I want to impute my wife’s income in final orders. Does anybody have advice or experience, things to watch out for?

My wife left me in December after Christmas. I didn’t force her to leave or kick her out. I pleaded with her to stay and work things out but I knew it was pointless. she’s been half way out the door for the last two years.

She almost left me two years ago when I wasn’t making much money working at a startup. She gave me ultimatum; get a better job or I’m leaving. I ended up going through a couple jobs but finally found a great job I really enjoy and making good money.

All the while she’s been running a fitness business which has accumulated a ton of debt and brings in very little income.

We have two little girls and the plan is to do 50/50 custody but she still wants maintenance. I’ve offered to pay for all the kids expenses until she gets a job. I don’t want to give her money directly because it will go to her debts and her crappy business not the kids.

We went to temporary orders and she was awarded maintenance but the judge did state in the judgment that “she owes it to herself and kids to get a job”, and we didn’t provide enough evidence to prove she can get a good job.

She has a degree from a good university and is more than capable of getting a good job. Trying to get a handle on this cause she’s doing everything she can to get as much as she can with no regard for my future or the kids future.