Opinion ID: 2077339
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: net cash bonus award

Text: The defendant first claims that the trial court improperly ordered him to pay 20 percent of his annual net cash bonus award as child support. He claims that the order was inconsistent with the guidelines and that the court's proffered justification for its deviation from the guidelines was contrary to law. He further claims that the order was improper because it was not based on the needs of the children and thus amounts to disguised alimony. The plaintiff responds that the trial court is not bound by the guidelines when a couple's income exceeds the maximum amount listed in the schedule. The plaintiff asserts that, in such cases, the only applicable criteria for setting an appropriate child support award are those set forth in § 46b-84, which grants the trial court broad discretion in determining the amount of child support and allows the court to consider other factors in addition to the financial needs of the child. We conclude that, although the trial court correctly acknowledged the general applicability of § 46b-84 and the guidelines, the child support order was improper because it was inconsistent with the statutory criteria and with the principles expressed in the guidelines. [5] The court ordered an open-ended, variable child support award that constituted an increase, rather than a decrease, in the percentage of the parties' combined net weekly income over that established for families at the upper limit of the guidelines' schedule. In addition, it misapplied the deviation criteria and failed to expressly consider the factors set forth in § 46b-84 (d), thus providing no acceptable rationale for its decision. Accordingly, we conclude that the trial court abused its discretion and that the judgment with respect to the child support orders must be reversed.