A Florida appeals court on Wednesday ordered a fresh calculation of child support in a dispute involving a mother whose monthly income of $1,500 had been assessed at $10,100 after a lower court included $8,600 paid by her new husband towards household expenses.
asserted
court → order → expenses
According to the judgment
document available on Justia, Bianca Rampartap had sought higher child support from her former husband, Darryl Rampartap, who had moved to Trinidad and stopped spending parenting time with their child.
uncertain
who → accord → child
After the lower court included the money spent by her new husband as her income, the appeals court has now ruled that it could not be treated as her income simply because he covered those expenses.
uncertain
he → include → expenses
Rampartap and her former husband, Darryl Rampartap, divorced in 2016.
asserted
Rampartap → divorce → 2016
Nearly a decade later, their disagreement over financial support for their child brought them back to court.
asserted
disagreement → bring → court
By then, Bianca had remarried, while Darryl had moved abroad.
asserted
Darryl → remarry → ?
The dispute arose after Bianca sought a change in child support because she was caring for their child without any parenting time being exercised by Darryl.
asserted
time → arise → Darryl
Although the court accepted that their circumstances had changed, the calculation of the revised payment created another problem.
asserted
calculation → accept → problem
The court assessed Bianca's new husband's expenses as part of her finances, even though her own reported earnings were much lower.
asserted
earnings → assess → finances
In her challenge to the decision, Bianca maintained that money spent by her husband on their shared household was not income paid to her.
asserted
money → maintain → her
Parents' financial arrangement changed
asserted
arrangement → change → ?
When Bianca and Darryl divorced in 2016, they were given equal parenting time.
asserted
they → divorce → time
They also had to share the costs of their child's extracurricular activities, uniforms, equipment and summer camp.
asserted
They → have → activities
Bianca was responsible for 40% of those expenses, while Darryl had to cover the remaining 60%.
asserted
Darryl → have → %
No child-support payment was ordered initially.
asserted
payment → order → ?
In 2018, however, the court directed Darryl to pay $225.42 in child support, described in the judgment as bimonthly.
asserted
court → direct → judgment
The parents were also asked to divide the costs of extracurricular activities and summer camp equally.
asserted
parents → ask → activities
The arrangement continued until Bianca approached the court again in 2024.
asserted
Bianca → continue → 2024
She said Darryl had left the United States and was no longer spending overnight time with their child, despite the earlier arrangement being based on shared parenting.
asserted
arrangement → say → parenting
The court found that Darryl had not exercised his parenting time for eight months.
asserted
Darryl → find → months
It also accepted testimony that he was permanently living in Trinidad.
asserted
he → accept → Trinidad
Bianca was then given full parenting time, sole parental responsibility and authority to make decisions concerning their child.
asserted
Bianca → give → child
The earlier child-support arrangement thus needed to be reviewed.
asserted
arrangement → need → ?
The court therfore referred the financial question to a hearing officer, who examined the parents' incomes and expenses before recommending a new payment.
asserted
who → refer → payment
Why mother's income was calculated at $10,100
Bianca told the hearing officer that she earned $1,500 a month before deductions.
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she → calculate → deductions
Her financial statement also showed that her current husband was covering household expenses of $8,600 every month.
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husband → show → 8,600
The hearing officer added those expenses to Bianca's earnings, arriving at a monthly income of $10,100.
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officer → add → 10,100
The reasoning was that her husband's payments reduced the amount she needed to spend on maintaining the household.
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she → reduce → household
This figure was then used to calculate the parents' respective contributions.
asserted
figure → use → contributions
Darryl was ordered to pay $403 a month in child support from July 2025.
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Darryl → order → July
He also owed $1,953.38 in payments dating back to August 2024.
asserted
He → owe → August
Bianca objected to the calculation, arguing that her husband's financial contribution to their home should not be treated in the same way as money she personally earned or received.
asserted
she → object → money
After the lower court rejected her attempts to challenge the decision, she appealed.
asserted
she → reject → decision
Appeals court disagreed with the lower court
asserted
court → disagree → court
The appeals court focused on the difference between receiving financial help and sharing household expenses with a spouse.
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court → focus → spouse
Florida law allows certain payments made on someone's behalf to be included when calculating their income.
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payments → allow → income
However, the judges found that Bianca's husband was paying expenses for the home in which he also lived.
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he → find → which
The payments were not made to Bianca, and there was no sufficient evidence to justify adding the entire $8,600 to her income.
asserted
payments → make → income
The judgment read, “When the new husband merely paid the household expenses for his own household, no ‘payment,’ in kind or otherwise, had been made to his wife.”
asserted
payment → read → wife
The court explained that financial assistance from relatives or other people could still qualify as income in some situations.
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assistance → explain → situations
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
