Britt and Wake County Human Services, Child Support Enf., Intervenor, v. Britt (North Carolina 2022)

A parent must provide the requisite proof in order for business expenses deducted from gross income. The parents filed for divorce. The father was self-employed and owned rental properties. During the trial, the father provided testimony as to his income, bank accounts, deposits into the bank accounts, and current work situation In weighing the evidence to determine the father’s income for child support, the trial court found the father’s testimony evasive and unreliable. The trial court used evidence of monthly deposits into his bank accounts to set his income and calculated support according to the guidelines. The father appealed, arguing the court gave him no credit for business expenses and should have deducted his temporary support and equitable distribution payment from his monthly gross income. The appellate court affirmed the decision. The language of the final order supported the trial court’s calculation of the father’s income. He failed to offer evidence of business expenses, including pest control expenses and mortgage interest. The appellate court found no merit, or authority, for the father’s argument that his temporary support and equitable distribution payments should be deducted from his gross income.  The child support guidelines set out appropriate deductions and neither temporary support or equitable distribution payments are listed.