Court Opinion

ID: 9782150
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 18:01:54.277978+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:34:49.256595
License: Public Domain

HILL, Justice,
dissenting.
[¶ 19] I respectfully dissent because my review of this case convinces me that the proceedings that are included in the record on appeal are insufficient to disturb the status quo. In 2004, a New Jersey court set Father’s child support obligation at $263.00 per week. That judgment was registered in Wyoming in 2005 and under its terms, Father has been required to pay that much in child support to Mother since that time (although he has not always done so). The child at issue in this appeal is nearing 11 years of age as we address the difficulties that this case poses.
[¶ 20] In Wyoming it is traditional to set child support as a monthly figure and so I would calculate that figure like this: $263.00 x 52 weeks = $13,676.00 per year 4- 12 months = $1,139.6666 rounded to $1,139.67 per month. In her brief, Mother contends/concedes that Father should pay $1,109.88, if the “facts and figures” that can be gleaned from the record on appeal are deemed to be accurate enough to provide the basis for a reliable decision in that regard. Mother concedes she can do some work and earn approximately $1,269.73 per month.
[¶21] During the months May through November in 2007, just before the birth of her youngest child, Mother earned $16.00 an hour as a welder, although she only worked for seven months during that year (she was discharged late in her pregnancy). So, in addition to the child she shares with Father, Mother now has the care of an infant child born of a recent relationship. Mother’s contention is that, while she is capable of doing some work, she cannot go back to welding full-time. This is so because she cannot arrange adequate child care for her infant child because the work shifts for welders are 12-hour shifts. In addition, she must, of course, provide parenting for the older child who is the beneficiary of Father’s child support.
[¶ 22] The district court determined that Mother was capable of working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, at a pay rate of $16.00 an hour ($33,280.00 annually). Although Father has historically earned significantly more than he did in 2008, the district court determined that Father’s income for 2008 was $3,767.68 per month. The year 2008 was chosen because that was the year “hard-times” hit in the construction industry (Father owns a dry-wall company). Based on that calculation, Father was to pay Mother $650.00 per month in child support. The district court’s equation is just not an acceptable means of calculating child support. The evidence suggested that Father was capable of earning significantly more than the amount attributed to him (and very likely was earning more). The testimony suggested that Father used his construction company to pay many of his living expenses, includ*610ing transportation and housing. Although the Internal Revenue Service allows such “deductions” and “adjustments” for income tax purposes, this Court should not permit adequate child support to hinge upon how talented a parent’s accountant (and the taxpayer himself) is at the art of income tax avoidance. See Durham v. Durham, 2003 WY 95, ¶¶ 8-12, 74 P.3d 1230, 1233-34 (Wyo.2003); Bailey v. Bailey, 954 P.2d 962, 967 (Wyo.1998); 3 Anteau, et al., Family Law Litigation Guide with Forms: Discovery, Evidence, Trial of Child Support Issues § 34.04[b] (Imputed Income) (2008).
[¶23] We have held that the district court’s discretion with respect to child support is limited by Wyoming’s statutes that govern that subject. Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 20-2-301 through 20-2-315 (LexisNexis 2009); Steele v. Steele, 2005 WY 33, ¶ 12, 108 P.3d 844, 849 (Wyo.2005).
Judicial discretion is a composite of many things, among which are conclusions drawn from objective criteria; it means a sound judgment exercised with regard to what is right under the circumstances and without doing so arbitrarily or capriciously.
Vaughn v. State, 962 P.2d 149, 151 (Wyo.1998). Under the facts and circumstances presented here, the district court decision is not “right.” It applies two widely divergent formulas in calculating the parties’ incomes and produces a result that is an affront to both the letter and the spirit of the statutes governing child support.
[¶ 24] For these reasons I would remand this matter to the district court with directions that the “Order on Petition for Modification of Support” state a conclusion that Father’s obligation to pay child support must remain unchanged.