June 16, 2020 – Imputing Income

“Section 19 of the Child Support Guidelines permits the court to “impute such amount of income to a spouse as it considers appropriate in the circumstances…” Such circumstances include intentional under-employment or unemployment. While there is no similar provision under the Divorce Act in relation to determination of income for spousal support purposes, the Divorce Act does permit the court to make such order for spousal support “…as the court thinks reasonable for the support of the other spouse.” Determination of what is reasonable must start with determination of the parties respective incomes. The terms of s. 19 of the Child Support Guidelines, while not applicable to spousal support per se, nevertheless represent a useful guide in considering whether to impute income for spousal support purposes as well.”

Cosentino v. Cosentino, 2016 ONSC 4021 (CanLII) at 123