{"id":719,"date":"2020-08-06T18:02:33","date_gmt":"2020-08-06T18:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sacramentofamilylawlawyers.com\/?page_id=719"},"modified":"2020-08-06T18:03:53","modified_gmt":"2020-08-06T18:03:53","slug":"imputed-income","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sacramentofamilylawlawyers.com\/affordable-family-law-attorney\/imputed-income\/","title":{"rendered":"Imputed Income"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\u201cTo impute<\/em>\u201d something means that you ascribe, assign or estimate a value to something by inference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In legal parlance, to \u201cimpute income\u201d means to ascribe, assign or estimate income to someone by inference. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For purposes of support in family law<\/a>, income is attributed to a party for purposes of determining the amount of support that he or she should receive or should pay, regardless of whether or not they are actually earning that amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A family court<\/a> can impute income to a party whether the issue in question is the amount of child support or spousal support. In this case, the liability for support, or the amount of support that a party is entitled to receive, is based not on the actual income they earn but on their earning capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Imputing income to a party may seem, at first glance, to be unjust because you are ascribing monetary obligations to a party regardless of the amount of money they are actually earning. But the very reason that courts have the ability to impute income, and family law attorneys<\/a> seek the imputation of income, is in order to prevent injustice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, imputation of income in spousal support cases can happen in any of the following instances:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is obviously a pretty contentious issue because there may be a lot of factors involved in why a party does not work or chooses to work at a low-paying job. And those reasons may not have anything to do with the intent to avoid their legal obligations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, just because a party could<\/em> work at a higher-paying job does not mean that he or she can. Perhaps the job market is very competitive or the opportunities are limited. Perhaps the party has other family responsibilities that necessitate him cutting down on his hours of work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a number of cases in which California courts have looked at the circumstances of the parties in order to determine whether or not income should be imputed. Courts have set forth a two-prong test<\/a> that can serve as a guide on whether or not there should be an imputation of income:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first, or the party\u2019s ability to work considers factors such as the party\u2019s health, education, background, qualifications, skills, and work experience. If a person is in poor health, for instance, that necessitates him cutting his work hours or stopping work altogether, then it is not reasonable to impute income to him for income that he could have earned.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen is there an imputation of income?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Case Law on Determining Earning Capacity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Ability To Work<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Opportunity to Work<\/h3>\n\n\n\n