Imputing income for CS/alimony

No-Tomorrow8150 · 2025-08-26T18:46:17+00:00

Like people say it must be done in advance and not for divorce reasons. My ex cut her hours 2 years before divorce. I proved in court she can work full time and imputed her income to show she can support herself and limited alimony. Courts seem to be bias against a man with income potential. I had to go hard at it to make my point.

pk2at · 2025-08-26T16:26:21+00:00

This is actually an excellent idea. I would suggest the following approach 1) Take sabbatical or unpaid leave of absence from high paying job in second half of year 2) Join low paying job before year ends and continue in this role early next year 3) File next year and say you've been in role for 2 years and current market reality is 60K 4) Build up solid evidence to say that 60K is the market wage and its never going to be 200K or do due to AI (or other business conditions)

As long as your job change is unrelated to divorce, court will take the new wage. If your 60K job is from a large fortune 500 employer, courts give much more credence to a 60K wage

soontobesolo · 2025-08-26T16:11:44+00:00

Ask your lawyer. But I'd present it as you need to change your job in order to be more available to the kids in a 50/50 custody situation, not as a lower stressor.

First-Bid8895 · 2025-08-26T14:21:17+00:00

I went from making over 100 before taxes to 40 a year. My divorce took forever so I had 2 solid years of taxes showing my income at 40. U need time at the lower income. At least 2 years. It's not a guarantee it will work but it did for me. I want more time with my kids. My previous job did not give me the opportunity to spend time with them. Do not be afraid to appeal a judge's ruling if it does not go in your favor. In my experience the higher up you go the more likely they are to follow the laws and guidelines of child support. If you have at least 2 years of a lower income prior to the ruling you should be ok. If you don't you will most likely be screwed.

Humble-Grape-5201 · 2025-08-26T13:08:10+00:00

Flip it around.

Do you think it would be fair to you if your wife suddenly decided to be a stay at home mom with zero income and your obligations be based on that, rather than the income she's had for years?

Pleasant-Mechanic-49 · 2025-08-26T06:51:45+00:00

Saying ‘I was stressed’ wont be enough. You’d need something from a doctor or therapist showing the job was really messing with your mental health (like anxiety, depression, burnout) PLus changig work would make youmore present as a parent. How about managing the same job but part time? That would be around100K

It helps way more if you can show your work was slipping so badly you were almost fired. Quitting early and saying ‘I left for a less stressful job’ doesn’t hold as much weight as an actual termination letter linked to stress.

Hiw about going part-time ($100k) is way smarter than quitting for a $60k job, but you have to prove it's not to lower support. You need a doctor's note saying you medically must cut your hours for your health. This is your golden ticket. Get this medical proof before you make any changes at work. Create a paper trail with your doctor and HR.

No proof? The judge will likely impute your income to the full $200k and you'll be financially wrecked.

Usually_lurks12 · 2025-08-26T06:45:13+00:00

I am in this exact situation and the court has decided that my income prior to me leaving is what my responsibilities are calculated off of. I will be working in this shit hole for years.

Tasty_Dinner6530 · 2025-08-26T03:28:00+00:00

Get an opinion from lawyers.

The optics won’t be good, If you intentionally quit your job , it might go against you as you deliberately reduced income reduce child support.

Beautiful-Ice-9172 · 2025-08-26T03:07:01+00:00

There are a lot of variables there. Depends on the county, judge, your ex. I wouldn't do it without talking to a lawyer. Men have fled the country for losing their job and judges still required the same support. Quitting, I would GUESS would not go over well. You need a lawyer to let you know. I was laid off during my own cs stint. I was able to pause support. I had to pay with back pay over time to catch up.

ABBucsfan · 2025-08-26T02:05:39+00:00

None of us can tell you unless we are an lawyers in your jurisdiction. I can say such a large drop will be heavily scrutinized at the very least. Imo us guys are likely to get screed with these things. 3 years after I'd moved out (divorce was like officially started a year before) and moving to shared custody I am sitting here listening to her say she can't work because she needs to take my oldest (both full time school) to some counselling appointments and other misc things. I said well my work is flexible. Heck if it means you not working at all vs contributing I can even work a few less hours. The mediator kinda laughed wnd was dismissive like it's not the same, it's irrelevant, and was like this bring us to the next thing and that is purposely not working which you just suggested. I'm baffled there like excuse me? What has she been doing this entire time? how is it not relevant?

Title	Imputing income for CS/alimony
Author	throwaway_temp_5555
Upvotes	4
Comments	36
Date	August 25, 2025 11:33 PM UTC (11 months ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/Divorce_Men
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/Divorce_Men/comments/1n06abo/imputing_income_for_csalimony/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/Divorce_Men/imputing-income-for-csalimony.1560487 https://theredarchive.com/post/1560487

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