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COURTS HAVE THE DISCRETION TO DECLINE TO IMPUTE INCOME TO A PARENT WHO HAS VOLUNTARILY REDUCED HIS OR HER INCOME FOR A COMPELLING REASON, HERE, ALTHOUGH FATHER TOOK A LOWER PAYING JOB IN NORTH CAROLINA BECAUSE HIS WIFE TOOK A HIGHER PAYING JOB IN NORTH CAROLINA, FATHER’S CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGATION WAS NOT REDUCED, RATHER THE COURT IMPUTED A PORTION OF THE WIFE’S NEW HIGHER INCOME TO KEEP FATHER’S OBLIGATION AT THE SAME LEVEL (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department determined the court had the discretion to reduce father’s child support payments, even though father voluntarily took a lower paying job in North Carolina where his wife had found a job which increased her income by $30,000. The court’s conclusion it did not have the authority to reduce father’s child support obligation in this circumstance was itself deemed an abuse of discretion by the Fourth Department. However the Fourth Department didn’t change father’s obligation, rather it imputed some of the wife’s new higher income to the father:

… [C]ourts may decline to impute income when a parent has a voluntary reduction in income and a legitimate and reasonable basis for such a reduction … . Indeed, the general rule that “a parent who voluntarily quits a job will not be deemed without fault in losing such employment . . . should not be inflexibly applied where a parent quits a job for a sufficiently compelling reason” … . …

We thus agree with the father that the court erred when it stated that it was not permitted to reduce the father’s child support obligation even if his decision to take a lower-paying job was reasonable. …

It was undisputed that the entire reason the father left his higher-paying job in New York was so that his wife could accept a higher-salaried position in North Carolina, which resulted in a net increase in the income of his new family unit. Inasmuch as the father’s voluntary decision to leave his lucrative position for a lesser-paying position “unquestionably improved [his overall] financial condition” … , we conclude that we may impute some portion of the wife’s higher salary to the father … . Matter of Montgomery v List, 2019 NY Slip Op 04560, Fourth Dept 6-7-19

 

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