It is not uncommon for a divorced spouse to remarry. However, in Maryland divorce cases, remarriage does not automatically change anything that the Maryland divorce court ordered, including any order requiring payment of child support. Thus, as an initial matter, if your ex-spouse gets remarried, that does not impact the court’s order and does NOT change the amount of child support that is required. Even if your ex-spouse demands more child support after getting remarried, you have no legal obligation to “up” your payments. If your ex wants more child support, under Maryland divorce laws, he or she must file a written request with the Maryland divorce court to modify the court’s order for child support payments.

So, the question becomes: if an ex-spouse remarries and stops working, can he or she convince a Maryland divorce court to increase the amount of child support required from the other parent? Here at the Law Office of Robert Castro, we think the answer is “no.” If you are facing a problem like this, call us without delay at (301) 870-1200. We are family law and divorce attorneys in Waldorf, Maryland serving clients in Charles County and other parts of Southern Maryland. Here is a brief explanation.

The Legal Concept of Imputed Income

The reason that we think that a Maryland divorce court would NOT increase child support payment obligations is because of a Maryland legal doctrine called “imputed income.” In Maryland, both parents are obligated to support their children. The Maryland divorce laws provide guidelines for Maryland divorce courts to use in determining the total amount of child support and how to divide that total between the two parents. Let’s assume for simplicity that both parents make about the same amount of money/earnings from employment and other sources of income. There are nuances, but, generally, since the income/earnings are about equal, then a Maryland divorce court will order the parents to split the total child support obligations.

Now, sometimes, a parent will — for various reasons — resist the idea of paying child support and will quit a job or switch to a job that pays substantially less than the parent was earning or could earn. This is often called “voluntary impoverishment.” Maryland divorce laws and Maryland divorce courts do not look favorably on such situations. When this happens, a Maryland divorce court will invoke the doctrine of “imputed income.” This doctrine allows a Maryland divorce court to impute income to a parent if and when that parent takes voluntary actions that reduce their income. To take a simple example, assume that one parent was earning $50,000 a year and then took a job making $20,000 a year to avoid paying a lot of child support. The Maryland divorce court will not allow this and will impute to that parent the previous income of $50,000.

The same doctrine applies if a parent files a written request to modify the court’s order concerning child support. If a parent quits their job and then asks for a modification of child support based on $0 income, very likely, the Maryland divorce court will deny the request and impute the previous level of income to the parent.

For these reasons, we believe that, if an ex-spouse and parent remarries and then quits their job, a Maryland divorce court would NOT increase the child support payment obligations of the other parent. The court will use the doctrine of imputed income to leave the child support obligations unmodified.

Contact Waldorf, Maryland Family Law and Divorce Lawyer Robert Castro Today

This article has been provided by the Law Office of Robert Castro. For more information or questions contact our office to speak to an experienced Maryland family law and divorce lawyer at (301)870-1200. We are Waldorf, MD Divorce lawyers. Our address is 2670 Crain Highway, Waldorf, MD 20601.