Opinion ID: 2279007
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Faith's Imputed Income

Text: [¶ 14] Faith contends that the court abused its discretion by imputing $15,000 in income to her effective as of the date of the divorce judgment. Pursuant to 19-A M.R.S. § 2001(5)(D) (2006), a court may impute income when a party voluntarily becomes or remains unemployed or underemployed. Contrary to Faith's contentions, the court did not commit clear error in finding that once Faith obtained reasonable transportation, income could be imputed to her at $15,000. See Carolan, 2007 ME 39, ¶ 12, 916 A.2d at 948. Faith worked throughout the marriage, except for two years when their daughter was first born, and there was evidence in the record that she earned as much as $10.85 an hour when working at Wal-Mart. [¶ 15] However, the court found that Faith would not be able to work until she obtained transportation, which would require the sale of the house. Incongruously, as ultimately amended, the judgment imputes income to Faith effective immediately. Because the court found that Faith would not be able to work until she obtained transportation, her imputed income should not have been deemed available to her prior to when she could reasonably be expected to obtain transportation. Accordingly, the court's finding that Faith's imputed income of $15,000 was available to her upon the entry of the divorce judgment was clearly erroneous.