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NH - High court overturns child support order
http://www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dl...WS01/808220342
High court overturns child support order Father deemed unable to pay due to injury By SARAH LIEBOWITZ Monitor staff August 22, 2008 The New Hampshire Supreme Court overturned a trial court's child support order yesterday, ruling that a man who shot himself in the face - but failed to kill himself - wasn't "voluntarily underemployed." At issue was how Calvin Dunn's physical injuries affected the amount of child support he owed for his twin daughters. If a judge deems a parent voluntarily underemployed, the court can require that parent to pay child support based on his or her past earnings. Under New Hampshire law, however, a parent can't be voluntarily underemployed if he or she is physically or mentally incapacitated. But Laconia Family Court Judge Lucinda Sadler found that because Dunn's injury was self-inflicted - he had tried to take his own life - he should be considered voluntarily underemployed for the purposes of child support. "He knew what he was doing at the time," Sadler wrote last year. "He therefore bears the consequences both physically and financially." The (NH) Supreme Court disagreed. If a parent is found to be physically or mentally incapacitated, he or she cannot be considered voluntarily underemployed when it comes to child support, according to the Supreme Court ruling, which was issued yesterday. The Supreme Court's ruling, written by Justice Gary Hicks, hinged on the state's child support law. "Having made a finding of physical incapacitation, the trial court erred in finding that the respondent was voluntarily underemployed," Hicks wrote. The case will now go to the Laconia Family Court for a new determination of how much Dunn, of Gilford, owes for child support, said Benjamin King, an attorney with Douglas, Leonard and Garvey who represents Dunn. The voluntary underemployment portion of New Hampshire's child support law is intended to address a parent who, "in order to reduce his child support obligations, voluntarily earns less than the parent is capable of earning," King said. "So the lawyer abandons his law practice and goes and takes a job at McDonald's." If a judge finds that a parent is voluntarily underemployed, the court "is entitled to impute the income to you that you are capable of earning," he said. "Rather than looking strictly at the plain language" of the state's child support law, Sadler "erroneously opted to modify the language of the statute," Dunn's attorneys wrote in a Supreme Court brief. It's irrelevant whether the physical incapacity resulted from a self-inflicted injury, they argued. Dunn "shot himself in the face not because he wanted to become underemployed or wanted to circumvent child support obligations, but rather because he wanted to 'take his own life,' as the trial court specifically found," Dunn's attorneys argued. According to court documents, in 1994 Dunn and Joanne Fontaine became the parents of twin daughters. The couple didn't marry. In November 2001, Dunn attempted to kill himself by shooting himself in the face. He spent two months in the hospital, and doctors had to reconstruct his lower jaw. He has undergone several surgeries. Dunn and Fontaine's relationship ended about 2004. In the fall of 2004, Dunn agreed to pay Fontaine $650 a month for child support. In 2005, Fontaine filed a child support and custody petition with the court. After a temporary hearing, Dunn was ordered to pay $850 in child support monthly. He contested that amount, arguing that he lived off a limited income, according to the Laconia Family Court ruling. Dunn said that his doctor had only cleared him to work 15 hours a week, and that he had been instructed not to "spend much time around dirty and dusty jobs," according to the Laconia Family Court ruling. As a result of his injuries, Dunn receives $934 monthly in Social Security disability benefits, his attorneys wrote in their Supreme Court brief. Before his injury, Dunn had worked for family businesses, and in 2000 he started a company to work on construction vehicles and do minor excavation work, according to the Laconia Family Court ruling. But in Laconia Family Court, Fontaine disputed Dunn's income. Fontaine argued that Dunn has access to a joint checking account with his mother, and that his "income should be calculated in the $100,000 range to reflect the amount of money he uses to support his lifestyle," according to the Laconia Family Court ruling. She also attempted to show that Dunn is the true owner of a contracting company owned by Dunn's mother. "The documentary evidence does not bear this out," Sadler wrote. Dunn and his mother told the court that he is an employee of his mother's company. Sadler also considered the financial gifts Dunn receives from his mother. Fontaine represented herself in the Supreme Court case, and didn't file a brief with the court. She declined to comment on the case yesterday. |
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NH - High court overturns child support order
"Dusty" wrote in But Laconia Family Court Judge Lucinda Sadler found that because Dunn's injury was self-inflicted - he had tried to take his own life - he should be considered voluntarily underemployed for the purposes of child support. Of course this Twit has the power to defy physics and rule that he should have a normal income! When will common sense ever hit the family courts? Why not put a cap on this greed and limit CS to $300 per month for the very basics and limit the power of these dead heads in black robes? Real dads will get their kids the extras they need, not because some fake Kourt forced them! No law can get the real dead beats to pay up!!!!!!!! |
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