Legal Question in Family Law in Minnesota

Re: support payments

Thank you for your question regarding the use of imputed income to calculate child support. Essentially, that is what the court has done in your case -- it assumes you are working below your earning capacity, and therefore has calculated child support based on the amount of income the court assumes you could make, presumably based on some record of prior employment, or perhaps based on your cash flow.

If you have a current child support order, and they are unable to collect enough to pay your obligation from one employer, the county will probably garnish the wages at your second job. They have the right to do so.

It is possible you could bring a motion to modify your support obligation, although you would have to show a change in your circumstances, and in particular, you would have to show that there is a sufficient change in your child support obligation to justify the motion. The difficulty you are likely to encounter is that, no matter how much your income has actually changed, the court may decide your earning capacity remains the same -- regardless of you much you actually make.

If you are working well over 40 yours per week, and did not do so in the past, it is conceivable there is some reason to modify your support -- but you would have to show that your earning capacity has changed. You would have to show, for example, you have been unable to find a job in your field, despite a dilligent job search. Alternatively, you may have to show that some condition affecting your ability to work has changed -- your skills are outdated, you have an injury, or something else beyond your control.

All of this is an educated guess, since I obviously do not have any of your paperwork before me, but it follows from the general nature of the facts you describe.

Good luck.