Earning Capacity Evaluation is an evaluation of the litigants ability to work and earn wages prior to and following the event that is the subject of the litigation. An earning capacity evaluation provides information regarding the litigant’s lost wages and diminished (or lost) future earning capacity arising from the injuries sustained in the event that is the subject of the litigation.A litigant’s wage-earning history may or may not be presumptive of their earning capacity prior to the event that is the subject of the litigation. The vocational experts at MTBM Global Rehabilitation Consultants, LLC provide an individual-specific analysis to provide an objective evaluation of a litigant’s ability to work and earn wages. A vocational expert is also used in Labor / Employment and Family Law / Domestic Relations, where the earning capacity of a spouse may be at issue:

Unemployed Spouse

Many spouses have been out of the competitive labor market due to their responsibilities of child care. An evaluation can be made regarding their ability to use their previous education, skills, and past employment to return to the local labor market. The evaluation determines the spouse’s highest level of employability and future earning capacity in the local labor market given their past education, work history, skills, and vocational capacity. The judge will use the information gained from the earning capacity assessment to impute the spouse’s income.

Underemployed Spouse

Due to layoffs, downsizing or a poor economy, it’s not unusual for a spouse to be laid off from a job or to be working in a job which is not consistent with their past education and/or work experience. A vocational evaluation can assist in the determination of the persons highest earning capacity in the labor market.

Disabled Spouse

If a spouse states that their medical or psychological disability will prevent them from being employed, an employability evaluation can assess their vocational capacity and their ability to be competitively employed. This assessment consists of a review of the medical records, a vocational diagnostic interview, if determined, vocational testing, analysis of the spouse’s transferable skills, and research as to what the person can earn in the competitive labor market.

Change of Financial Circumstances or Post-Divorce Reopener

After a divorce has been settled, an assessment of a spouse may be made due to a loss of a job, a new career, injury, or relocation. An evaluation of the effects of these life changes on the spouse’s employability and earnings can be made based on a transferability skills analysis and local labor market research which will document the spouse’s new earning capacity.

Evaluation of Lifetime Medical Costs of a disabled child

The lifetime costs of a disabled child are sometimes calculated into the financial settlement in a divorce. The Life Care Planners at MTBM can evaluate the long-term medical costs of the child’s disability by researching the cost of the required medical services in the local area. The development of a Life Care Plan can assist the court in adjudicating this complex issue.