Case Name: Mrs. John G. SWIDER v. John G. SWIDER
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1975-06-17
Citations: 314 So. 2d 372
Docket Number: No. 6703
Parties: Mrs. John G. SWIDER v. John G. SWIDER.
Judges: Before SAMUEL, REDMANN, BOU-TALL, MORIAL and BEER, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 314
Pages: 372–375

Head Matter:
Mrs. John G. SWIDER v. John G. SWIDER.
No. 6703.
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.
June 17, 1975.
Rehearing Denied July 8, 1975.
Writ Refused Sept. 26, 1975.
Jerald N. Andry, Andry & Andry, New Orleans, for plaintiff-appellant.
Kenneth E. Pickering, Kehl & Pickering, New Orleans, for defendant-appellee.
Before SAMUEL, REDMANN, BOU-TALL, MORIAL and BEER, JJ.

Opinion:
REDMANN, Judge.
Having by this 1974 rule obtained only a $10 reduction from the $250 monthly alimony set by consent judgment of July 1973 (and a $10 reduction in the $65 weekly child support fixed in December 1972), an ex-husband appeals, seeking elimination or at least further reduction of alimony only. We affirm.
When alimony has been fixed by consent judgment, a change in amount can only be obtained by showing a subsequent change in circumstances; Bernhardt v. Bernhardt, La.1973, 283 So.2d 226.
The only changes the ex-husband shows are: (1) his bonus for the year 1973 was only $1,600 (whether or not net of withholding taxes is not shown), compared to $2,900 for 1972 (net of $1,100 withholding) and (2) his second wife is no longer working.
The reduction in the ex-husband's second community's income is not completely clear. The second wife's income must be considered as part of the overall circumstances; Marcus v. Burnett, La. 1973, 282 So.2d 122. It is clear that, as of the July 1973 consent alimony judgment, the second wife's salary was $366.44 biweekly or $9,527.44 annually, or $793.95 monthly on average. Judging from the 1972 income tax return, this represents after-income-tax income of about $570 a month, and after-all-tax income of about $510. Added to this, the $1,300 after-tax reduction in annual bonus — $108 a month —indicates a total monthly after-tax reduction of about $618.
Even so, the ex-husband's after-all-tax income (judging from his 1972 return and maximum F.I.C.A. tax) remains about $2,000 monthly, though reduced from the second community's prior $2,618. He must pay about $238 for his minor daughter's support and (unless we amend) $240 (of before-tax income; perhaps $180 or less after taxes) to his wife. Even after these payments he will have after-tax income on the order of $1,500 or more monthly for himself, his second wife and two children (for one of whom support of $100 is received, making the total available $1,600, more or less).
The ex-wife will have $130 net earnings plus $18 royalty plus $240 alimony, or $388 (of which $258 remains income-taxable to her) plus $238 for her minor child, a total of $626 (less some tax) for herself and the minor child.
In our view, the trial judge may well have considered that the $250 former consent fixing was a minimum for the ex-wife's needs, which left the ex-husband with a comfortable surplus over his own second family's minimum needs. Thus, when the ex-husband's second community's income suffered a $600 monthly net decrease in income, the trial judge's response of only a $10 decrease in alimony (and a $43 decrease in child support) apparently made the ex-husband's family bear the bulk of the decrease because it was more able to do so.
All circumstances considered, we conclude that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion.
Affirmed.
SAMUEL and MORIAL, JJ., dissent.
. The ex-husband complains of certain circumstances relative to the ex-wife (e. g., she works only part-time; she does not charge their adult daughter enough for room and board). But these circumstances existed when the consent alimony was fixed. They therefore cannot be a basis for change. The ex-husband also testified that he adopted a child "John Christian," after the December 1972 fixing of child support, but he did not show that the adoption occurred after the July 1973 consent alimony judgment. Moreover, his 1972 income tax return showed he was already claiming a child "Christian". Thus no change in circumstances on this account was proven.
. The husband's testimony of $719 take-home pay for the wife (disregarding an October 1973 increase) ignored that, when added to his higher income, her earnings were taxed more than the amount withheld.