What is a Vocational Rehabilitation Expert?
In some instances, it is advantageous (or even necessary) to hire experts to testify in your divorce case. While many people are familiar with accountants, real estate appraisers, or doctors as expert witnesses, the vocational rehabilitation expert may not be as well known. If your spouse is unemployed or underemployed, you may wish to consider hiring a vocational rehabilitation expert to testify as to his/her earning potential.
Who are vocational rehabilitation experts? A vocational rehabilitation expert in a divorce evaluates a spouse’s employability and earning capacity to help courts determine fair alimony and child support.
How does it work? The first step is to identify whether you actually need this type of assessment. Too often, litigants disregard important factors in determining whether this type of evaluation is necessary. For instance, if your spouse is a stay at home parent who is caring for young children, a vocational rehabilitation expert may not be very helpful, because, while there may be a host of jobs your spouse is qualified for, the time constraints of caring for young children make those jobs unattainable. Often, these experts are hired when one spouse simply refuses to become employed.
What is the process? Most experienced vocational experts will want to conduct a brief interview of the subject in order to make a qualified assessment. This interview normally takes about an hour or less. During the interview, the expert will ask the subject questions related to his/her education, employment history, and health. It is common for the evaluator to ask to review a resume of the subject as well. In some cases, the subject will refuse to be interviewed. Seasoned experts will still be able to provide an evaluation, although it may be more difficult. In those instances, the evaluator would ask the other spouse to provide information about the subject. At the end of the process, the evaluator will most often generate a brief report, outlining the basic facts, and ultimately, opining as to a potential salary range.
How does the Court utilize this information? Maryland Family Law Section 12-201 (q) defines voluntary impoverishment when “a parent has made the free and conscious choice, not compelled by factors beyond the parent’s control, to render the parent without adequate resources.” If the Court finds that a litigant is voluntarily impoverished, it has the authority to impute income to the litigant. While the Court has the ability to do so without expert testimony, expert testimony can be helpful, especially in cases where the impoverished party is highly educated and/or has a strong history of employment. The imputation of income would then be used for the Court to determine alimony and/or child support.
While the use of a vocational rehabilitation expert is certainly not necessary in every divorce case, it can be money well spent in select situations, especially in instances where the expectation is that the unemployed/underemployed litigant is capable of earning a significant income.
