. Or you are sure your co-parent’s business earns more than the tax return shows. Both worries are common in Ferry Farm, and both are workable. Let me walk you through how Virginia figures income when there is no regular paycheck, calmly and clearly.

By Alisa Chunephisal, Esq. · Founding Partner, NOVA Legal Professionals

This article is one part of our larger child support guide. For the full picture, start with our cornerstone, Child Support in Virginia. Here, I will focus on self-employment and business income.

A reassuring starting point

Self-employed income can feel like the part of child support most likely to go wrong, and that anxiety is understandable. But there is a clear, fair method underneath it, and once you see the shape of it, the worry tends to ease. Whether you are the business owner or the parent trying to understand one, the goal is the same and a good one: a number that reflects the real money the business produces, fairly counted. Let us take it step by step.

Income is gross receipts minus real business expenses

The starting point is set by statute. For a self-employed parent, income for support is gross receipts minus the ordinary and necessary expenses of running the business, under Va. Code § 20-108.2. So it is not your top-line revenue, but it is also not just the modest salary you might pay yourself. It is the real earnings the business produces for you after legitimate costs. Virginia also lets you deduct half of your self-employment tax, recognizing that the self-employed carry both halves of it.

The tax return is a starting point, not the final word

Here is what catches owners off guard, so it is worth saying plainly. The number at the bottom of a business tax return is often lower than the income a court will use for support, because tax law allows deductions that child support does not. The clearest example is depreciation. Virginia does not allow depreciation, a paper expense, to reduce income for support, even though it lowers taxable income. The same goes for the cost of acquiring assets and the principal portion of certain loan payments. Expect the support income to be built from the real cash the business throws off.

Personal expenses run through the business get added back

This is the heart of most self-employed cases, and I will be honest because honesty serves you here. Courts look closely at costs that are really personal benefits dressed up as business expenses: a car the family drives, meals, travel, a phone plan, a home office that doubles as the den. To the extent those provide a personal lifestyle benefit, a court can add them back to income. If you own the business, expect that scrutiny and keep things clean. If you are the other parent, this is often where a fair number is found.

The burden is on the person claiming the expense

If you want a business expense to reduce your income for support, the law puts the burden on you to prove it is reasonable and necessary. That sounds demanding, and it is, but it is also protective: legitimate, well documented expenses do count, and no one can simply wave away your real costs. Good records are your best friend here, both for keeping your own number fair and for gently testing one that seems inflated or hidden. You can read more on our imputed income page.

How we help in Ferry Farm

We build a fair, defensible income figure from real records, address add-backs and hidden income with care, and present a self-employed parent’s true picture clearly. Ferry Farm child support is handled through the Stafford County Juvenile and Domestic Relations court at the county courthouse in Stafford, alongside the state’s child support division. You can read more on our imputed income page.

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