Court Opinion

ID: 9560877
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 17:58:14.869029+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:13:17.964655
License: Public Domain

HUNSTEIN, Justice,
concurring.
I concur fully in the majority opinion and write in order to clarify that a trial court is not limited to the actual income of a parent when assessing the amount of child support to award. In this case, there was no evidence of income and I agree with the majority that the trial court abused its discretion by failing to use an estimated earning capacity in making its award here. However, even in those instances where evidence exists regarding a parent’s actual income, the trial court still retains the discretion to use earning capacity to determine the appropriate amount of child support where evidence exists to establish that a parent possesses a higher earning capacity than is indicated by his or her actual income. See Duncan v. Duncan, 262 Ga. 872 (1) (426 SE2d 857) (1993).