Income For Calculating Child and Spousal Support
In most cases, determining income for calculating child and spousal support is easy. Get three years of tax returns, W-2s, and current paystubs from both parties and use those numbers. What if one side quit his job, got fired, or decided to quit working overtime? The court can apply Ohio law to determine whether to use the person’s old income.
This article only looks at how a court might determine income for Ohio child support or Ohio spousal support. Courts consider plenty of other things in the calculating child support and spousal support. For more information, click on the following links on child support or spousal support.
Imputing Income For Ohio Child Support
Courts determine Ohio child support by using a child support worksheet. In the first section of the Ohio child support worksheet, the court must enter each parent’s income. This can either be the parent’s actual or imputed income. In calculating imputed income, the court must consider factors required by Ohio law. These factors include the parent’s prior employment, education, availability of employment, prevailing wages in the area, skills and training, disability of the parent or the child, and experience. These factors give the court the authority to use a parent’s past income if that parent voluntarily quit his or her job.
Relative Earning Ability In Ohio Spousal Support
Courts determine relative earning ability in Ohio spousal support by considering a different set of statutory factors. If the attorney defending the underemployed parent says that courts cannot impute income for spousal support purposes, that attorney would be technically correct. An official spousal support worksheet does not exist in which a court would input the parties’ incomes. Without an official worksheet, Ohio law does not provide for a specific way to determine spousal support. Some courts will use FinPlan, which involves inputting each party’s income to determine spousal support. However, while the courts must use the child support worksheet to calculate child support, they do not have to use FinPlan to calculate spousal support.
Turning back to the technically correct answer, Ohio courts can consider the relative earning abilities of the parties. In doing so, Ohio courts can then determine if a parent is capable of earning more, among many other statutory factors, in determining spousal support. This could wind up with the court deciding a parent’s earning ability is the same as imputed income and using that number to help determine the amount of spousal support.
Attorney Daniel Gigiano. Knowledgeable, Aggressive and Experienced.
Attorney Gigiano is located in Wadsworth, Medina County, where he practices in the domestic relations and juvenile courts in Medina County, Summit County, Wayne County and the surrounding counties. Attorney Gigiano can be reached at 330-336-3330.
