Destein

In this marital dissolution action, appellant Joseph A. Destein, Jr., challenges the amount of guideline child support awarded. In *1388 significant part, the court derived the award by imputing a rate of return to appellant’s separate property real estate, which was non-income-producing. Appellant contends the trial court erred principally because it had no discretion to impute income to non-income-producing investment assets. Because of the strong public interest in ensuring adequate financial support for children by their parents, we reject appellant’s request to graft this exception onto a statute whose clear text imposes no limitation on the court’s discretion to impute income when in the child’s best interests. We affirm the decision of the trial court.

Procedural History

Joseph and Patricia L. Destein 1 are the parents of four minor children. Patricia petitioned for dissolution of the marriage in April 1999, and by August 1999 the parties had entered into a marital settlement agreement that resolved issues of child custody, spousal support, and division of community property. Left .unresolved was the issue of child support, and in September 1999 Patricia filed a…