California laws on non-custodials incom that can be included in child support:Child Support: Determining Parents' Income
-------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------
One touchstone of state guidelines for setting child support is that the final support award is "income driven" -- determined primarily by the income of the parties. It is therefore vital that parents understand what funds can be considered "income" under the child support guidelines, and what funds are excluded from the definition of income.

"Income" for Purposes of Child Support

Each state's child support guidelines contains a definition of "gross income." At the very minimum, pursuant to federal law, the definition of "income" must take into consideration all income and earnings of the non-custodial parent. Gross income is thus usually defined to include money received from any source, including, but not limited to:

Salaries and wages (including tips, commissions, bonuses, profit sharing, deferred compensation, and severance pay);
Income from overtime and second jobs; income from contractual agreements; investment and interest income (including dividends);
Pension income;
Trust or estate income;
Annuities;
Capital gains, (unless the gain is nonrecurring);
Social Security benefits;
Veterans' benefits;
Military personnel fringe benefits;
National Guard and reserve drill pay;
Benefits received in place of earned income (i.e. workers' compensation benefits, unemployment insurance benefits, strike pay, and disability insurance benefits);
Gifts and prizes (including lottery and gambling winnings);
Education grants (including fellowships or subsidies that are available for personal living expenses);
Income of a new spouse, to the extent that income directly reduces expenses of the parent;
Alimony received from a person other than the other spouse in the present case; and
Income from self-employment (including rent, royalties, and benefits allocated to an individual for a business or undertaking in the form of a proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, close corporation, agency, or independent contractor).
Income also includes non-money items such as employment "perks" -- including use of the company car, free housing, and reimbursed expenses -- when these fringe benefits reduce personal living expenses. Basically, child support guidelines include as income any source of funds available to the parent, taking into consideration all possible financial sources.