Pennsylvania law does not include gifts in the definition of income for child support. However, a gift may be considered as a reason for deviating from the child support guidelines. This means that even if a gift is not counted to determine one’s income, the gift can be considered as a reason for deviating from the child support guidelines.

In Suzanne D. v. Stephen W., 2013 Pa. Super. 93 (Pa. Super. 2013), the Pennsylvania Superior Court was asked to determine how to treat $350,000.00 transferred to the Father from his father in a child support case. The Father wanted this payment to be called a loan to avoid a deviation in application of the child support guidelines.

The Pennsylvania Superior Court agreed that the money was a gift and excluded it from Father’s income. However, the Court did decide that the gift could be considered as a reason for deviating from the child support guidelines because Father had received the gifts annually for several years and the gifts were likely to continue in the future.