Imputing Income

Imputed Income and Calculating Spousal or Child Support

If you are in a situation where you are separating from your spouse and they are not earning the income that you believe they could be earning, you are not entitled to insist that they get a job or find alternative employment, but you may be able to impute income to your spouse. Depending on whether or not you are the “payor” or the “recipient”, the amount of spousal or child support you may be obligated to pay or entitled to receive could decrease or increase based on imputed income.

The Federal Child Support Guidelines allows imputing income to a spouse where the earnings claimed on an income tax return do not truly reflect the actual taxable income the spouse received. Items such as rental losses, farming losses, and the deduction of expenses that are not “fair” may be disallowed, thereby increasing a spouse’s reported income for child or spousal support purposes.

In addition, there may be situations where a spouse intentionally refuses any type of employment and has very little or no income whatsoever. In that situation, if the spouse can be said to be intentionally underemployed or unemployed with the intent of evading their legal obligation of paying support, then such amount of income as they could reasonably earn may be considered imputed income.

Need Help with Income Imputation or Calculating Spousal and Child Support?

If you are in a situation where your guideline income or the guideline income of your former spouse is in question, you may need legal assistance to determine whether imputed income applies. Please contact one of the lawyers at Kirk Montoute Dawson LLP for advice or representation. Whether the issues involve discrepancies in income tax reporting, intentional under-employment, or unemployment, we can help assess your case.

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