Legal Question in Family Law in California

You have to ask the judge to impute income. Imputation of income is based upon exactly what you write, you have to prove the ability and opportunity to work. Some examples: if someone is able bodied and competent, we frequently get income imputed at minimum wage; if someone voluntarily leaves a job they could have continued, we try to impute income at the former wage; and if some has a job history but left to raise kids for example, we try to show that they have the opportunity to go back to similar employment at the then prevailing wage. In any case where this issue is significant, we usually hire an expert to do a vocational examination, prepare a report and have them testify in court.