Imputing Income In An Illinois Divorce

There are three quantifiable inputs in an Illinois divorce: 1) Time the children currently spend with each parent, 2) Marital assets and debts of the couple, and 3) The income of each party. Everything else that determines the results of an Illinois divorce can be described qualitatively in words but not quantitatively in numbers. This means the few solid numbers that a divorce litigant has available to them must be the bedrock of their divorce case. Unfortunately, divorcing couples 1) play games with parenting time before court orders are established, 2) hide assets while revealing secret debts and 3) stop making as much money as they should. Original parenting schedules always get revealed through a Guardian Ad Litem’s investigation. The true marital assets are revealed through forensic accounting. But, how do you prove that someone is not really earning the income that they’re supposed to? Why Do You Need To Know Both Parties’ Incomes In An Illinois Divorce? Both parties’ incomes determine the amount of child support, maintenance (formerly known as “alimony”) and children’s expenses. In Illinois, “[t]he court shall compute the basic child support obligation by…determin[ing] each parent’s monthly net income” 750 ILCS 5/505(A)(1.5) In Illinois, “[t]he court shall first make a finding as to whether a maintenance award is appropriate, after consideration of all relevant factors, including:(1) the income and property of each party” 750 ILCS 5/503(a) In Illinois, children’s “expenses shall be prorated in proportion to each parent’s percentage share of combined net income” 750 ILCS 5/505(a)(3.7)(B) Therefore, it is imperative that each party to a divorce know for certain what their soon-to-be-ex-spouse’s income actually is. Failing an accurate determination of a soon-to-be-ex-spouse’s income, a party can request that an Illinois divorce court “impute” income to the soon-to-be-ex-spouse. The process by which an Illinois divorce court determines what a divorce litigant should make is called “imputing income.” There are two reasons to impute income: 1) You don’t know what the person is really making or 2) The person is making less than they could BY CHOICE. Imputing Income In An Illinois Divorce In Order To Determine What A Person Currently Makes Some people’s finances are a mess. Or they only get paid in cash…and then they spend that cash before it gets counted. “If present income is uncertain, a court may impute income to the payor.” In re Marriage of Gosney, 394 Ill. App. 3d 1073, 1077 (Ill. App. […]

from Russell D. Knight | Family Lawyer Chicago https://rdklegal.com/imputing-income-in-an-illinois-divorce/