Q: Child support, Pa-. unemployed parent w felonies & suspended DL searching for employment what is state minimum payment

A: The judge has the discretion to assign an imputed income to either parent. One of the considerations in doing so may be why that parent is unemployed or underemployed. If the reason is something of that person's own doing, such as being fired or committing a crime, the judge does not have to accept that the person is justifiably unemployed and can designate some sort of income for that parent. i suggest you consult with a local family law attorney to see if you have any options.

A: There's no "minimum payment" of child support under Pennsylvania law. The court looks to the paying parent's "earning capacity," and calculates that either by looking at current wages and/or by job history. Many courts will presume that an obligated parent can at least earn minimum wage pay somewhere at 40 hrs/wk, and will "impute" that as a bare-minimum earning capacity so long as that parent has no limitations on the ability to work (for instance, medical reasons).

Certainly a criminal history and suspended driver's license is going to prevent someone from landing a good job -- but the courts view those as self-imposed limitations and will NOT give you a break. The thought is that committing crimes and getting one's driver's license suspended shouldn't cause a child to suffer financially, and so the payor parent must somehow find a way to pick up the slack and make do under circumstances that were self-created.

It may suck, but that's the way it is. Best of luck to you.