Opinion ID: 1351653
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Material Change: Judy's Employment

Text: Michael asserts that an additional material change of circumstances occurred subsequent to the entry of the decree in that Judy had procured full-time regular employment with Metropolitan Community College and that such change justifies a modification of his child support obligation. In this regard, we note that the district court determined that Judy's income was unchanged and denied Michael's petition to modify at least in part on this basis. Michael claims on appeal that the district court erred in its determination regarding Judy's income and that such error requires reversal. We agree with Michael that the district court erred as a matter of law in the manner in which it interpreted the Nebraska Child Support Guidelines and evaluated Judy's income for child support purposes. In its order of June 4, 2001, the district court noted that Judy's earnings had increased since the entry of the decree, but declined to find that such an increase constituted a material change of circumstances warranting a modification of Michael's child support, because her income [was] not substantially different now as during the time she received alimony, which has since expired. Such statement by the district court reflects the fact that the district court treated Judy's prior receipt of alimony as an item of income in its assessment of the child support obligation. The district court erred as a matter of law in its interpretation of the Nebraska Child Support Guidelines by including Judy's alimony in its consideration of Judy's income. Paragraph M of the Child Support Guidelines provides: Alimony. These guidelines intend that spousal support be determined from income available to the parties after child support has been established. The clear language of paragraph M of the guidelines provides that child support obligations are to be calculated prior to the calculation of alimony. Obviously, in reviewing a party's income for child support purposes, alimony cannot be factored into income if alimony has not yet been determined. See Kelly v. Kelly, 2 Neb.App. 399, 510 N.W.2d 90 (1993), reversed on other grounds 246 Neb. 55, 516 N.W.2d 612 (1994). It logically follows that because alimony is not properly considered as income when child support is established, the cessation of alimony cannot be considered a diminution in income when determining whether there has been a material change of circumstances justifying a modification of child support. We conclude the district court erred as a matter of law when it determined that Judy's income at the time of the child support modification hearing was not substantially different when such conclusion was based on the erroneous legal reasoning that alimony had been an item of income in calculating child support, which item had been supplanted by Judy's subsequent earnings. Given the district court's abuse of discretion and error of law, we reverse the district court's order denying Michael's petition for modification and remand the cause for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.