California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Cortez, B291280 (Cal. App. 2019):
Ability to pay does not require existing employment or money on hand. (People v. Staley (1992) 10 Cal.App.4th 782, 785.) Ability to pay may be based on the person's ability to earn when the person has no physical, mental or emotional impediment which precludes the person from finding and maintaining employment. (Id. at 786.) Here, the record shows no such impediment.
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