Child Support

It may be difficult for a someone to prove the other parent’s income if s/he lies about it on his/her tax returns or if s/he works “off the books.” In some cases, an attorney may be able to subpoena financial records, bank statements, etc. through a court-issued subpoena. In other cases, a person may try to prove the other parent’s income in court by adding up his/her known monthly expenses and asking the court to “impute” income – meaning that the court can estimate what s/he must earn based on the money s/he is spending. (For example, if a person claims that s/he only makes $1,000/month but the other parent can show that s/he pays $500/mo for his/her car, $200/ month for gas, $1300/month towards the mortgage, etc., the court may determine that the person earns at least $2,000/month and base child support on that amount.) Perhaps you can ask an attorney if this is done in your state or not and, specifically, whether or not it may be a possibility in your case. If this is not an option, hopefully an attorney can suggest other ideas of how to prove the other parent’s income through subpoenaing certain documents, perhaps, or through other legal maneuvers. Here is a link for lawyers, some of which may be free or low-cost if you qualify: LINK