Sorry, I edited my post.

No.

Obviously, she is not cut out to be a nurse. She can't pass the class. A court is not going to force her to go back to school and is not going to impute an income based on what she could earn IF she could pass the class and get her license. She is working. Her income is what it is.

CS is a basic algebraic calculation. It will be what it will be.

To the OP...you might consider yourself lucky. I pay MORE since my ex became an RN. She kicked me out 6 months before she graduated, after I supported her through nursing school.

Count your blessings.

Courts impute income unfairly all the time. My husband's ex doesn't work at all and at one time, he was making much more than he is able to now, but the judge ordered him to pay on the income he was making before instead of what he is making now. So we are barely surviving. At least your ex does work and has some of burden. It could all be yours. Count your blessings. She could have dropped out of nursing school and stayed home to be with the kids like my husband's ex. But I'm not sure what all she does while they are in school....because her father threatened to kick her out of her current house if she didn't clean it up.

Courts impute income unfairly all the time. My husband's ex doesn't work at all and at one time, he was making much more than he is able to now, but the judge ordered him to pay on the income he was making before instead of what he is making now. So we are barely surviving. At least your ex does work and has some of burden. It could all be yours. Count your blessings. She could have dropped out of nursing school and stayed home to be with the kids like my husband's ex. But I'm not sure what all she does while they are in school....because her father threatened to kick her out of her current house if she didn't clean it up.

I get what you are saying, but in the OP's case, income has NOT been imputed unfairly.

The court cannot impute income based on what someone could make if they pass post-secondary classes and get a job in a professional field. If she is failing the classes, then she cannot be forced to take them until she passes then get a better paying job. You cannot force a parent into a job that YOU think they can do.

Last semester (6 months ago) my ex failed out of a college class and could not graduate. She was going to school to be an RN. She retook the class and failed it again. Now, she is working a job at Walmart and is demanding more child support because she refuses to go back to school to complete the last class.

First, I'm wondering if there is anything that I can do because she failed (twice)?

Secondly, I told her about a nurse's aide program that she could complete in 13 days at the local community college, which would allow her to work and then possibly finish her last course at another college. She refused to do that because then should would have to work a night shift.

I'm basically wondering if domestic relations would consider that she refuses to return to college, transfer the credits to obtain another license (LPN) and assess her at a higher earning capacity because she COULD do these things instead of work at Walmart.

Thanks.

Although an income of a RN cannot be imputed, you should ask that the income for a first year LPN be imputed. If all she is lacking for RN is that one class, she most likely has the credits and education needed for LPN. All she has to do is take the state boards for LPN.

If that fails, request an income of a CNA be imputed, even in nursing homes, a new CNA can make more than anyone working at Walmart. Heck, I think even burger flippers make more than a Walmart employee, they usally pay only min wage with no benefits at Walmart.

Although an income of a RN cannot be imputed, you should ask that the income for a first year LPN be imputed. If all she is lacking for RN is that one class, she most likely has the credits and education needed for LPN. All she has to do is take the state boards for LPN.

If that fails, request an income of a CNA be imputed, even in nursing homes, a new CNA can make more than anyone working at Walmart. Heck, I think even burger flippers make more than a Walmart employee, they usally pay only min wage with no benefits at Walmart.

How could an income for a job that she doesn't have be imputed? Just because she may have credits doesn't mean she can do the job.

I have a degree in broadcast journalism. If you can impute a salary based on what a person can do based on their college credits, then you would be able to calculate my salary as the same as Barbara Walters. Needless to say, I do not come anywhere close to that.

You cannot FORCE her to take her boards or become a CNA. It is completely unfair to ask the court to impute money for a job that she MIGHT be qualified for in the future.

How could an income for a job that she doesn't have be imputed? Just because she may have credits doesn't mean she can do the job.

I have a degree in broadcast journalism. If you can impute a salary based on what a person can do based on their college credits, then you would be able to calculate my salary as the same as Barbara Walters. Needless to say, I do not come anywhere close to that.

You cannot FORCE her to take her boards or become a CNA. It is completely unfair to ask the court to impute money for a job that she MIGHT be qualified for in the future.

The reason I posted that was this-

The OP's ex has RECENTLY, and has been going to school for at least the last 2 years, for a specific purpose, to become a nurse. If it is brought to the court's attention that the OP's ex can, and is able to get a job as a LPN, or a CNA, but has refused to even try, then it is very fair for a court to impute income to her. Basically, she gave up after failing a class, but the problem is that she has managed to make it through 2 years of schooling. In other words, if she were truly not cut out to be a nurse, she would have failed her classes long ago, plus she would have failed during clinicals. Or, if she did her clinicals then found that she couldn't handle the job, she would have dropped out much sooner. The courses needed for RN are very tough, and it's suspicious that a student would make it almost through and then quit and take an extremely low paying job just when CS amount is due to be determined.

You are correct, no court can order a parent to get a specific job, or to finish their schooling. However, courts impute income to father's all the time based on thier recent schooling and abilities when the father is deliberately under employing them self, so it should not be any different for a mother who is doing the same.

The key in the OP's situation is that the ex's schooling is recent and had been going on for a couple of years. If the OP's ex had dropped out a while ago, it wouldn't be fair to ask that the higher income be imputed.

Plus, the OP said that his ex didn't want to take a CNA job simply because she'd have to work at night. That is really ridiculous when the reality is that almost all new RN's end up working the night shift when first hired. As in all jobs, the "new kid on the block" gets the worst shift for awhile until they gain seniority.

The reason I posted that was this-

The OP's ex has RECENTLY, and has been going to school for at least the last 2 years, for a specific purpose, to become a nurse. If it is brought to the court's attention that the OP's ex can, and is able to get a job as a LPN, or a CNA, but has refused to even try, then it is very fair for a court to impute income to her. Basically, she gave up after failing a class, but the problem is that she has managed to make it through 2 years of schooling. In other words, if she were truly not cut out to be a nurse, she would have failed her classes long ago, plus she would have failed during clinicals. Or, if she did her clinicals then found that she couldn't handle the job, she would have dropped out much sooner. The courses needed for RN are very tough, and it's suspicious that a student would make it almost through and then quit and take an extremely low paying job just when CS amount is due to be determined.

You are correct, no court can order a parent to get a specific job, or to finish their schooling. However, courts impute income to father's all the time based on thier recent schooling and abilities when the father is deliberately under employing them self, so it should not be any different for a mother who is doing the same.

The key in the OP's situation is that the ex's schooling is recent and had been going on for a couple of years. If the OP's ex had dropped out a while ago, it wouldn't be fair to ask that the higher income be imputed.

Plus, the OP said that his ex didn't want to take a CNA job simply because she'd have to work at night. That is really ridiculous when the reality is that almost all new RN's end up working the night shift when first hired. As in all jobs, the "new kid on the block" gets the worst shift for awhile until they gain seniority.

YOU know that the amount of schooling she has should mean she can do a specific job in the medical field because you are in the medical field. A judge likely does not.

If her income were calculated what she could make as a nurse, she could vert well end up having to finish school and get a job as a nurse to cover it. The problem is, what if she really is crappy at it? What if she makes a serious medical mistake? Who sill be responsible for that?

People are allowed to change their minds about their career path. She has failed this class twice in the past year. I think since she failed, re-enrolled, then failed again, she has a pretty good cause to honestly say, "Hey, I can't do it." If she were already a nurse, then quit, that would be one thing. But she never got there, and failed trying, twice.

The whole "I don't want to work nights" could easily have been an excuse to get him to lay off.

Ok, I have found out several things since the last time I posted.

Ok, I have found out several things since the last time I posted.

In other states and in cases where the child has failed out of college, and then has to make them up again, the person paying for the child support does NOT have to pay for those classes. In other words, the court may view those classes as classes that SHOULD have been passed. I am going to go to a lawyer to see if our income could be divided the same way. The reason she failed is not because she couldn't do the work assigned. It was because she just simply skipped a few days when she was supposed to go.
As you are not paying child support to your ex's mother, that is worthless. It wasn't you CHILD who bombed out of college. It was your ex.
Secondly, I read about vocational experts. They can be brought in to testify about whether or not she would have enough education to become an LPN. I've read that the PA law takes a person's education into account. She has enough education to be an LPN, therefore she could be assessed as one.COULD being the operative word. Doesn't mean the court WILL.

Thirdly, she is qualified now to be a CNA. I did a job search and several jobs came up that did not require a certificate. They take people who are training to be nurses.Now this, in my humble opinion, is reasonable for you to persue.

And she doesn't want to work nights because that means I would have custody. She wants her child support.There is no guarantee that she would have to work nights as a CNA, either, so....it's really not relevant and that statement won't go over well with the court (even if it is true). It sounds like a vengeful ex statement. Be careful.