Do the child support guidelines permit a court to impute income to a parent?
Yes. In the world of divorce law, it is quite common for a husband to undertake efforts to have his income appear as low as possible. When the parties divorce, then quite often the husband will refuse to accept any promotions at work. The husband will work less overtime that he usually worked during the marriage. Moreover, the husband often will have any bonuses deferred. In summary, once a divorce starts many husbands play all types of games to make it appear that their income is as low as possible. The Child Support Guidelines permit the courts to try to solve the problem of husbands who try to hide their income, who are underemployed, or who are unemployed. Rule 5:6A, Child Support Guidelines states that Appendix IX of these Rules shall be applied when an application to establish or modify support is considered by the court. Appendix IX, “Considerations in the Use of Child Support Guidelines,” paragraph 12 entitled Imputing Income to Parents, provides the following: The fairness of
