Brosso, J. v. Brosso, D.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 19, 2024
Docket1706 EDA 2023
StatusUnpublished

This text of Brosso, J. v. Brosso, D. (Brosso, J. v. Brosso, D.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brosso, J. v. Brosso, D., (Pa. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

J-A04041-24

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

JENNIFER D. BROSSO : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA Appellant : : : v. : : : DAVID J. BROSSO : No. 1706 EDA 2023

Appeal from the Order Entered June 9, 2023 In the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County Domestic Relations at No(s): 2022-DR-00137/PACSES 333301302

BEFORE: STABILE, J., McLAUGHLIN, J., and COLINS, J. 

MEMORANDUM BY COLINS, J.: FILED NOVEMBER 19, 2024

Jennifer D. Brosso (“Mother”) appeals from the “Supplemental Order

Pursuant to Remand” that, inter alia, obligates her to pay a total amount of

$1,962.00 per month in child support and alimony pendente lite (“APL”) to

David J. Brosso (“Father”).1 After a thorough review of the record, we affirm.

As recounted by the lower court:

Father filed a Complaint for Support and APL on January 27, 2022, and Mother filed a Complaint for APL and Child Support on February 4, 2022. The cases were consolidated and the matters ____________________________________________

 Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

1 Although the order aggregates both child support and APL, only the child support portion of the award is presently appealable. See Leister v. Leister, 684 A.2d 192, 195 (Pa. Super. 1996) (en banc) (establishing that an award of APL is not appealable until all economic issues have been resolved by pending divorce decree). As such, any appellate challenge to the $1,286.00 per month in APL that Mother is required to pay must be deferred until after all economic claims are finalized. J-A04041-24

were heard on January 4, 2023, and January 30, 2023, before a Support Hearing Officer. The Hearing Officer issued two (2) separate Recommendations and Orders on February 8, 2023. The Hearing Officer denied Mother’s request for APL and directed that Mother pay APL to Father. The Hearing Officer also directed that Mother pay Father Child Support.

Mother filed Support Exceptions on February 27, 2023 and Father filed Cross-Exceptions on February 28, 2023. Oral argument was held on April 10, 2023, with each party represented by counsel. After hearing argument and upon review of the record, [the lower] [c]ourt found as follows:

Mother and Father were married in 2007 and separated in 2021. A divorce action was commenced on September 15, 2021, which divorce action is still pending as of the date of [the lower court’s] [o]pinion. The parties have shared legal and physical custody of their three (3) minor children. Mother resides in the marital residence and Father resides in a rental property owned by one (1) of their business entities.

Mother is a [certified public accountant] and has a position as senior director of procurement for TEVA Pharmaceutical. In 2022, her gross income was approximately $253,796.

Father has a [bachelor of arts] and [master of business administration] in accounting and finance. He has been a real estate developer since 2007. Mother and Father have a business entity known as “DJB LLP”, which owns two (2) residential rental properties. Father has a business entity known as “DJB LLC”, which owns numerous residential rental properties. Father also owns a business known as “Dryden Court Development” (Dryden), which owns commercial property. The commercial property is leased by a company known as “Elysium One”, which paid Father a one-time consulting fee for $60,000 in 2022 and leases the property for $232,000 per year. Elysium One also pays Dryden the amount of $60,000 to lease equipment owned by the business located at the property. The lease payment is applied to Dryden’s debt service on the property and no income is realized from the lease.

-2- J-A04041-24

Due to the pending divorce and the ongoing hostilities between the parties, a receiver was appointed by court order dated March 8, 2022, to run DJB LLP and DJB LLC [(“the real estate entities”)]. The receiver’s duties are to review accounts for fraud, monitor activity in the accounts and ensure that all account activity is business related. The receiver had been paid fees of $80,000 and was owed an additional $20,000 as of the date of the support hearing. Although there is a court order dated November 14, 2022, directing that Father be paid a salary from the businesses in the amount of $70,000 per year commencing as of October 13, 2022, as of the date of the support hearing he had received no payment toward his court-ordered salary. The receiver testified at the hearing that there was insufficient cash flow from the businesses to pay Father a salary.

Father’s income in 2022 consisted of the following: one-time consulting fee from Elysium One of $60,000, equipment lease payment of $5,000 from Elysium, a payment from Database [S]ervices for $6,210 and a distribution from Dryden of $10,000 paid toward Father’s legal fees, along with an additional payment of $2,700 made to Father. Father also lives in one of the rental properties owned by the business. Father proffered that the rental value for his unit was $15,639 per year, which was accepted by the Hearing Officer, who assessed this amount as income to Father in 2022. The total income from these sources to Father in 2022 was $99,549. This amount did not include the court-ordered $70,000 salary to be paid to Father, as there was insufficient income to pay him.

Although Father testified that he had applied for a variety of jobs and was continuing to network and look for employment, he is 56 years old and has worked for himself as a real estate developer since 2007. He presented a “journal” of his job seeking activities that included interviews, phone calls, discussions and meetings. Father had not received a job offer as a result of his job search and indicated that his age was a factor in some of the positions he applied for. The Hearing Officer found the reasons for Father’s inability to find employment valid. The Hearing Officer, therefore, assessed Father’s earning capacity at the level that he testified he was making when he was in control of his businesses, which was $168,000 per year.

-3- J-A04041-24

Mother argues that Father’s lifestyle shows expenditures beyond his income for 2022 and she contends that he should be capable of earning at least $300,000 annually, an amount that he had not earned since 2007 before he became self-employed. While Mother is correct in her argument that Father’s expenditures exceed his income for 2022, Father testified that he has been maintaining his lifestyle through gifts and loans from family and friends. The Hearing Officer found Father’s testimony and evidence in this regard credible by rejecting Mother’s claims that he should be able to earn $300,000 per year.

The parties equally share custody of their three (3) children. At the Hearing, Father itemized the expenses he paid for the children, which totaled $23,281. Mother itemized the expenses she paid for the children, which totaled $55,806.

[The Hearing Officer then calculated Mother’s gross annual income as $253,796 and Father’s gross annual income as $168,000. From those numbers, it was determined that Mother received $15,579 in net monthly income, and Father received $8,696 in net monthly income.]

Each parties’ percentage of expenses for the children was calculated at 41% for Father and 59% for Mother. Based upon these income figures and percentages, the Hearing Officer’s “Supplemental Order Pursuant to Remand” [calculated Mother’s support to be paid to Father as $1,962.00 per month. The Order started with a monthly figure of $2,877.00 to be paid in support for the children.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Brosso, J. v. Brosso, D., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brosso-j-v-brosso-d-pasuperct-2024.