How Divorce Attorneys May View Potential Parental Income for Louisiana Child Support

The state of Louisiana takes child support obligations very seriously.  Child support awards are the payments which one parent may owe the other parent of their child or children.  If a parent who owes child support tries to escape or evade their obligation he or she may face tough penalties. As today’s article will explore, and divorce attorneys will generally advise, attempting to evade a child support award can be done in other was besides refusing to pay outright.
Not all child support awards are created equal.  Divorce attorneys and courts typically evaluate each family situation according to its specific nuances and a family law court may come to a tailor made award for that family.  Not surprisingly, one of the first things which a court will look at is the income of the parents.  It would be foolish and unfair for a court to force a parent to pay a child support award which is beyond their financial means.
Not only is the income of the parents analyzed, but the potential income may also be analyzed as well.  This would theoretically prevent one parent from feigning underemployment or total unemployment to escape paying a child support award.  (Divorce attorneys may point to the codification of this idea in the Louisiana Revised Statutes, under RS 9:315.11.)
315.11 goes on to explain that the child support award will be calculated according to income earning potential.  The basis for this “potential” can be found by consulting the “most recently published Louisiana Occupational Employment Wage Survey.”  The LOEWS has an up to date break down of the average salaries and wages of various jobs throughout the state of Louisiana.
There are provisions in 315.11 which forgive parents in certain circumstances for underemployment.  One such provision is in section C.  This provision makes an exception for the horrible effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  If a parent is underemployed because of one of these storms, they will not be judged to have been “voluntarily underemployed.”  One would imagine that this particular provision was enacted in quick response to the storms which ravaged much of Louisiana, and divorce attorneys would likely not find that they are effective infinitely into the future.
There are a couple other ways in which a parent who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed will not have their “normal” income average used as a factor for their child support award.  One example is in the case of a medical handicap.  If a parent is “mentally or physically incapacitated” then divorce attorneys may argue that they should not be held to the higher standard of their previous income earning potential.  Another example is in the situation where the parent is caring for a child of the parties who is under five years of age.  This of course makes sense, in part, because the whole idea behind averaging the parent’s regular income earning potential into the child support award is to ensure that the child receives the support which he or she needs.
This above is informational only, not legal advice. Will Beaumont. New Orleans.