Mitchell v. Mitchell

A mother and father divorced, and the final decree granted them joint physical custody of their two minor children. Three years later, at age 47, the father quit his job, moved from Alaska to retire in Arizona, and withdrew significant funds from his retirement account. The mother moved for a modification of child support based on these changed circumstances. This appeal presented to the Supreme Court the question whether the superior court ordered the proper amount of child support in resolving a motion to modify support. The mother argued that the withdrawn retirement funds should have been included in the father’s income and that he could afford to pay more child support based on his earning potential. The superior court ordered that the withdrawn retirement funds be included in the father’s income for determining child support for a one-year period, effective from the date of the mother’s motion. The father appealed, arguing that he could not be required to pay child support based on his income from the previous year. The mother challenged this contention and continued to argue that the court should have imputed income to the father based on his earning potential. Because the father’s significant increase in income from his retirement account withdrawal justifies a corresponding increase in his child support obligation, the Alaska Supreme Court concluded that the superior court’s approach of ordering a year’s worth of child support based on this year of increased income was not error. But because the superior court failed to consider the imputed income claim that the mother plainly raised in her motion, the Court remanded for further consideration of that question. View "Mitchell v. Mitchell" on Justia Law