Alabama Divorce & Family Law Attorney Blog : Birmingham Divorce Lawyer & Attorney : Eversole Law Firm : Serving Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile Alabama

A Jefferson County, Birmingham, Alabama client asked an interesting question today.  How is child support calculated when your ex-spouse doesn't work, or has a sporadic work history?  Primarily, when calculating child support the court looks to the well being of the child.  And when awarding child support in this situation ,an Alabama court will impute an income to your ex-spouse, if the court finds he/she is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed.  The court will estimate the unemployed or underemployed parents income, and impute that income to the spouse owing child support.  The court looks to past employment, employment potential, probable earning levels, education and job qualifications, as well as job opportunities and earning levels in the community.  The Alabama rules regarding child support can be found in the Child Support Guidelines Rule 32.

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The Alabama Rules provide the following non-inclusive list of reasons for deviating from the child support guidelines:

1. Shared physical custody or visitation rights for periods of physical custody or care of children is substantially in excess of those customarily approved.
2. Extraordinary costs of transportation for purposes of visitation borne substantially by one parent.
3. Expenses of college education incurred prior to a child reaching the age of majority.
4. Assets or, or unearned income received by or on the behalf of, a child.
5. Such other facts or circumstances that the court finds contribute to the best interest of the child for whom support is being determined. A.R.J.A., Rule 32(A)(1)(e).

The existence of any factor above does not require the court to deviate from the guidelines, but may be considered by the court in doing so.  Furthermore, the court may deviate from the guidelines even without any of the above factors as well. 

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A child has a basic right to receive support.  The parents obligation to provide such support cannot be removed except by a termination of parental rights, i.e. adoption.  The rules governing child support in Alabama can be found in the Alabama Child Support Guidelines, Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration, Rule 32.

The calculation of the support figure from the guidelines above is deemed correct unless shown otherwise.  The guidelines are not intended to be carved in stone. They are "guidelines" only. They are meant as a map to assist parties, lawyers, and judges in making more consistent awards of child support.

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