Back v. Back

Florida Second District Court of Appeal · Family Law

Family LawChild SupportImputed Incomechild supportimputed incomevoluntary unemploymentinvoluntary terminationactual earnings

Facts

At the final hearing, the evidence showed that the Husband had been terminated from his principal employment with Farm Bureau effective June 15, 2013, just days before the hearing began. The parties did not dispute that the termination was involuntary and not the result of misconduct. After termination, the Husband would receive only about $719 per month in severance for 120 months and about $1000 per month from work as an agent for Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. He testified that he had contacted acquaintances in the insurance industry and had several interviews scheduled, but the trial court nevertheless imputed income to him of $140,000 per year for child support.

Issue

May a trial court impute income to a parent for child support when the undisputed evidence shows the parent was involuntarily terminated from employment and there is no evidence that the unemployment was voluntary?

Rule

Imputing income to an unemployed parent for child support is a two-step process: first, the court must determine whether the parent's unemployment is voluntary; second, if it is voluntary, the court determines the level of income to impute. When there is no evidence that the parent's unemployment is voluntary, imputing income is error.

🔒

See the holding & full analysis

Create a free KwikCourt account to unlock the rest of this brief — and practice the case.

The court's holding and reasoning
Doctrine tests, pitfalls & exam hypotheticals
10 practice questions + 4 AI-graded essays on this case

Free sample · practice this case

Test yourself

One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

In Tampa, Jordan Mercer lost his sales manager job when his employer eliminated the entire division three days before a child support modification hearing. He began receiving $850 per month in severance, still earned about $900 per month from a side bookkeeping service, and testified that he had already submitted applications and lined up interviews.

May the court impute Jordan's former $120,000 annual salary when setting child support?

Explanation. Imputation is a two-step process: the court must first find that the parent's unemployment or underemployment is voluntary, and only then determine the amount to impute. Where the only evidence shows involuntary job loss and ongoing job search efforts, imputing prior salary is error. Recent past earnings do not override undisputed evidence of involuntary unemployment at the hearing. (Derived from Back v. Back (n.d.).)