Sanchez v. Sanchez (Nebraska 2020)

If a parent earns or reasonably expects to earn overtime, the overtime income should be included in the parent’s income for child support. If the income is speculative, then it can be excluded. The mother, who paid support, filed to modify the parenting time and child support terms of the divorce decree due to a change in her work schedule. The mother worked as a corrections officer and earned significant overtime. According to mother, some overtime was mandatory, due to staffing shortages, and other overtime was voluntary. Both parents submitted proposed child support worksheets. The father’s calculation included the overtime income. The mother’s didn’t. The district court adopted the father’s worksheet and increased child support. The mother appealed, arguing that due to her new work schedule she would not be working as much overtime. The appellate court affirmed. The record contained evidence of the mother’s increased income and regular overtime pay. The record contained no evidence that fewer overtime hours would be available to the mother. The mother didn’t provide a recent paystub to reflect current overtime hours. At the time of trial, the change in income had not lasted for 3 months, and she didn’t establish that the change would continue into the future.