GLASTONBURY, CONNECTICUT · FAMILY LAW + FAMILY-VIOLENCE DEFENSE
A Connecticut court is not limited to what a parent reports earning. In the right circumstances it can base support on earning capacity — what the parent is capable of earning.
Two very different people arrive at this page, and the framework serves both.
Where a parent appears to be unemployed or underemployed by choice, or where reported income does not match the life being lived. Self-employment is a common context, because income is more easily shaped.
The 2026 guidelines, at Regs. §46b-215a-5c(c), require the court to consider, to the extent known, before imputing income:
The guidelines also provide that, for imputation purposes, full-time employment means 32 hours per week.
This is a meaningful constraint. A court cannot simply carry forward a prior salary because it once existed.
The evidence is what matters: lifestyle inconsistent with reported income, business records, a history of earnings in the field, and evidence of available positions in this market at comparable pay.
For a self-employed parent, the work is in the records rather than the return — personal expenses run through the business, compensation set below market, retained earnings.
The factor list is your framework. A documented job search, evidence about the actual local market for your skills, health limitations, and any employment barrier the guidelines name are all directly relevant.
A career change that genuinely reduced income is different from one taken to reduce an obligation, and the distinction is provable in both directions.
Connecticut child support starts from net weekly income. What is included, what can be deducted, and what changed in the 2026 guidelines.
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A job loss does not automatically reduce a Connecticut support order. What has to happen, and what the court considers before imputing income.
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How Connecticut child support is calculated under the 2026 guidelines, what counts as income, and who pays for college. Glastonbury attorney Daniel M. Morton.
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Every case starts with a conversation about what you’re facing and what it would take to handle it.
