The Imputation of Income: An art or a science?

Thomson Rogers’ family lawyers, George Karahotizitis and Melanie Larock, presented on the topic of “Imputation of Income” at the Law Society of Ontario on September 30, 2016.

Below is a brief intro to their paper.

“Imputed income matters. The reason why income had to be imputed matters.”¹ The imputation of income is a determination of fact, not a guess or a provisional amount while waiting for better disclosure or further review.² While the goal of the Child Support Guidelines is to maximize objectivity, predictability and consistency, Section 19(1) is one of the most litigated areas of the Guidelines. The law of imputation of income is a continuously evolving area in family law.

The methodology for imputing income for child support purposes applies equally for spousal support purposes.³ Section 19(1) of the Guidelines includes a non-exhaustive list of nine enumerated categories to impute income, which include:

1. the spouse is intentionally under-employed or unemployed, other than where the under-employment or unemployment is required by the needs of a child of the marriage or any child under the age of majority or by the reasonable educational or health needs of the spouse;

Read full paper: The Imputation of Income: An art or a science?