Imputed Income

North Carolina Divorce Law Divorce and Separation Answers
1

Good morning all,

My question is in regards to imputed income. My ex and I have a 16 year old. We have never been to court except to establish custody. There is no child support order, but I have been paying voluntarily her entire life. I will be paying child care in the amount of $1100 a month for my 2 year old (with my wife) when my wife starts working next month. My ex does not work, but goes to school a couple of days a week. Will the court impute at least a minimum wage, 40 hour week income for her? She has a bachelors degree and is working on another degree. She has no child care costs. Thank you in advance for any information.

V/r

2

The Court will impute income only if the Court finds that your ex-wife’s voluntary unemployment is a result of her bad faith or deliberate suppression of income.

If your ex-wife has historically not worked, the Court may not view her unemployment as bad faith on her party and would thus not impute income, even minimum wage income.