Clarification of Income as It Relates to Child Support

North Carolina Divorce Law Divorce and Separation Answers
1

Hi,

My ex-wife remarried and is living in a house owned by her soon to be ex-husband (I believe). I am not positive (she does not provide any financial information to me) but I believe that she is not paying any rent on this house and may in fact own it out right now (due to divorce). I have no idea of her income but if she is not paying any rent to live (I would say that the house could probably rent for about 1K a month) would this be considered income to her? To me the definition of income is something that makes you financially better - either provided through wages or a decrease in expenses. If my ex does not have any housing costs due to her ex paying for the home she is living in or if she may now own it outright due to divorce does this count as income to her?

Thanks,

Happily Remarried

2

I’m not sure why you want to impute $1,000 of rental income to your ex-wife, but the definition of income is defined in the guidelines, and the guidelines only call for imputation of income if the party is acting in bad faith and reducing his/her income to avoid his/her child support obligation.