The court will only impute her income if they believe she is suppressing her income in bad faith. You will have a hard time proving bad faith if she only worked part time throughout the marriage. If she does not earn minimum wage and all of your children are over the age of three the court will impute her at least minimum wage.
P.S. Please feel free to bring up this or any other topic on our live call-in show every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. EST. Visit radio.rosen.com/live for details
Helena M. Nevicosi
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm
4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 500
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607
919.787.6668 main phone
919.787.6361 main fax
Charlotte Office
301 McCullough Drive
Suite 510
Charlotte, NC 28262
Main Phone: (704)307.4600
Main Fax: (704) 9343.0044
Durham & Chapel Hill Office
1829 East Franklin Street
Building 600
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 321.0780
The response posted above is based upon the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliable manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with an attorney, fully explain your situation, and allow the attorney sufficient opportunity to research the applicable law and facts required to render an accurate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service only, a full discussion with an attorney should be undertaken before taking any action. The information posted on this forum is available for public viewing and is not intended to create an attorney client relationship with any individual. These answers are provided for informational purposes only, a person should consult with their own individual legal counsel before taking any action that could affect their legal rights or obligations.
She works at a little bit above minimum wage and all the children are over 3. They are all in school. The parents split custody 50/50 and the father pays for afterschool daycare for the only child who is still in elementary school. Will they impute given these circumstances? Especially since she had been offered a job with more hours at the same wage and benefits (no benes currently), but turned it down?
P.S. Please feel free to bring up this or any other topic on our live call-in show every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. EST. Visit radio.rosen.com/live for details
Helena M. Nevicosi
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm
4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 500
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607
919.787.6668 main phone
919.787.6361 main fax
Charlotte Office
301 McCullough Drive
Suite 510
Charlotte, NC 28262
Main Phone: (704)307.4600
Main Fax: (704) 9343.0044
Durham & Chapel Hill Office
1829 East Franklin Street
Building 600
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 321.0780
The response posted above is based upon the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliable manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with an attorney, fully explain your situation, and allow the attorney sufficient opportunity to research the applicable law and facts required to render an accurate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service only, a full discussion with an attorney should be undertaken before taking any action. The information posted on this forum is available for public viewing and is not intended to create an attorney client relationship with any individual. These answers are provided for informational purposes only, a person should consult with their own individual legal counsel before taking any action that could affect their legal rights or obligations.
1.) She can’t find any full-time work. (However, she goes out drinking with friends in the afternoons, sometimes when she’s supposed to be with her kids. In two years, she’s not had so much as one job interview even though she possesses two college degrees, and, she’s turned down the one job with more hours and better benefits that we know was offered to her.)
2.) She’s told her soon to be ex husband that since she worked only part-time during the marriage, if at all, she “doesn’t have to work full-time” because her lawyer said so.
3.) She also said that she wouldn’t work full-time because he “owes” her to support her in the lifestyle of her choice.
Unfortunately, there’s no written documentation of any of this, except for a written threat to sue if he didn’t support her ‘lifestyle’, which exceeds the standard of living during the last 5 years of the marriage.
This case could go either way in court. I don’t think he has a clear case that she is suppressing her income in bad faith because she only worked part time during the marriage. However, because it was a short marriage and she has the ability to earn an income and support herself the court may very well impute her income at what they believe she is capable of earning.
P.S. Please feel free to bring up this or any other topic on our live call-in show every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. EST. Visit radio.rosen.com for details
Helena M. Nevicosi
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm
4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 500
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607
919.787.6668 main phone
919.787.6361 main fax
Charlotte Office
301 McCullough Drive
Suite 510
Charlotte, NC 28262
Main Phone: (704)307.4600
Main Fax: (704) 9343.0044
Sutton Station
5826 Fayetteville Rd. Suite 205
Durham, NC 27713
Phone: (919) 321-0780
The response posted above is based upon the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliable manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with an attorney, fully explain your situation, and allow the attorney sufficient opportunity to research the applicable law and facts required to render an accurate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service only, a full discussion with an attorney should be undertaken before taking any action. The information posted on this forum is available for public viewing and is not intended to create an attorney client relationship with any individual. These answers are provided for informational purposes only, a person should consult with their own individual legal counsel before taking any action that could affect their legal rights or obligations.
Thanks so much for the info. I think I did find precendence somewhere that basically says that if he doesn’t make enough to provide the basic necessities for the kids and himself, then income can be imputed for her, since she is also responsible for ensuring that the kids have basic support. Right now, he isn’t even capable of paying his own debts because of the heavy support load. (He can’t stop paying the minimal alimony because she will sue immediately and he can’t afford a lawyer. It’s a horrid Catch-22 situation.)
Background: Husband received one degree during the course of the marriage, wife received one, had children, decided that she wanted a different degree and got that. Husband took care of the kids during 2nd degree. During the entire marriage, the husband worked full-time and the wife either worked part-time or not at all.
Part of the reason for the divorce is that as their finances got worse, the husband asked the wife several times to go back to work, full-time, to assist with finances and she refused, yet demanded a higher standard of living. She still refuses to this day, although she works part-time under duress (less than 20 hrs per week). The kids are all in school.
My question is “When it comes to child support and/or alimony will the courts impute her income as full-time or only as part-time?”