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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Posts
    5

    Default Imputing Income for Child Support in Florida

    hello,

    i am going to be a new father (NCP) this summer and have a question regarding imputing income for child support. the mother and i are unmarried, no previous children together. she lives in FL and i live in the mid-atlantic region. the child will be a client of the Florida CSS.

    i understand that the state may impute my income in order to determine my obligation. i will be changing careers in the next year or two and will most likely be making less than i do now (for the first few years, hopefully not longer); this change may include returning to school.

    i am prepared to be (and more than comfortable with) paying a monthly amount based on my current income, even if my income decreases, but i am curious to know -- is it true that the court can go back only 3 years with tax records to impute my income? in other words, i know if i make 60k right now and only 40k in 2008, they may impute my income as 60k, despite my income decrease. is there a limit to how long they can they use my 2007 tax records to impute my income?

    my understanding is that they can only use my last 3 tax returns (or an average of the last 3 years?). if i file for a modification in say, 2011, and at that point my last 3 years tax records each show only 40k, will they still be able to impute 60k from 2007? or will the 60k no longer factor in their consideration?

    sorry my writing is so circuituous.

    many thanks,

    ampro

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    28,906

    Default Re: Imputing income for child support Florida

    They don't have to only look at your earnings history - they can look at your earning potential.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Posts
    5

    Default Re: Imputing income for child support Florida

    thanks, aaron.

    i'm hoping to move from one field to another - from IT to teaching. it's safe to say that i won't make as much in education as i do technology, at least for the first few years. what i wonder is - can the court say that my "earning potential" is back in IT? i will be changing fields and working full time in my new position, but can the court determine that i must make as much as i had in IT, even though there exists such a pay discrepancy?

    "earning potential" seems tricky. theoretically, i have an astronomical "earning potential"; i could go to law school and work in corporate law, making 500k a year. i could sign up with a defense contractor in the middle east and make 200k. but the court would never order me to do so. can they penalize me for entering another profession altogether? it seems a different scenario than choosing to be unemployed or underemployed.

    on a personal note - i happen to be working in IT, as i have for the last 18 months. i entered the field then, on what was to be a short-term basis, to resolve debts that i had incurred. the plan was to remain in the field until i was debt-free and then enter a masters' teaching program and the education field. i wonder if i will be penalized for having once made this current salary through the imputation of income. it makes it easier believing that i will only have to pay at the rate of the imputed income for 3 years, as they pull my income tax returns. once i have 3 years of teaching income on file, i'm hoping that my obligation will be determined from my actual teaching income and not averaged with my earlier IT work.

    long-winded...

    thanks again.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    11

    Default Re: Imputing income for child support Florida

    If you voluntarily decrease your income, the court is not likely to reduce your support unless you can show that you are doing something like going back to school to further the child's best interests by increasing your income long-term. Dropping higher paying IT to teach does not fit that scenario. You can certainly go back to school, as long as you still pay the same amount of support.

    The court does not care about your prior personal plan/dreams. Their message is that you have a child and the child is helpless and thus you can no longer live life as you would have as a single person who has no child. Overall, society's current message is that an individual's needs/desires take precedence over anything else, so it can be quite shocking to confront the world of child support law, which will quickly disabuse you of that notion.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    2,773

    Default Re: Imputing income for child support Florida

    Quote Quoting bluebelle
    View Post
    If you voluntarily decrease your income, the court is not likely to reduce your support unless you can show that you are doing something like going back to school to further the child's best interests by increasing your income long-term.. Dropping higher paying IT to teach does not fit that scenario. You can certainly go back to school, as long as you still pay the same amount of support.

    The court does not care about your prior personal plan/dreams. Their message is that you have a child and the child is helpless and thus you can no longer live life as you would have as a single person who has no child. Overall, society's current message is that an individual's needs/desires take precedence over anything else, so it can be quite shocking to confront the world of child support law, which will quickly disabuse you of that notion.
    The bolded statement is incorrect. Florida laws and Florida appellate courts have long held that decreasing income to return to school does NOT warrant a decrease in CS, even though the NCP would later pay a higher amount of CS.

    You are correct about any NCP can return to school, as long as they pay the same amount of CS.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    11

    Default Re: Imputing income for child support Florida

    Quote Quoting Xena
    View Post
    Florida laws and Florida appellate courts have long held that decreasing income to return to school does NOT warrant a decrease in CS, even though the NCP would later pay a higher amount of CS.

    You are correct about any NCP can return to school, as long as they pay the same amount of CS.
    Thanks, that's good to know. I certainly am not a fan of the idea of courts dropping the amount of CS while someone goes back to school.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    2,773

    Default Re: Imputing income for child support Florida

    Quote Quoting bluebelle
    View Post
    Thanks, that's good to know. I certainly am not a fan of the idea of courts dropping the amount of CS while someone goes back to school.
    I just read that about 2 months ago, the Florida senate has introduced a bill that if passed, will completely change how, when and why income can be imputed. Hopefully this portion of the bill will pass because it sets specific guidelines for imputations which will make it much fairer to all parties.

    I didn't save the text or the bill number, but you can read it by going to www.flsenate.gov/STATUTES and doing a search for 2007 pending bills using the key words - child support.

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