clairfy something for me, for my own education

[frylover]

What is the name of your state? LA

At a gathering today a divorced parent I know told me that her second husband's income was considered as part of their household income when the amount of child support her ex had to pay was calculated.

EVERYTHING I have ever read here has said this is not true. Nothing I've read about LA support indicates that it would be. Mom doesn't work, but even so, at most wouldn't they impute her an income, not count step dad's?

She wasn't complaining about her amount of support or anything, the subject just came up during a discussion about something else, and it really got me curious.

 

[JETX]

Thank you for your wonderful post. Did you have a QUESTION in there somewhere??

http://www.supportguidelines.com/glines/la_cs.html

http://www.alllaw.com/calculators/Childsupport/louisiana/
http://www.divorcehq.com/calculators/la_supportcalc.shtml

 

[MrsK]

What is the name of your state? LA

At a gathering today a divorced parent I know told me that her second husband's income was considered as part of their household income when the amount of child support her ex had to pay was calculated.

EVERYTHING I have ever read here has said this is not true. Nothing I've read about LA support indicates that it would be. Mom doesn't work, but even so, at most wouldn't they impute her an income, not count step dad's?

She wasn't complaining about her amount of support or anything, the subject just came up during a discussion about something else, and it really got me curious.

Its partly true. What the other parent was telling you comes from this:

(c) The court may also consider as income the benefits a party derives from expense-sharing or other sources; however, in determining the benefits of expense-sharing, the court shall not consider the income of another spouse, regardless of the legal regime under which the remarriage exists, except to the extent that such income is used directly to reduce the cost of a party's actual expenses.

This usually isnt done unless. One example of this would be something like this: NCP ordered to pay $300 a month. NCP quits job & stays at home while the new spouse works. The courts can impute an income to the NCP but sometimes they will factor in what the new spouse makes to determine how much support should be paid.

Or if the NCP is hiding income through the new spouse, that is another reason they may do it. Like if the NCP worked for the new spouse & it showed that the NCP was making little to nothing even if the business is very successful.

Its rare, but it does occasionally happen. But like I said, its pretty rare, and if both the NCP and CP are contributing to the child's expenses, its unlikely for the courts to do that.

 

[frylover]

Thanks, Mrs. K.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? LA

At a gathering today a divorced parent I know told me that her second husband's income was considered as part of their household income when the amount of child support her ex had to pay was calculated.

EVERYTHING I have ever read here has said this is not true. Nothing I've read about LA support indicates that it would be. Mom doesn't work, but even so, at most wouldn't they impute her an income, not count step dad's?

She wasn't complaining about her amount of support or anything, the subject just came up during a discussion about something else, and it really got me curious.

There can be exceptions to the general rule in cases where the parent is not working at all. Its also possible for a judge to take a spouse's income in consideration in order to help determine what income should be imputed to the parent.

That is more likely to be what happened. Its more likely that the judge used her husband's income are part of his/her determination as to how much to impute to her.

 

[frylover]

THanks to you too, LdiJ!

 

[escape2paradise]

There can be exceptions to the general rule in cases where the parent is not working at all. Its also possible for a judge to take a spouse's income in consideration in order to help determine what income should be imputed to the parent.

That is more likely to be what happened. Its more likely that the judge used her husband's income are part of his/her determination as to how much to impute to her.

Do states that allow this have a formula for how the spouses income could be used to determine the amount imputed to the NCP or it left to the discretion of the judge?

 

[GrowUp!]

Do states that allow this have a formula for how the spouses income could be used to determine the amount imputed to the NCP or it left to the discretion of the judge?

It is totally up to the discretion of the Judge. It has to be a pretty extreme situation for the spouse to have their income imputed...usually along the lines that the other parent is willfully unemployed. In case you're even thinking about it...I'd toss those thoughts out.

 

[MrsK]

It is totally up to the discretion of the Judge. It has to be a pretty extreme situation for the spouse to have their income imputed...usually along the lines that the other parent is willfully unemployed. In case you're even thinking about it...I'd toss those thoughts out.

Agreed, there is no sheet for this, it would have to be up to the judge to decide whether or not to do it, and how much to calculate, etc. If a CP brought this up (or an NCP for that matter) in most normal situations (for example, a CP bringing up factoring in the NCP's new spouses income but the NCP is working & paying support) a judge would not look very favorably on the CP for doing so. In normal situations it is NOT the new spouse's responsibility to support the NCP's child, just like its not the CP's new spouse's responsibility to support the child(ren) either.