Reed v. Reed, et al.
Annotate this CasePaul Reed appealed a district court judgment modifying his child support obligation, arguing the court erred in determining his gross income. Reed had two separate sources of income: a military disability benefit of $2,571.85 monthly and a military pension of $2,491.00 monthly. Reed’s first ex-wife received a monthly payment of $622.75 from his military pension and a monthly payment of $189.72 for a Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP). Reed’s second ex-wife, Ellen Reed, received a monthly payment of $327.00 from his military pension. Reed argued the payments made to his ex-wives should have been deducted from his total gross income when calculating his child support obligation. The district court disagreed, did not deduct the payments made to his ex-wives, and modified Reed’s monthly child support obligation to $1,657.00 per month. Although the North Dakota Supreme Court agreed military disability benefits and military pension payments payable to Reed fell within the definition and examples of income, the Court concluded retirement benefits allocated within the property division in the prior divorce proceedings was not income for child support purposes. The allocation of $622.75 to Reed’s first ex-wife should not have been included in his calculation of income for child support because the funds were the property of his first ex-wife. The payment was specifically included in the property division in Reed and his first ex-wife’s divorce judgment. The monthly payment of $327.00 to Ellen Reed was her property and therefore not income. The monthly SBP payment of $189.72 was correctly included in Paul Reed’s income. The SBP payment is not included within the division of property in the divorce judgment. The support order was reversed and the matter remanded for recalculation of the child support obligation.
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