Child Support Impact to my DTI

[Andy Ferrell]

Wife and I are splitting.  My child support payments will be about $1,000 per month and are made up of basic child support of about $380 and the rest is work related child care.  My Ex and I both work full time and will be splitting the cost of daycare and after school care for our kids.  Tennessee law requires my share of the work related child care costs to be included in the child support payments.  All this is documented on our child support worksheet.

So, I am refinancing our home to buy her out of her share of the equity we have in the house. The lender is considering the full child support amount ($1,000 per month) as debt. I have not challenged him because my DTI (36%) will be ok for this loan, but I am worried about qualifying for the next loan I need to purchase a rental property later this year.

My question is would it be reasonable to state my child support as $380 for the next loan?  Any other thoughts or advice?