When a judge is determining whether someone needs to pay support (child and/or spousal) and, if so, how much, they don’t just consider actual income. They look at how much they should be able to earn. That’s referred to as earning potential or sometimes “imputed income.”
That’s the case here in Ohio. By factoring that in, the law minimizes the chances that someone will intentionally remain unemployed or underemployed to avoid paying support (or to get support, if they’re on the receiving end).
The case that made it to the High Court
One case involving a child support order that made it up to the Ohio Supreme Court earlier this year may impact decisions made in other cases.
The case involved a divorcing Wood County couple. The husband lost his job due to organizational restructuring in 2019 and said that he was unable to find a comparably paying job in the ensuing years because of the worldwide disruption in the economy that resulted in many businesses having to close and lay off workers.
The man’s wife claimed that with his experience and education, he should still be able to find a job that paid what his previous one did. Therefore, she sought child support based on his previous salary and bonuses. The domestic relations court agreed that he should pay support based on what he was making in his prior job.
The husband appealed the ruling. The appeals court determined that the lower court’s ruling carried an assumption that he was voluntarily remaining underemployed or unemployed and that they had no right to make that assumption. The case was elevated to the Ohio Supreme Court.
The ruling
The high court ruled that in order to base a support order on the amount of income someone made in a job they no longer had, a domestic relations court would need evidence that a person was choosing to remain underemployed or unemployed. They sent the case back to the lower court for resolution.
If you need to make the case that you’re not choosing to remain out of work or in a lower-paying position than you previously had to avoid a support order, you’ll likely be asked for a record of your job search activities and more. Whether you need to make that case or it’s your former spouse whom you believe is intentionally remaining below their earning potential, it’s important to have sound legal guidance.