Wednesday, March 8, 2017

High Income Divorce With Extra Complications

In the high income divorce of Jennifer Maynard and Chad Michna, the parties disputed child support. The parties each had a prior marriage and in each marriage a child with special needs was born. One child was born of the marriage and the parties’ relationship ended approximately 4 months thereafter. Maynard filed a Divorce Complaint seeking sole residential custody and legal custody, child support and payment of the child’s expenses. During their divorce hearing, the parties reached an agreement with regard to custody and parenting time. The plaintiff was a medical sales representative with a base salary, commission, and bonus. She also had investment income from outside business affiliations, rental property and child support. The plaintiff included her prior son’s expenses, as well as mortgage and costs of her investment properties, as expenses on her Case Information Statement. She also included the costs of a nanny at is employed 12 hours each day, and weekends. During cross-examination, plaintiff provided more accurate versions of her expenses. Michna was a director of government accounts with a base salary, commissions and a company stock appreciation rights plan and passive interest income. The defendant showed approximately $2,500 per month in expenses related to his son from a prior marriage. Michna sought to have the time period for income calculations to extend back to 2009 when he earned substantially less and Maynard made substantially more. Additionally, as the parties’ maintained a long-distance relationship during most of their marriage, Michna indicated that Maynard’s lifestyle was attributable to her family’s wealth and he could neither afford nor match such a lifestyle. The trial judge’s written opinion included income calculations from 2010 through 2012 and included child support differing from the Guidelines amount. Michna appealed and Maynard cross-appealed in Maynard v. Michna. The Appellate Division first looked to Pascale v. Pascale, 140 N.J. 583 (1995) for the basic premise that child support is to ensure the child’s basic needs are met. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 9:2-3 and Caplan v. Caplan, 182 N.J. 250 (2005), child support is paid by the non-residential parent to assist the residential parent in raising the child with the economic means he or she would have been raised had the family remained intact. Child support may not be waived by a parent as it is the right of the child. Pascale, 140 N.J. at 591. Under Jacoby v. Jacoby, 427 N.J. Super. 109 (App. Div. 2012) and N.J.C.R. 5:6A, the Guidelines are to be followed in establishing child support. Under Harte v. Hand, 438 N.J. Super. 545 (Ch. Div. 2014), if an award in line with the Guidelines would cause injustice, the trial judge could use discretion to modify the award. Reviewing the facts of the case through binding precedent, the N.J. Appellate Division remanded the matter for recalculation of the parties’ incomes and a clear statement on the record as to whether the Guidelines were utilized, why the child support award differed from the Guidelines including adjustments to account for the fact that Maynard included her child from another marriage in the expenses utilized to calculate child support for the parties’ child and the deduction of non-work related child care. If your earnings, or those of your spouse, include commissions, bonus, expense accounts, profit sharing or other items which are irregular, it may make a substantial difference in what you pay or receive at the conclusion of your divorce. It is imperative that you consult an experienced divorce attorney to discuss your rights and obligations prior to filing for divorce. For more information about divorce, child support, alimony, property distribution or other family law matters visit DarlingFirm.com.

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