Marriage of Prokop CA4/1

California Court of Appeal·Decided March 26, 2013·No. D059062·Unpublished

Opinion

Filed 3/26/13 Marriage of Prokop CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

In re Marriage of STANLEY and MARIA PROKOP.

D059062

STANLEY PROKOP,

Respondent and Appellant, (Super. Ct. No. D513103)

v.

MARIA ARROYO PROKOP, Petitioner and Respondent.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Joel Wohlfeil, Judge. Affirmed.

Stanley J. Prokop appeals from a judgment that, among other things, imputed income to him and denied him spousal support. He contends the trial court erred in deciding these and other issues. We reject his contentions and affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Maria and Stanley were married in 1998 and have one minor child. Maria served as an officer in the United States Army, became an attorney and worked as a juvenile court referee until 2003 when multiple sclerosis rendered her permanently disabled and unable to work. Maria received disability benefits from the Veterans Administration and retirement disability from her work as a referee. Stanley worked for Science Applications International Corp (SAIC) as the manager of the computer security engineering team and earned an annual salary of $102,700. He quit his job in 2005 claiming it was too stressful to work and take care of his family. Thereafter, Stanley trained to become an aircraft mechanic so he could work on his own plane.

The couple separated in 2008. They stipulated that Stanley would submit to a vocational examination by Carole A. Nimietz, a certified vocational evaluator and vocational rehabilitation counselor. In April 2010 the court entered a partial judgment regarding custody, visitation and division of some of the property. After trial, the court issued its intended statement of decision. Both parties filed objections to the intended statement of decision. After ruling on the objections, the court incorporated its changes into a findings and order after hearing, and directed that the tentative decision and changes constituted its statement of decision. Stanley timely appealed.

DISCUSSION

I. Imputed Income

A. Trial Court's Findings The trial court found Stanley's employment history, skills, education and certifications to be "remarkable." Stanley earned about $100,000 a year working at SAIC. After leaving his job in early 2005, the court found that Stanley "devoted his working time" to flying and airplane mechanics. It concluded that Stanley would be "clearly under-employed" working as an airplane mechanic with an annual earning capacity of $41,600. The court acknowledged Stanley required shoulder surgery and would be unable to perform the responsibilities of an airline mechanic, but found that he had ample time to secure a higher earning computer security job before scheduling the pending surgery.

The court accepted the testimony of Dr. Samuel Bresler, Maria's human resources expert, that potential jobs existed for Stanley as a computer security engineer, but rejected Dr. Bresler's conclusion that Stanley qualified for an annual compensation package of more than $109,000. Instead, the court agreed with Nimietz's testimony that Stanley's earning potential in the computer security field was between $80,000 and $90,000. To allow Stanley time to recuperate from his scheduled shoulder surgery, the court delayed imputing the higher computer security engineering income for six full months. Based on Stanley's work and activities in the airplane industry after quitting his job at SAIC, the court imputed to Stanley the amount of money an airplane mechanic

could have earned—$41,600 per year or $3,467 per month for six months. Thereafter, it imputed annual income to Stanley of $90,000 per year or $7,500 per month. B. Analysis A trial court has the discretion to substitute earning capacity for actual income in applying the guideline formulas for child and spousal support. (In re Marriage of LaBass & Munsee (1997) 56 Cal.App.4th 1331, 1337 (LaBass & Munsee); In re Marriage of Cheriton (2001) 92 Cal.App.4th 269, 308.) "Earning capacity is composed of (1) the ability to work, including such factors as age, occupation, skills, education, health, background, work experience and qualifications; (2) the willingness to work exemplified through good faith efforts, due diligence and meaningful attempts to secure employment; and (3) an opportunity to work which means an employer who is willing to hire. [Citation.]" (LaBass & Munsee, supra, at pp. 1337-1338, internal quotation marks omitted.) We review the trial court's decision to impute income to Stanley based on his earning capacity for an abuse of discretion. (In re Marriage of Destein (2001) 91 Cal.App.4th 1385, 1393.) We review the specific amount imputed under the substantial evidence standard. (In re Marriage of Cohn (1998) 65 Cal.App.4th 923, 930.) Under the substantial evidence standard of review, "we do not pass on the credibility of witnesses, resolve conflicts in the evidence, or determine the weight of the evidence. [Citation.] We simply determine whether there is substantial evidence, believed by the trial court, that supports the court's findings." (In re Marriage of Jill & Victor D. (2010) 185 Cal.App.4th 491, 503.)

Stanley does not challenge the trial court's decision to impute income to him;

rather, he claims the evidence does not support the court's findings that: (1) he had the ability to earn an airplane mechanic salary of $41,600 for six months based on his pending surgery; and (2) current opportunities existed for him to work as a computer security engineer. Specifically, he contends the court ignored his pending surgery and rehabilitation time when it imputed the airplane mechanic salary of $41,600 per year.

As we shall explain, the evidence supported the trial court's implied conclusion that Stanley had been malingering, and that he had the ability to work in some capacity during the six-month period after his surgery to earn the imputed salary of $41,600 per year.

Stanley focuses on his health and ignores that the ability to work includes other factors such as age, occupation, skills, education, background, work experience and qualifications. (LaBass & Munsee, supra, 56 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1337-1338.) Significantly, Stanley does not dispute the trial court's conclusions that other than his shoulder, he was in good health, his unemployment was voluntary and he possessed significant skills, education and job history. Additionally, the record does not support Stanley's assertion that the trial court ignored his pending surgery and rehabilitation time when it imputed a salary of $41,600 per year for six months. In imputing this salary, the trial court expressly acknowledged that Stanley had shoulder surgery in April 2010 and would not be able to "perform mechanic responsibilities," but noted that Stanley had ample time to secure a job after he separated from Maria in 2008 and before undergoing surgery.

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