Imputed Income in California Child Support
Child support has a necessary place in a divorced family’s life. At the end of the day, child support is not really about the parents – what they want to pay, how much they feel they should pay. Child support is calculated in order to ensure that a child is adequately cared for. In California, the amount of child support that one parent will pay is generally determined via a state calculation. (There are, of course, exceptions to the general rule. These details can be further discussed with a committed divorce and family law attorney.)
It is not unheard of for some parents to try to deliberately reduce their income in order to avoid the full responsibility of paying the appropriate amount of child support. Conversely, the parent set to receive child support may try to artificially inflate the amount of child support that their child’s other parent is ordered to pay. In the state of California, both parents are equally responsible for providing financial support for their children. So, the court considers each parent’s reported income when they calculate the fair amount of child support.
The children are the ultimate victims when one parent attempts to duck their responsibility to provide the appropriate amount of child support. The courts want to guard against manipulations that would impact a child support award. Therefore, dependent on the circumstances of the divorce or separation case, a court may impute income to one (or both) parent(s) prior to making its child support order.
Child Support is About the Best Interest of the Child
If someone thinks that they may be able to “get an edge” in a custody case by using child support as a bartering chip – they should think again. It is not appropriate (nor would it work) for one parent to say to the other that they would, for instance, release the other parent from child support obligations so long as full custody is transferred to one parent.
Child support is not really about the parents – it is about the child. Using child support as a bargaining chip is inappropriate for a few reasons – the one we will discuss in this article and context is that diminishing or waiving a child support obligation would not serve the best interests of the child. Child support is not calculated as a boon – it is the amount that the court determines is necessary for the child’s needs to be met. The court – not the parent – sets the minimum support threshold. Taking this support away from the child harms their best interest. This is why courts guard against parents who may potentially be attempting to artificially reduce their actual income in order to manipulate the state’s child support formula.
Imputed Income Defined
If the court imputes income to one or both parents while making its child support award it is, essentially, saying that the court understands that the reported income is X, but that the court has determined that the parent COULD be earning more money. The court then awards child support based on what the parent could be making, not the amount that the parent claims to be earning.
For example, let’s say that a parent is making $20 an hour as a house cleaner for hire. They choose to quit taking on jobs and move in with their parents when their spouse files for divorce. Though the house-cleaning parent had been earning over $2000 a month, they now report to the court that they are bringing in no money. If the court does not have evidence to believe that there is a very good reason that the parent can no longer work, the non-working parent should expect that the court will impute their prior income to them. There is a difference between someone losing their job and being voluntarily unemployed.
Court Imputed Income
The court assesses both parent’s income to determine child support obligations. If the court finds that a parent deliberately quit or lowered their income, the court could base its award of child support on the parent’s prior income information – essentially ignoring that a recent change occurred.
The three main factors courts assess when determining whether to impute income include:
- A parent’s ability to earn an income
- A parent’s opportunity to earn an income, and
- A parent’s willingness to earn income.
Contact the Law Office of Bradley S. Sandler
If you are seeking more information about imputing income in your own divorce or family law matter, contact the experienced divorce attorney at the Law Office of Bradley S. Sandler.
Sources
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=4065.&lawCode=FAM