Do gifts from grandparents constitute income for support?

No. Experienced family law attorneys will tell clients that gifts do not constitute income available for support. 

Under the Marriage of Williamson, the court of appeal held that large and sporadic gifts from the husband’s parents to the husband during the marriage, which had supported a very lavish marital lifestyle, were not includable as the husband’s income for purposes for calculating child support.

In the Marriage of Williamson, the husband’s father had amended his trust to provide that any loan balances and accrued interest due and owing by the husband at the time of distribution would be subtracted from the husband’s portion of the inheritance, and had testified that he did not intend to make any further advances or “loans” to the husband other than a small annual gift. Because there was no reasonable indication that the husband’s father would continue to give the husband any gifts except the annual gift, imputing income based on prior gifts would lead to a child support order based on money that the husband did not have.  

Contact me at amanda@gordonfamilylaw.com for more information.