Ask Carolyn: My Soon-to-Be Ex Would Rather Get Alimony Than Work!

Dear Carolyn,

I work and make a good income. During our marriage, my wife worked for a while, but stopped when we had children. She has and maintains a CPA license. We have a 15-year-old with some discipline problems and ADHD. We are divorcing, and I think she should go back to work. She wants alimony. Who is right? Does she need to work, or can she just continue to be a leech?

– Anti-Leech

Dear Anti-Leech,

I certainly understand the frustration you are facing. I’ll give you some tips for preparing your case, particularly regarding whether the court should impute income to your ex-wife. You will want to study carefully the case of Nicks v. Nicks from the North Carolina Court of Appeals in June 2015, which discusses the topic of imputation of income. You have an excellent case that your wife should apply for and obtain employment as a CPA. The only issue you raise is whether your child’s situation justifies your wife staying home. The North Carolina Child Support Guidelines by analogy indicate that the judge cannot impute to a parent staying home with a child under three.

In Nicks, the couple was married 26 years and had four children, with only one still a minor. The child was in the tenth grade, and the mother expressed concern for the child’s mental well-being. The wife was a physician, and she had recently worked, but the clinic closed. Before the clinic closed, the wife was making $8000 per month. The trial court imputed $8000 per month income to wife, and wife appealed to the North Carolina Court of Appeals. The husband had $19,000 of disability income per month as a disabled physician, which ended at his age 65. The wife needed around $11,000 per month for her needs, according to the trial court. The Court of Appeals remanded (sent back) the case to the trial court to determine if physician wife was suppressing her income in “bad faith” as defined by the Works decision from 2011.

In Works, the Court of Appeals indicated the income could be imputed if a party has depressed her/his income in “bad faith.” “Bad faith” is defined as “shirking the duty of self-support.” A spouse refusal to seek or to accept gainful employment is “bad faith.”

After consideration of Works, the Court of Appeals in Nicks remanded (sent back for further findings) to the trial court regarding whether the wife in Nicks was acting in “bad faith.”

Good luck with getting your wife back to work as a CPA.

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This blog is an excerpt from Ask Carolyn 2, now available on Amazon.