Opinion ID: 1952904
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Voluntary Unemployment or Underemployment

Text: [¶ 14] The relationship between a court ordered duty of support and an individual's good faith decision to change careers and pursue additional education or retraining was previously considered in Harvey v. Robinson, 665 A.2d 215 (Me. 1995). In Harvey, the father, facing the possibility of involuntary retirement, decided to retire voluntarily and pursue a long held dream of attending college and medical school. Id. at 216. As a result of this decision, his annual gross income was reduced from $35,500 to $13,840, the amount he was able to earn from part-time employment and an educational grant while attending school. Id. The father sought modification of his child support obligation, and the trial court granted a reduction in the level of support based upon the father's new income of $13,840. Id. at 216-17. As justification for this finding, the trial court found that the father's decision to quit full-time employment to pursue college was made in good faith. Id. at 217. The trial court failed, however, to explain how this accommodation to [the father's] preferences serve[d] the interests of the children in any way. Id. at 218. [¶ 15] We held that a parent's good faith decision to voluntarily give up full-time employment to pursue education must be balanced with an evaluation of the long term effect that decision has on the interests of the children for whom the parent had an established duty of support. Id. Accordingly, we vacated the court's decision and remanded for reconsideration of the child support determination based on [the father's] current earning capacity as a full-time employee. Id. at 219; see also Dep't of Human Servs. ex rel. Monty v. Monty, 2000 ME 96, ¶ 12, 750 A.2d 1276, 1280 (holding that a parent's decision to attend law school rather than work full-time supported an upward deviation in the level of child support); Rich v. Narofsky, 624 A.2d 937, 939 (Me. 1993) (holding that trial court erred in calculating support obligation based on a parent's present income rather than on her earning capacity where the parent became unemployed in order to attend college). [¶ 16] Here, David's loss of employment from Carleton Woolen Mills was involuntary, but his extended unemployment was not. David failed to conduct a meaningful employment search before deciding to dedicate himself exclusively to pilot training. He testified that he contacted a few people in the [textile] industry and that he made little or no effort to look for management positions outside of the textile industry. [¶ 17] The trial court's conclusion that David's work and spending decisions demonstrate that he mistakenly failed to identify his responsibility for child support and alimony as more important than his personal preferences is inescapable. As addressed in Harvey, an individual's personal preference to pursue education or vocational training cannot, standing alone, justify a reduction in a preexisting support obligation. 665 A.2d at 218. David failed to meet his burden of establishing that his career decisions following the loss of his job from Carleton Woolen Mills served the interests of his children and his former spouse for whom he owed established duties of support. Indeed, David's career decisions appeared to serve only his self-interest. The court, therefore, did not err in concluding that David was voluntarily unemployed and that his ability to pay child and spousal support should not be premised on the amount of his unemployment benefits.