NORTH DAKOTA Part 31

When these situations exist, North Dakota judges will impute income to the paying parent (meaning, the judge will assign the amount that the court thinks the paying parent could have earned) when they calculate guidelines child support. Income is imputed when a parent makes a voluntary choice that results in the reduction of income.

But what if a paying parent is involuntarily unemployed or involuntarily underemployed? For example, what if a paying parent's employer issues company-wide layoffs or reduces the paying parent's hourly wages or schedule? In these cases, the court probably won't impute income because the parent hasn't lost income due to a willful and voluntary choice.