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Coronavirus (COVID-19) has brought an unprecedented and uncertain situation to our doorstep.  The rapid spread of this dangerous virus has resulted in illness and death for many Virginians.  Governor Northam’s most recent Executive Order has imposed more substantial personal and professional restrictions as we all strive to “flatten the curve” and limit infection.

While we are not here to comment on the personal health/safety issues at stake, we did want to share some thoughts regarding how this new normal is impacting a lot of our clients.  For this brief post, we will focus on the issue of court-ordered child and spousal support.

In Virginia child support cases, imputation of income can have a substantial influence the amount of a support obligation. Understanding how and when a court will impute income is a complex endeavor.  This post is designed to give you a few basic pointers so that you can better understand the concept of imputing income.  If you have questions about your specific case, it is important to speak with an experienced family law and divorce attorney.

Read the Virginia Code

In determining the amount of child support, a Virginia court is guided by child support guidelines.  These guidelines are "presumptive" in that a judge shall presume, subject to rebuttal, that the guideline figure is the appropriate figure for support.   However, Virginia Code Section 20-108.1 sets forth factors that a judge may consider in determining whether to deviate from the guidelines.  Factor number three states as follows:

In Virginia, the child support amount that one parent pays to another is often calculated using support guidelines.  Depending on the custodial arrangement that exists between the parents, a Court may choose between different types of support guideline calculations. This post is a brief introduction to "shared" guidelines, which are often utilized for parents who have joint or shared physical custody.  As you may recall from our previous child support posts, most of what you need to know about support guidelines in Virginia can be found in the child support guidelines statute: Virginia Code Section 20-108.2.  This includes information about shared guidelines. You may have asked (or been asked) the following question: if I get more time with my son/daughter, will I pay less in support?  The answer is . . . maybe.  It depends on how much custodial time you are exercising.  Unlike "sole" guidelines (which do not consider the amount of custodial time that is exercised by the "non-custodial parent"), shared guidelines factor in the custodial arrangements between parents.  Simply put, if the court uses shared guidelines, the more equal the custodial time between the parents, the less support that will be paid between them. So, when will the Court use shared child support guidelines in Virginia?