Imputing Wages for custodial parent

[Simplydad]

Thanks Gam for the information.  I knew eventually someone with first hand knowledge would reply.

Annette It seems that you may have your salary imputed but I have a question.

Were you working at the time of your divorce?  If so I think your ex may have a hard time getting support lowered because it was already based on you having a salary.  However, I could seen him having the day expenses dropped.  If you are not working that means your child does not need day care which would eliminate his need to pay for day care.

[AnnetteN]

Yes I was working at the time of divorce and my income was included.  I only went by what ever the formula said and didn't ask for any more.  I am fine with the child care being gone and not arguing with that.  The child care was figured at two days a week at the time of the divorce.  I was paying well over that for years and never asked for additional help in any way.  We do both have lawyers at this point and I also have no problem with income being imputed and considering that there would also be some childcare involved.  His income has also increased quite a bit and I know he is not paying a lot for his other child.  I did not mean that we are in a great place financially but the jobs I have found are not near what I had been making when I got laid off and it was worth it to us to be a little tight for a while and cut some expenses to be able to have more time at home with my son especially over the summer and be involved with his school which I feel very thankful for.

[Simplydad]

Yes I was working at the time of divorce and my income was included.  I only went by what ever the formula said and didn't ask for any more.  I am fine with the child care being gone and not arguing with that.  The child care was figured at two days a week at the time of the divorce.  I was paying well over that for years and never asked for additional help in any way.  We do both have lawyers at this point and I also have no problem with income being imputed and considering that there would also be some childcare involved.  His income has also increased quite a bit and I know he is not paying a lot for his other child.  I did not mean that we are in a great place financially but the jobs I have found are not near what I had been making when I got laid off and it was worth it to us to be a little tight for a while and cut some expenses to be able to have more time at home with my son especially over the summer and be involved with his school which I feel very thankful for.

I understand.....needed the information because it would help in my coming up with an opinion.  (Not that I would be right but it does help)

From the outside looking in your Ex is making a mistake and he should have just left well enough alone.  Since you were working at the time of the divorce and therefore your income has been included in the calculation of child support I am trying to understand the basis for his argument.  I could see if you were the one asking for an increase for child support and his stance was based on a counter argument.

[gam]

By your additional info, I agree with simplydad and wonder why on earth your ex would want to modify, if the child support order is from when you were working.

Now that he is seeking modification, by all means get your income modified. It's Michigan, courts are well aware of the job situation, well aware that most can't find jobs making what they once were. Do some research, find job openings that match what your job was before layoff. Get information on pay for these openings, and show the court that you can't make what you once were. Good shot of being imputed for a lower income.

When Michigan imputes, they can only impute if the person can actually work. So they look at it like this, if this person were to actually go to work, would they also need daycare for the child/children? If so, they will consider daycare into this. Often when one makes a lower wages, by imputing, the court knows that the person can/will go get a job. So they figure the going rate for daycare into this. If the imputing amount makes say $100 difference in the support order, they then figure what it would be for amount of time the child/children would be in daycare, they then take the parent who pay's child support percentage that they have to pay for medical and daycare. So say daycare is $200 a month, that parents percentage is say 50%, so that person owes $100 in daycare to you. It washed the savings he is getting by imputing you, so they tell them forget it, we are not imputing, unless mom were to come back and motion for daycare. Now I just made up figures to show this, but if it washes his savings or if daycare is more then his savings(which is often the case), then they won't impute.

And I know this for fact, have been in there many times when this has occured.

I think dad is being foolish, cause you were making an income when child support was figured anyways. He is also foolish cause he has not considered that daycare will factor into this, if you are imputed or were working.

[ocean]

I think the father has in his head that he has two orders now and wants hers lowered (since the second one is lower than hers) BUT if his income has gone up since then and hers down, he may be paying more when this is done. In NY it is all about numbers and a formula, nothing else unless the parents agree to a different number.

[fight4him]

Sometimes people do crazy things. In our situation, BM took us back for modification thinking she was going to get a whole lot more. DH was on unemployment at the time and has since went back full time. What she didn't realize is when he is ordered to get insurance on him the amount of money SHE gets will be lower than she is even getting now. One of these days we hope to get these papers finalized and get things going.....it takes forever...