Opinion ID: 1598423
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Reduced Earning Capacity and Lower Income as a Substantial Change in Circumstances.

Text: The court may modify an order of child support where a substantial change in circumstances has been shown to exist. Iowa Code § 598.21(8) (1993). Changes in the employment, earning capacity, income or resources of a party may be considered. Id. § 598.21(8)(a). Nevertheless, a parent may not rely on a claim of decreased income to obtain a modification of a support order if the parent's reduced earning capacity and inability to pay support is self-inflicted or voluntary. In re Marriage of Foley, 501 N.W.2d 497, 500 (Iowa 1993). Therefore, parents who reduce their income through an improper intent to deprive their children of support or in reckless disregard for their children's well-being are not entitled to a commensurate reduction in child support payments. Applying these principles, we have held that a father who quit his job to finish his education and take a job with less earnings was not entitled to have his child support lowered. In re Marriage of Dawson, 467 N.W.2d 271, 276 (Iowa 1991). However, we agree with the district court and the court of appeals that such a situation does not exist here. Brent did not voluntarily resign his employment with UPS. Furthermore, his decision to return to school was not made with an improper intent to deprive his children of support or in reckless disregard for their financial well-being. A. Resignation. Brent worked as a package driver for UPS. He drove a commercial-sized vehicle and delivered and picked up packages at a constant pace during a full work shift. An essential function of his position was the ability to bend, stoop, crouch, climb, stand, sit, walk, and turn/pivot for up to 9.5 hours per day, 5 days per week. Brent's surgeon stated that Brent should avoid repetitive bending or twisting maneuvers and long periods of driving on uneven surfaces. There was substantial medical evidence that a return to Brent's former job carried a considerable risk of aggravation of his condition. Additionally, the attorney who represented Brent in the workers' compensation case testified that Brent's resignation was a condition of the settlement of his workers' compensation claim. Under these circumstances Brent's termination of employment was not voluntary. B. Return to school. We also conclude that under the unique circumstances of this case, it was reasonable for Brent to obtain vocational training rather than seek full-time employment. Brent has no education beyond high school and he is now unable to perform any job that requires extended use of his lower back. The evidence showed that his reasonable prospects for employment were in minimum-wage positions only. A period of retraining will allow him to increase his future earning capacity and correspondingly his ability to pay future child support. Moreover, the 126-week period represented by Brent's workers' compensation settlement expires in May of 1995, the same month he will complete his schooling. Thus, he has not left his children entirely without support while he is unemployed. An additional factor that makes Brent's decision reasonable is the fact that in the eight years since the parties were divorced, Cynthia has been unemployed or only minimally employed. During this period she has obtained a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and attended schools for a paralegal degree. At the time of the hearing on the modification, she had only one course left to receive her paralegal degree. Now that Cynthia's education and training are virtually complete, we think it is appropriate, as did the district court, for Cynthia to shoulder a larger share of the responsibility for supporting the parties' children than she has in the past. See generally Iowa Code § 598.21(4)(a) (1993) (in setting child support consideration shall be given to the responsibility of both parents to support and provide for the welfare of the minor child) (emphasis added). Therefore, we conclude that Brent's actions do not show an intent to deprive his children of support nor a reckless disregard for their well-being. Consequently, we will not impute Brent's former earnings as an employee of UPS to him for purposes of setting his current child support obligation. See Nicolls v. Nicolls, 211 Iowa 1193, 1196-98, 235 N.W. 288, 289-90 (1931) (spousal support decreased when former husband was discharged from his job and because of health problems could not secure employment with comparable compensation). We think that Brent has proved a substantial change in circumstances warranting a reduction in his child support payments.