Opinion ID: 2514245
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Michael's claim must be remanded for an evidentiary hearing.

Text: Given our conclusion that Michael made a prima facie showing of voluntary underemployment and that his claim could not be rejected as a matter of law, we must vacate the superior court's 1998 child support order and remand this case for entry of a modified order after an evidentiary hearing on Michael's claim. In remanding for further proceedings, however, we emphasize the narrow basis of our decision. We have recognized that Michael is entitled to an evidentiary hearing because he has made out a prima facie showing of voluntary underemployment. But we express no opinion as to the ultimate validity of his claim. Nor do we attempt to define the boundaries of underemployment. We leave these issues to the superior court's sound discretion on remand. We do think it important, however, to observe that Rule 90.3(a)(4) does not rigorously command pursuit of maximum earnings. The rule's more modest objective is to give courts broad discretion to impute income based on realistic estimates of earning potential in cases of voluntary and unreasonable unemployment or underemployment. We note that courts in other jurisdictions have varied widely in interpreting and enforcing similar provisions. [24] In our view, the boundaries of Alaska's rule are best left to be defined through case-by-case consideration based on the totality of relevant circumstances. [25] We further note that our decision vacating the 1998 child support order makes it unnecessary to address the issues arising on appeal from the superior court's 1999 orders denying Michael's second generation of modification motions. Since the superior court will be able to base its reconsideration of the original child support order on the parties' current circumstances and their actual earnings since 1997, the intervening events of the second appeal will necessarily be subsumed in the court's ruling on its original order. [26]