Opinion ID: 1922192
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Mr. Lake's earning capacity.

Text: Ms. Lake contends that the alimony court underestimated Mr. Lake's financial position. In particular, she argues that the trial court abused its discretion by failing to impute Mr. Lake's $1.2 million annual income from his former employment with Bozell after he voluntarily left the company in October 1995 and was subsequently employed by Burson-Marsteller at a substantially reduced salary. [18] See Tydings v. Tydings, 349 A.2d 462, 463 (D.C.1975) (per curiam) (where spouse's inability to pay alimony is self-inflicted or voluntary, it will not constitute grounds for reduction in future payments). We think this argument is without merit. [19] Mr. Lake resigned as partner in the firm of Robinson, Lake, Sayer, Miller, a subsidiary company of Bozell Worldwide, after pleading guilty to violations of federal campaign law. Ms. Lake offered no support for her assertion that Mr. Lake's resignation was voluntary. The facts that he left a lucrative partnership, was unemployed for several months, obtained a job at a quarter of the salary he previously commanded, and developed a criminal record, support that his resignation was due to an illegal $5,000 political contribution rather than to any intention to voluntarily reduce his income. Cf. Hamel v. Hamel, 539 A.2d 195, 202-03 (D.C.1988) (reversing trial court's reduction of alimony when appellee's present financial difficulty was the result of purely voluntary decisions that proved extremely costly and greatly diminished his ability to provide support); Tydings, 349 A.2d at 464 (affirming trial court's refusal to reduce appellant's alimony obligation where appellant voluntarily retired, thereby decreasing his net income). Moreover, there is no indication that Mr. Lake left the partnership and Bozell in order to avoid his support obligations. Accordingly, the alimony court did not abuse its discretion in estimating Mr. Lake's prospective income based on his annual salary at the time of the alimony trial rather than on his income three years earlier, prior to leaving Bozell. [20]