Imputing Income In Florida Family Law Cases

The issue of income imputation has arisen frequently in family law cases filed in the State of Florida, where one of the parties alleges that unemployment or reduced income is meant to skirt the court’s demand to pay child support or alimony. In other words, the recipient of support alleges that the payer is unemployed or underemployed for the purpose of shirking their support obligations. In this case, the court can assign the payer of alimony an income based on their earning power and force them to pay that on a monthly basis. In this article, we’ll discuss a Florida family law case in which one party had income imputed by the court.

Background of the case 

The aforementioned case involved a dispute over how financial responsibilities would be met. In this case, there emerged some issues concerning the real earning potential of one of the spouses, as well as the calculation of income by the trial court.

The trial court, in this case, decided to impute income to one of the spouses during its ruling on financial support. It often occurs in family law litigation that the court finds a spouse to be intentionally underemployed or voluntarily unemployed, especially where it can be shown that the spouse has earning potential beyond their current situation.

In this case, the spouse who had income imputed to them appealed the lower court’s decision to impute income.

The appeal 

On appeal, the Florida appellate court looked at whether the trial court had properly applied Florida law as it related to imputed income. The court examined the evidentiary record as it related to the history of the paying spouse’s employment, earning capacity, and the situation leading to the reduced income.

Under Florida law, there is a provision for the courts to impute income if the party was voluntarily unemployed or underemployed. However, it cannot be done based only on speculation about what the party should have done. In most cases, the courts need evidence that shows the recent work history and earning opportunities in the community for that party.

This case showed that the court must have evidence as its basis for imputing income. It is not sufficient to just assume the party could earn more money if they tried. The court must look into the situation to see whether it was truly voluntary or if employment was available to the party.

In this case, the Florida appellate court considered whether the trial court’s findings met the Florida law for imputation of income.

Key takeaways 

This case shows that Florida courts can attribute income even if one party chooses to decrease their income intentionally or does not attempt to find suitable work. However, judges should make decisions based on facts rather than assumptions.

Talk to a Tampa, FL, Divorce Lawyer Today 

Faulkner Law Group, PLLC, represents the interests of Tampa residents during their divorce. Call our Tampa family lawyers today to schedule an appointment, and we can begin preparing your case right away.

Source:

caselaw.findlaw.com/fl-district-court-of-appeal/1882188.html