Court Opinion

ID: 9690857
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 19:49:00.076691+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:19:05.620171
License: Public Domain

EDWIN H. SMITH, Chief Judge,
concurring.
While I concur with the result reached by Judge Howard in the majority opinion as to all three points of error raised by the appellant, I write to clarify and expand on the rationale for the result reached in Point I, concerning the issue of imputation of income to the appellant in determining the trial court’s award of child support, and in general, to clarify and expand on the law of imputation.1
*390In Point I, the appellant claims that the trial court erred in awarding the respondent child support, as calculated pursuant to the court’s own Form 14 worksheets, based, in part, on imputed gross monthly income to the appellant of $1000 for earnings from the family business, FNJ, awarded by the court to the appellant as his property, because the imputation of income was not supported by the record. Specifically, he claims that the record did not support the imputation of income to the appellant in that there was insufficient evidence from which the court could find that the appellant, exercising his best efforts, was capable of realizing gross income from FNJ of, at least, $1,000 per month.
Our standard of review, with respect to child support rulings, is set forth in Conrad v. Conrad, 76 S.W.3d 305, 308 (Mo.App.2002) (footnotes and internal citations omitted):
In determining an award of child support in any proceeding, § 452.340.8 and Rule 88.01 require the trial court to follow the two-step procedure set forth in Woolridge v. Woolridge, 915 S.W.2d 372, 379 (Mo.App.1996), which was approved by the Missouri Supreme Court in Neal v. Neal, 941 S.W.2d 501, 504 (Mo. banc 1997). In the first step, the trial court must determine and find for the record the PCSA in accordance with Form 14. This required determination and finding can be done by the trial court’s either accepting for the record a Form 14 calculation of one of the parties, or in the event the court “rejects” their Form 14 calculations as being incorrect, by doing its own Form 14 calculation. The trial court can do its own Form 14 calculation by either completing a Form 14 worksheet and making it a part of the record or by articulating on the record how it calculated its Form 14 amount. In the second step, the court, after considering all relevant factors, must determine whether to rebut the PCSA as being unjust or inappropriate. Our review then of an award of child support is essentially one of the trial court’s application of the two-step Wool-ridge procedure, applying the standard enunciated in Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d 30, 32 (Mo. banc 1976). Hence, in reviewing an award of child support, we review the award, in light of the trial court’s application of the Woolridge procedure, to determine whether it is supported by substantial evidence, is not against the weight of the evidence, and does not erroneously declare or apply the law. After reviewing and determining that the trial court’s application of the Woolridge procedure passes the Murphy v. Carron standard, we then review for an abuse of discretion with respect to the trial court’s rebuttal review of its PCSA calculation.
In determining its child support award, the trial court in our case rejected the parties’ Form 14s and prepared its own. In fact, the trial court prepared two Form 14s, one reflecting an adjustment to the appellant’s gross monthly income of $935 for maintenance and the other reflecting a maintenance adjustment of $185. This was done in accordance with the trial court’s ordering an automatic future reduction in maintenance, from $935 to $185, upon the sale of the Marco Island Condominium awarded to the appellant in the court’s division of property and his payment to the respondent of the first $150,000 in sale proceeds. Based on its *391two Form 14s, the trial court calculated two PCSAs: (1) $1003, based on the current maintenance award; and (2) $1102, based on the future reduced maintenance award. The trial court rebutted both amounts as being unjust and inappropriate, awarding child support of $1500 per month. Despite the fact that the trial court’s maintenance award was to automatically decrease, and it calculated two PCSAs based on that fact, the trial court did not order an automatic increase in the child support award at the time of the automatic reduction in maintenance. Although I seriously question whether the law permits an automatic future modification of a child support award, given the trial court’s calculation of two PCSAs, based on the automatic future reduction in maintenance, logically, I would have expected the trial court to order a concomitant automatic reduction in child support. In any event, inasmuch as the issue of an automatic future modification of child support is not raised by the appellant and our review of the imputation of income claim presented does not ultimately rest on a resolution of that issue, I do not address it.
In calculating the required PCSA, pursuant to Form 14, the trial court is required to determine each party’s gross monthly income. In that regard, the trial court here found, in both of its Form 14 worksheets, that the appellant’s gross monthly income was $7615, including $1000 for the income the court found he was capable of earning from the family business, FNJ. However, the appellant contended at trial that FNJ was defunct and had no income. He testified that the company’s only service contract had been terminated as of June 30, 2001 and that he had not sought any other contracts. Although the respondent only requested an imputation of income to the appellant of $769 per month, which according to the respondent’s testimony was based on the appellant’s income from FNJ in 2000, the trial court, in calculating the PCSA, imputed income to him from FNJ of $1,000 per month. The appellant claims that the evidence was insufficient to support the imputation of income, in any amount.
A. In determining its Form 14 PCSAs, was it proper for the trial court to impute income, in any amount, to the appellant?
It is well settled in the law that a parent will not be permitted to escape his responsibility to support his children by deliberately limiting his work in order to reduce income. Williams v. Williams, 55 S.W.3d 405, 414 (Mo.App.2001); Haden v. Riou, 37 S.W.3d 854, 861 (Mo.App.2001); Davis v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 21 S.W.3d 140, 141 (Mo.App.2000); Perkins v. Perkins, 21 S.W.3d 184, 186 (Mo.App.2000); Smith v. Smith, 969 S.W.2d 856, 858 (Mo.App.1998); Silverstein v. Silverstein, 943 S.W.2d 300, 302 (Mo.App.1997); Walker v. Walker, 936 S.W.2d 244, 247 (Mo.App.1996); Hansen v. Phenicie, 917 S.W.2d 618, 619 (Mo.App.1996); Jensen v. Jensen, 877 S.W.2d at 131,136 (Mo.App.1994). To prevent a parent from avoiding his responsibility to support his children, a trial court may, in proper circumstances, impute income to the parent in determining the court’s child support award, based on what the parent could earn by using his best efforts. Williams, 55 S.W.3d at 414; Haden, 37 S.W.3d at 861; Perkins, 21 S.W.3d at 186; Silverstein, 943 S.W.2d at 302; Walker, 936 at 247; Jensen, 877 S.W.2d at 136. “However, it is axiomatic that there must be evidence to support a finding that the parent is deliberately limiting his or her work to reduce income before it is appropriate to impute income.” Davis, 21 S.W.3d at 141. In other words, “[cjourts should not impute income where the record does not establish an attempt to evade parental responsibilities.” Smith, 969 *392S.W.2d at 859. What constitutes appropriate circumstances to impute income will depend on the facts of the individual case and are to be determined on a case-by-case basis. Id.; Perkins, 21 S.W.3d at 186.
Line 1: Gross Income of Form No. 14, DIRECTIONS, COMMENTS FOR USE AND EXAMPLES FOR COMPLETION OF FORM NO. 14, provides, in pertinent part, that income may be imputed “[i]f a parent is unemployed or found to be underemployed.” (Emphasis added.) Proper circumstances for imputing income, in determining child support, include both voluntary and involuntary reductions of income by a parent’s being unemployed or underemployed. Silverstein, 943 S.W.2d at 302; Walker, 936 S.W.2d at 247-48. Imputation of income is proper where a parent has voluntarily reduced his or her income without justification. Perkins, 21 S.W.3d at 186; Hansen, 917 S.W.2d at 619; Walker, 936 S.W.2d at 247; Jensen, 877 S.W.2d at 136. The most common scenario for voluntary reduction of income without justification is where a parent deliberately quits work to reduce his or her child support. Hansen, 917 S.W.2d at 619; Jensen, 877 S.W.2d at 136. Imputation of income is also appropriate where the parent voluntarily reduces his or her income with justification, but only if the evidence shows that the parent had failed to use his or her best efforts to obtain new employment. Perkins, 21 S.W.3d at 186; Silverstein, 943 S.W.2d at 302. Likewise, an imputation of income is proper on that same showing where a parent has had his or her income involuntarily reduced, which would include termination of employment. Id.; Walker, 936 S.W.2d at 247-48.
The trial court here found that the appellant was working full time for Caron-delet Health Systems, earning an annual salary of $76,647 ($6387.25/month). However, the respondent contended at trial that the appellant could earn more, or in other words, was underemployed, in that although the appellant claimed that the family business, FNJ, was no longer operating, based on past history, the appellant, using his best efforts, was capable of earning $769 per month from the business, which the respondent requested the trial court impute to the appellant. The trial court agreed with the respondent that the appellant was underemployed and imputed income to him in calculating its child support award. However, rather than imputing the $769 the respondent requested in her Form 14, the trial court imputed $1,000 per month to the appellant, finding in its judgment that “[h]e also runs a business, FNJ. He is capable of earning at least $1,000 per month in this business.”
In determining the appropriate circumstances to impute income, Comment H of Line 1: Gross income provides:
When determining whether to include imputed income and, if so, the amount to include in a parent’s ‘gross income,’ a court or administrative agency shall consider all relevant factors, including:
(1) The parent’s probable earnings based on the parent’s work history during the three years, or such time period as may be appropriate, immediately before the beginning of the proceeding and during any other relevant time periods;
(2) The parent’s occupational qualifications;
(3) The parent’s employment potential;
(4) The available job opportunities in the community; and
(5) Whether the parent is custodian of a child whose condition or circumstances make it appropriate that the parent not be required to seek employment outside the home.
*393(Emphasis added.) Pursuant to the express terms of Comment H, these factors are to be considered not only in determining “whether to include imputed income,” but the “amount” to impute. And, inasmuch as Comment H requires that “all relevant factors” are to be considered in determining whether to impute income and in what amount, the factors expressly stated in the comment are not exhaustive. Thus, in deciding whether the record here supports the trial court’s imputing gross monthly income of $1000 to the appellant from FNJ, in calculating the required PCSA, the question is whether there is sufficient evidence in the record from which the trial court could find, in light of all relevant factors, including those set out in Comment H, that the appellant voluntarily or involuntarily reduced his income from FNJ, in order to avoid paying additional child support.
The respondent did not articulate below or on appeal whether she was contending that the appellant was underemployed because he voluntarily or involuntarily reduced his income from FNJ. Assuming for the sake of argument that she was and is contending that he voluntarily reduced his income from FNJ, for the trial court to impute income to the appellant on that basis, there had to be evidence in the record from which the trial court could find that the appellant quit doing business as FNJ. In that regard, the only evidence introduced by the respondent on the issue of the nature of FNJ’s business was FNJ’s tax returns for the five preceding years, showing that for several years prior to the filing of the dissolution proceeding, its work was steadily declining. Those records reflect that FNJ had taxable income of $52,127 in 1995, $43,552 in 1996, $30,731 in 1997, $26,425 in 1998, $9206 in 1999, and $9238 in 2000. The respondent’s request to impute income to the appellant of $769 per month was based on FNJ’s income in 2000 ($9238/12), while the trial court’s imputation of $1000 per month appears to be based on the three years prior to the dissolution proceeding commencing, 1998, 1999, and 2000 ($44,869/36 = $1246.36). Although the imputation factors of Comment H require the trial court to consider the “parent’s probable earnings based on the parent’s work history during the three years, or such time period as may be appropriate, immediately before the beginning of the proceeding and during any other relevant time periods,” it is well settled that proof that a parent has previously made more money is not a sufficient basis alone on which to impute income. Williams, 55 S.W.3d at 415; Haden, 37 S.W.3d at 861; Perkins, 21 S.W.3d at 186; Walker, 936 S.W.2d at 248; Silverstein, 943 S.W.2d at 302.
The appellant’s tax returns do not indicate the source of FNJ’s income. And, the respondent, for some unexplained reason, chose not to put on any evidence to show the service contracts of FNJ at any period of time and what it was making from those contracts. The only evidence on that issue came from the appellant who testified that for several years prior to the parties’ dissolution proceeding being filed, FNJ only had one service agreement, a contract to clean the Carondelet Health Campus, which consisted of the Carondelet Medical Building, St. Joseph Medical Mall, and St. Joseph Medical Building. In her testimony, the respondent essentially conceded this point when she testified that she did not have any knowledge whether FNJ had any contracts other than the one with Car-ondelet. In any event, even if the trial court chose to disbelieve the appellant’s testimony as to FNJ’s only having one service contract, that would mean that there was no evidence in the record as to how many service agreements FNJ had during the relevant time frame and wheth*394er the appellant had terminated them without justification. In other words, inasmuch as the appellant did not have to offer any evidence on the issue of imputation,2 the fact that we cannot consider the evidence favorable to him on appeal because it is not in a light most favorable to the trial court’s decision to impute income to him, does not win the day for the respondent, as Judge Breckenridge seems to contend in her dissent. This is so in that such a contention ignores the fact that in disregarding the appellant’s favorable evidence, there is no evidence in the record as to what contracts FNJ had at what period of time and what the appellant did, if anything, to voluntarily terminate them, without justification, so as to avoid paying child support.
Judge Breckenridge, in her dissent, in arguing that I am not viewing the evidence in- a light most favorable to the decision of the trial court, with respect to imputing income to the appellant, fails to appreciate the distinction between a case of credibility and competing inferences, in which we are to defer to the trial judge, and a case, such as this case, where there is no evidence from which the trial court can make the requisite findings to support its decision. While “[w]e [are to] view the evidence in the light most favorable to the prevailing party, [..'.] we do not ... give the plaintiff the benefit of unreasonable, speculative or forced inferences.” Gray v. White, 26 S.W.3d 806, 820 n. 10 (Mo.App.1999) (quoting Steward v. Goetz, 945 S.W.2d 520, 528 (Mo.App.1997)); see also Monnig, 53 S.W.3d at 247. The problem for the respondent’s position and with Judge Breckenridge’s dissent is that, even if the trial court disbelieved absolutely every shred of *395evidence favorable to the appellant, that would leave the record devoid of any evidence as to how many contracts FNJ had and whether the appellant had quit or terminated those contracts. The only evidence in the record indicates that FNJ had been profitable, but that its profitability had been declining, to the point that for the last two years prior to dissolution it only showed income of approximately $9200 per year. The respondent did not present any evidence as to whether this income came from one or more contracts.
Even assuming that the respondent carried her burden of showing that FNJ must have had at least one service agreement during the pertinent times of inquiry due to the tax records she introduced, showing income of approximately $9200 per year, she did not introduce any evidence to show that the appellant voluntarily terminated such service agreements. In that regard, the only evidence introduced as to the appellant’s voluntarily terminating FNJ service agreements was a termination letter, dated May 31, 2001, which was sent to the appellant by Lioness Realty Group, Inc., which managed the Carondelet properties, terminating the Carondelet janitorial service agreement with FNJ. That letter reads:
May 31, 2001
Mr. Frank Sherman
FNJ Maintenance Management, Inc.
10 East 127th Terrace
Re: Carondelet Medical Building, St. Joseph Medical Mall & St. Joseph Medical Building
Dear Frank:
Please let this letter serve as thirty (80) day notice that the janitorial service agreement with FNJ Maintenance Management, Inc. for the above referenced buildings will be terminated effective midnight, June 30, 2001.
We will be transitioning to a new janitorial service provider, which will begin July 1, 2001, and ask that you continue to provide service for the three medical buildings through the month of June. Frank, we anticipate a smooth transition of the janitorial service, and your questions and suggestions regarding this transition and the general janitorial service of the properties are welcome. Sincerely,
Joseph D. Albertson
Vice President — Property Operations
JDA/ja
Cc: Norma Brown
Gary Clifton
Jim Stacy
From this letter, it is impossible, without engaging in pure speculation, which we cannot do, to infer which party terminated the service agreement. There is nothing in the letter that would allow the trial court to infer reasonably one way or the other which party terminated the agreement. And, while there is evidence in the record that the appellant did not bid on the new Carondelet contract, it cannot be reasonably inferred from that fact that the appellant was responsible for terminating the old contract. Logically, the need to re-bid a contract does not arise unless and until the existing contract is terminated or has expired by its terms. Thus, it would be circular logic, at best, to argue that it could be inferred from the appellant’s failure to bid the new Carondelet contract that he caused the termination of the old contract, which, in turn, caused the bidding of the new contract in the first instance. There simply is no evidence in the record from which the trial court could reasonably infer that the Carondelet contract, or any other existing contract for that matter, was voluntarily terminated by the appellant.
*396The respondent did offer evidence at trial of what she referred to as “payroll activity” of FNJ, between July 18, 2001, and October 31, 2001, which was after the termination of the old Carondelet contract. This evidence consisted of documents from Automatic Data Processing, the company that processed the payroll for FNJ. However, I fail to see how this evidence would tend to show that the appellant intentionally terminated FNJ service agreements to reduce his income and avoid paying child support. While the evidence of “payroll activity,” post termination of the Caronde-let agreement, might tend to support an inference of the appellant’s underreporting income from the clandestine operation of FNJ, it logically does not support a reasonable inference that the appellant voluntarily terminated or quit existing service agreements of FNJ, without justification, including terminating FNJ’s service agreement with Carondelet.
The respondent also introduced evidence concerning the appellant’s doing lawn care and snow removal jobs for extra money. She did not, however, contend at trial that this was income of FNJ and that the trial court should impute any of it to the appellant in determining child support. The appellant testified at trial that he had ceased doing those jobs approximately six weeks prior to trial, which testimony the trial court was free to believe or disbelieve. In any event, even if believed, this evidence of respondent does not shed any direct fight on what FNJ service agreements were in effect and whether the appellant voluntarily terminated them. At best, from the respondent’s perspective, it simply demonstrates a general tendency by the appellant to avoid his responsibility to support his children.
For the reasons stated, I do not believe that there is sufficient evidence in the record from which the trial court could reasonably infer what service agreements FNJ had that were voluntarily terminated by the appellant, without justification, to reduce his income in order to avoid paying any additional child support, such that the imputation of income to the appellant would have been proper on that basis. However, this does not end the inquiry. As I discuss, supra, the imputation of income is not only proper in an underemployment situation where there is a voluntary reduction of income, without justification, but where there is an involuntary reduction of income and the parent fails to use his or her best efforts to obtain new employment, or in this case, where the appellant failed to seek available business in the community for FNJ. In that regard, Comment H of Line 1 of Form 14 would logically apply to voluntary or involuntary reductions such that the question becomes whether there is sufficient evidence in the record, in light of all relevant factors, including the five factors of Comment H, from which the trial court could have reasonably concluded that the appellant, using his best efforts, could have obtained new janitorial service agreements for FNJ, after the termination of the old Carondelet agreement, but voluntarily chose not to do so.
As we noted, supra, proof of past earnings alone is not sufficient to impute income. Williams, 55 S.W.3d at 415; Ha-den, 37 S.W.3d at 861; Perkins, 21 S.W.3d at 186; Silverstein, 943 S.W.2d at 302; Walker, 936 S.W.2d at 248. In order for a parent to carry his or her burden for imputing income to the other parent, where the other parent’s income has been involuntarily reduced, the parent seeking to impute must demonstrate that there were employment opportunities available in the community for which the other parent is qualified and has the capability of earning income. Williams, 55 S.W.3d at 416; Silverstein, 943 S.W.2d at 302; Walk*397er, 936 S.W.2d at 248; Cowen, 869 S.W.2d at 776-77. Of course, in this case, we are not dealing with the appellant’s efforts to obtain employment, but his efforts to obtain available business for FNJ. In that regard, the record here is absolutely void of any evidence of there being any janitorial service agreements available to FNJ in the community similar to those it had previously, other than the new Carondelet agreement that was bid after the termination of the old agreement.
As to the new Carondelet agreement, the appellant testified under cross-examination by the respondent’s attorney:
Q. Mr. Sherman, did FNJ bid on the contracts for the Carondelet Health Campus in 2001?
A. No, we did not.
Q. So you—
A. It was the same — same amount as — we didn’t change the — that it was from the previous years.
Q. You did not actively pursue or bid on — on renewing those contracts?
A. Yes, I just told him the — the amount would be the — the same.
While the trial court could reasonably infer from this that FNJ failed to bid on the new Carondelet agreement, there is nothing in his testimony from which it could be inferred that there were other similar job opportunities available on which to bid and that the appellant failed to do so. Nonetheless, the fact that the appellant failed to bid on the new Carondelet contract was sufficient for the trial court to find that the appellant was not using his best efforts to obtain new contracts for FNJ and to impute income on that basis. FNJ clearly had the expertise and the opportunity to bid on the contract, and chose not to do so, without any justification. The question then becomes, in determining whether the evidence was sufficient to support the trial court’s imputation of income to the appellant, whether the evidence supports imputation in the amount of $1000 per month.
B. Did the evidence support imputation of income in the amount of $1000 per month, based on the jobs available to FNJ in the community?
Common sense tells us that the trial court is not permitted to simply snatch a figure out of thin air in imputing income. While a trial court can rely on reasonable inferences in determining whether to impute income, it cannot rely on speculation. Monnig, 53 S.W.3d at 247. Obviously, the mere availability of employment in the community is not the lone factor in determining the amount to impute to a parent in determining child support. It must be the type of employment from which the parent could earn the amount to be imputed. Thus, to support the imputation of income, there not only has to be substantial evidence that a parent could earn more using his best efforts, there also has to be substantial evidence demonstrating that the parent has the capacity to earn the amount of income to be imputed. Williams, 55 S.W.3d at 416; Walker, 936 S.W.2d at 248; Cowen, 869 S.W.2d at 776-77; Silverstein, 943 S.W.2d at 302. Thus, inasmuch as the record here, at best from the perspective of the respondent, only supports an inference that there was one janitorial service agreement available in the community on which FNJ could have bid, to support the trial court’s imputation of income to the appellant of $1000 per month, the respondent had the burden of showing that the appellant would have been able to realize income from that contract of at least the amount imputed.
The respondent failed to present any evidence as to the terms of the new Caron-delet contract. Instead, in support of her request that the trial court impute monthly income to the appellant in the amount of *398$769, she relied solely on her evidence as to what FNJ reported in income for 2000 ($9228/12). While past income is a factor to be considered in determining whether to impute income and in what amount, factor 1 of Comment H recognizes that, depending on the circumstances, the parent’s work history for the three years immediately preceding the commencement of the dissolution proceeding may or may not be an accurate predictor of probable earnings. This is made crystal clear from the fact that factor 1 provides that probable earnings may be determined by looking at the parent’s work history for “such time period as may be appropriate” and “during any other relevant time periods.” Form 14:Line 1, Comment H(l). Thus, in cases of involuntarily reduction of income, such as ours, there can be no hard and fast rule that evidence of past income alone is sufficient in every instance to impute income, regardless of what the present available jobs in the community would pay. To suggest otherwise would mean that the trial court could impute income to an involuntarily unemployed parent based on the parent’s past earnings as a nurse, doctor, lawyer, accountant, etc., even though the evidence failed to show the availability of any jobs opportunities in the community other than minimum wage jobs.
In determining what factors should be considered in this case in determining the proper amount of income to impute to the appellant, one must consider that unlike monthly earnings from hourly or salaried jobs, which would tend to be fairly stable over a period of time, monthly earnings from one business contract to the next would tend to be widely varied and extremely fluid, depending on the competition, expenses, etc. in the particular type of business in question. It follows then that while past earnings would generally be a strong indicator of future income as to similar hourly and salaried jobs, they would not be as strong in the case of monthly earnings from a business subject to the vagaries of ever changing contractual relationships. Thus, in this case, while past earnings of FNJ from former janitorial service agreements is relevant and would shed some light on what' it was capable of earning from the new Caronde-let contract, those earnings would not paint a complete picture and would not, standing alone, be substantial evidence of what FNJ could reasonably be expected to earn from that contract in the future.
The distinction I raise between hourly/salaried jobs and business contracts is, of course, in keeping with Comment H. Imputation of income is done on a case-by-case basis and whether past earnings is an accurate predictor of the imputation of income depends on the circumstances of the individual case. Thus, logically, depending on the circumstances, this distinction may well be a relevant factor in determining whether the evidence is sufficient to support the amount of the income to be imputed by the trial court.
It goes without saying that factors 1 and 4 of Comment H are inextricably intertwined. Factor 1 concerns “probable earnings” based on past work history, while factor 4 concerns job opportunities. Logically, to determine probable earnings, meaning earnings that could be earned in the future, one cannot solely rely on past work history, but must look at the available employment opportunities. Circumstances sometimes change through no fault of the parent, such that past earnings would not paint an accurate picture of what the parent could reasonably expect to earn in the future, if using his best efforts. This would be especially true in cases where imputation is based on the parent’s not using his best efforts to obtain employment, as opposed to cases where imputa*399tion is based on the parent’s quitting existing employment.
Contrary to Judge Breckenridge’s Chicken Little argument in her dissent, in contending as I do, I would not require evidence that the appellant would have, in fact, received the bid on the new Caronde-let contract had it submitted one. My analysis would simply require that there be evidence from which it can be reasonably inferred the amount of income that the appellant could have reasonably realized, doing business as FNJ, assuming that it had successfully bid the new Caron-delet contract. And, contrary to Judge Breckenridge’s protestations, this was not an impossible task. Obviously, the respondent, had she been so inclined, could have put on evidence as to the terms of the new contract that was agreed upon by Caron-delet and the new janitorial service. I would require no more than is required in typical unemployment or underemployment cases involving income from hourly or salaried employment, as opposed to income from business. In such cases, there must not only be evidence that jobs are available to the parent in the community, but evidence from which it can be reasonably inferred that the parent could earn income therefrom in the amount to be imputed, had the parent sought and obtained the employment. Williams, 55 S.W.3d at 416; Walker, 936 S.W.2d at 248; Cowen, 869 S.W.2d at 776-77; Silverstein, 943 S.W.2d at 302. To require otherwise, proof of any job opportunities in the community would be sufficient to impute income in any amount supported by the parent’s past earnings, even if there was no evidence that the present job opportunities would allow the parent to earn income at the same level as past earnings. That is illogical and not the law.
Here, the respondent’s own evidence demonstrated that FNJ’s earnings had steadily declined for the last five years. The respondent presented no evidence as to why that had occurred, nor did she argue that point. In fact, in requesting imputation of $769 per month in income to the appellant, which reflected FNJ’s last year of reported income, she essentially conceded the fact that the appellant’s opportunity to earn income from FNJ was declining such that FNJ’s prior years of income were not reliable indicators of what the appellant could earn in income from FNJ in the future. And, while there is nothing in the record as to why that had occurred, other than the appellant’s testimony that competition and costs had increased, given the respondent’s evidence of FNJ’s declining earnings history and the lack of any evidence as to what could be earned from what the record discloses was the only job available to FNJ in the community, the new Carondelet contract, it was unreasonable for the trial court to infer that the appellant could realize income of, at least, $12,000 per year from that contract. In fact, without engaging in pure speculation, which it is prohibited from doing, Monnig, 53 S.W.3d at 247, the trial court could not determine what amount of income was reasonable to expect from the new Carondelet contract, including whether the $769 amount requested by the respondent was appropriate. This is so in that as I discuss, supra, income from one service contract to the next tends to be fluid, depending on the competition, expenses, etc., such that prior earnings alone in those cases are not generally rehable in determining future income. The respondent’s own evidence established that FNJ’s profitability had gone down for five straight years. And, there is no way to infer from the record before us how much further the market for FNJ was likely to fall for the next year.
In summary, while there is evidence to support the imputation of some amount of *400income to the appellant from FNJ, specifically, evidence that the appellant did not use his best efforts to maximize his income from FNJ in that he failed to bid on the new Carondelet contract, which the respondent’s evidence demonstrated was the only available business to FNJ in the community, the record simply does not support the imputation of income to the appellant in the amount imputed by the trial court, $1,000 per month. The fact is that on the record as it stands now, it is impossible to determine what the appropriate amount of imputation would be, not knowing what FNJ might have realistically hoped to realize in income if it had bid on and obtained the new Carondelet contract. Thus, because the imputation of income is essential to the trial court’s mandatory calculation of the PCSA in the first step of the Wool-ridge procedure in determining its child support award, I would reverse and remand the court’s award for further proceedings to allow it to reconsider the issue of imputation of income to the appellant and then compute its PCSA and enter its child support award accordingly. Silver-stein, 943 S.W.2d at 302.

. This case was submitted on July 29, 2003 and assigned to me as the writing judge. In my proposed majority opinion, I reached the same result, in all three points, as Judge Howard now reaches in his majority opinion. Nonetheless, as the Presiding Judge of the Division, I re-assigned the case to Judge Howard on December 15, 2003, based on my *390understanding that neither he nor Judge Breckenridge would concur in my proposed majority opinion.

. In Holmes v. Holmes, 878 S.W.2d 906, 910 (Mo.App.1994), the Eastern District of this Court stated that the husband, the party against whom imputation was sought in the determination of child support, had the "burden of proving that his dismissal [from his employment] and subsequent decrease in income were involuntary,” relying on Forhan v. Forhan, 693 S.W.2d 164, 166 (Mo.App.1985). See also State ex rel. Cote v. Kelly, 978 S.W.2d 812, 815 (Mo.App.1998) (in which the Southern District followed the Eastern District’s lead in Holmes). The court’s reliance on Forhan is misplaced in that it was not an imputation case. In Forhan, the husband sought to modify his child support obligation, in accordance with § 452.370, RSMo 2000, based on an allegation that there had been a substantial and continuing change in his circumstances in that his income had been substantially reduced from the loss of employment. 693 S.W.2d at 165. Thus, as the movant, he had the burden of proving this allegation, § 452.370.2, RSMo 2000, in order to be successful on his motion to modify. Id. It is this burden that the court is referencing in Forhan, 693 S.W.2d at 166, not the burden with respect to the issue of imputation of income. In Forhan, the issue was whether the loss of income was voluntary or involuntary for purposes of determining whether there was a substantial and continuing change of circumstances warranting the modification of the child support award. Id. at 165. The fact of the matter is that § 452.340, RSMo 2000, governing child support, does not speak to the issue of imputation of income and any corresponding burden of proof. Rather, with respect to the guidelines for determining child support, § 452.340.8, RSMo 2000, simply mandates that the Missouri Supreme Court establish such guidelines, the result being Form 14. And while, Form 14 expressly authorizes the imputation of income, it does not speak to a burden of proof. Generally speaking, the burden of proof, absent express guidance in the controlling procedural statute or rule, would be on the plaintiff or petitioner, as in other civil proceedings. Kinzenbaw v. Dir. of Revenue, 62 S.W.3d 49, 53 (Mo. banc 2001). With this as a polestar, I believe that the burden of proof should be on the proponent of imputing income, the respondent in our case. In any event, inasmuch of the lack of evidence in the record to support imputation would result in no imputation of income being permitted, the practical effect in this case would be the same, regardless of whether we were to expressly hold that the proponent, the respondent, had the burden of persuasion on the issue of imputation of income.