Judges Imputing Income Be Forewarned – There’s a Recession Out There!

In a divorce action, a Probate and Family Court found that a father in the real estate business was underemployed and imputed income to him for purposes of calculating child support. The Court averaged the father’s income over the previous five years while acknowledging that it did not reflect his current actual income. The Appeals Court reversed because there was no finding that the father, who was working 60 hours per week, was earning less than he could through reasonable efforts.

Further, the Appeals Court went on, considering “the economic climate wherein the real estate industry was in steep decline, jobs were far from plentiful, and the husband was making reasonable efforts to earn at his full capacity, the judge . . . was not permitted to factor in that the [father] was underemployed.” Sullivan v. Sullivan, 79 Mass.App.Ct. 1131 (July 20, 2011) (Unpublished)