Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Support

When a parent is laid off from work what happens to his or her child support obligation? A change in income which is involuntary may be a basis for a Florida court to modify child support. But the fact that a parent loses his or her employment involuntarily does not mean he or she automatically qualifies for a reduction of support. Further analysis is required regarding the parent’s efforts to become re-employed. This was at issue in the case Gerville-Reache v. Gerville-Reache, 1D19-1331 (Fla. 1st DCA October 23, 2020).

The former husband was laid off, through no fault of his own, from his job. After attempting to obtain similar employment in the same field without success, the former husband obtained his real estate license and focused on building a career in the real estate field. He sought a downward modification of his child support obligation, and testified to the trial court that real estate had always been his ambition and that working for himself would allow him to spend more time at home with his children. The trial court denied the former husband’s petition for modification, found that he was voluntarily underemployed and imputed annual income of $120,000 to him which is what he admitted those working in his prior employment field could earn in the geographic area. The former husband appealed.

The appellate court agreed with the trial court that the former husband was underemployed, holding “It is undisputed that the former husband was involuntarily terminated from his logistics job. This fact does not end the analysis because Florida courts also consider what the parent has done since the prior employment." However, the trial court found it was error to impute $120,000 annual income to the former husband, holding “The trial court based this figure on the former husband's admission that there were available logistics jobs in the area that paid between $120,000 and $130,000. However, the former husband never said he could get these jobs. In fact, he applied for fifty to sixty logistics industry jobs and had been rejected for all of them. He also explained why he was not competitive for those jobs. There was insufficient evidence to show the former husband had the present ability to earn $120,000 in logistics in his community.”

As noted by the appellate court in this case, “Before imputing income to a parent, the trial court performs a two-step analysis. First, it must conclude that the termination of income was voluntary; second, it must determine whether any subsequent underemployment "resulted from the [parent's] pursuit of his own interests or through less than diligent and bona fide efforts to find employment paying income at a level equal to or better than that formerly received." To understand how this analysis may apply to your child support modification case, schedule a consultation with a Miami child support lawyer.