Matthew Banks Ashworth v. Kathryn (Ashworth) Ehrgott

982 N.E.2d 366, 2013 WL 353085, 2013 Ind. App. LEXIS 38
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 30, 2013
Docket49A02-1205-DR-412
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 982 N.E.2d 366 (Matthew Banks Ashworth v. Kathryn (Ashworth) Ehrgott) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Matthew Banks Ashworth v. Kathryn (Ashworth) Ehrgott, 982 N.E.2d 366, 2013 WL 353085, 2013 Ind. App. LEXIS 38 (Ind. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION

RILEY, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Appellant-Respondent, Matthew Banks Ashworth (Father), appeals the trial court’s Order on modification of child support in favor of Appellee-Petitioner, Kathryn (Ashworth) Ehrgott (Mother).

We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

ISSUES

Father raises six issues on appeal, which we consolidate and restate as the following three issues:

(1) Whether the trial court abused its discretion in calculating Father’s 2012 and subsequent child support obligation and income withholding order;
(2) Whether the trial court abused its discretion in determining Father’s additional child support obligation based on his 2010, 2011, 2012 bonuses and future irregular income; and
(3) Whether the trial court erred by declining to credit Father for his overpaid child support obligations.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

This is the second appeal in this contentious child support dispute. See Ashworth v. Ehrgott, 934 N.E.2d 152 (Ind.Ct.App.2010). Because some of the facts in the prior appeal are relevant to the present dispute, we include them here. Father and Mother were married in 1999 and have two minor children. On October 31, 2006, following the parties’ agreement, the Chancery Court for Knox County, Tennessee dissolved their marriage. Mother was awarded sole legal and physical custody under the divorce decree.

The divorce decree also addressed Father’s alimony and child support obligations. Commencing November 1, 2006, Father was to pay Mother alimony of $306,000 in monthly installments of $1,500. However, the first nineteen months of installments were to be paid at $1,000 per month and the deferred portion of $500 would incur interest at 8%. The total deferred amount of $9,500, plus interest, would be due on or before December 31, 2008. The alimony obligation was deemed non-dischargeable in bankruptcy and terminable only on Mother’s death or full payment with interest. Alimony payments were tax deductible by Father, while Mother was required to report the alimony *369 as income on her state and federal income tax returns. Child support was calculated at $2,500 per month. This amount was to be recalculated in May 2008 pursuant to the Tennessee Child Support Guidelines. In May 2007, a Tennessee court entered an order clarifying that Father’s $2,500 monthly child support obligation represented an upward deviation of $650 in favor of Mother and would be recalculated in May 2008.

In 2007, Mother remarried and relocated to Indiana while Father took a job with U.S. Bank and relocated to California. In June 2008, Father paid Mother $1,160 per month in child support rather than the $2,500 specified the decree. In February 2009, Mother registered the Tennessee child support order in the Marion County Superior Court. In March 2009, the trial court entered a child support income withholding order directing Father’s employer to withhold $576.92 per week, which approximated the $2,500 monthly child support amount specified in the divorce decree. On April 14, 2009, Father filed an emergency petition to stay the income withholding order, alleging “that the $2,500.00 per month amount of child support was only ordered to be paid until May of 2008, at which time is [sic] was recalculated.” Id. Father also alleged that his living expenses in California and $1,500 monthly alimony payment caused him significant hardship.

On June 2, 2009, Father filed a verified motion to modify his child support obligation and provided his financial declaration which listed his 2009 annual income as $188,500 or $2,292 per week. On June 11, 2009, the trial court modified Father’s child support obligation to $500.75 per week. After including the children’s educational expenses as additional child support, the trial court entered a child support income withholding order to U.S. Bank in the amount of $731.00 per week, which it later revised to $612.10 per week.

Thereafter, Father appealed, challenging the trial court’s calculation of his child support obligation and raising numerous other issues. Two issues relevant to this appeal were whether the trial court erred by deducting alimony payments from Father’s gross income for the purpose of calculating child support and by declining to reduce his child support obligation based on his tax bracket. Regarding the first issue, we held that alimony payments were not to be included in determining Father’s gross income and remanded to the trial court for recalculation of the weekly gross income. Id. at 161. On the second issue, we affirmed the trial court’s calculation of the disparate tax rate between Indiana and California as 10.72%. Id. at 162-63. However, we remanded to the trial court to calculate credits against Father’s child support for his payment of health insurance premiums, preschool expenses, and private school tuition. Id. at 162,164,166.

On December 7, 2010, following remand, Mother filed her verified petition for modification of child support. Her verified petition alleged that Father was $27,000 in arrears on his alimony obligation and as a result “should not be allowed an adjustment on his income for child support calculation purposes” nor should alimony be deemed received as part of her income for child support calculation purposes. (Appellant’s App. p. 22). On December 22, 2010, Mother filed a pre-hearing submission which included her proposed child support obligation worksheet (CSOW) and verified financial declaration. While both the pre-hearing submission and the verified financial declaration stated that Mother’s wages for 2010 were $510 per week, exclusive of alimony, Mother’s CSOW relied upon the parties’ 2009 figures, listing *370 Father’s weekly gross income as $2,292 and Mother’s as zero, resulting in Father’s weekly child support obligation of $422.

That same day, the trial court held a hearing on Mother’s verified petition and issued its Order on modification. The CCS records the following jacket entry:

COURT Approves Attorney Conference Held. Argument Heard. Income withholding order of $422.00/Week does not reflect payment of spousal maintanee [sic] therefore, not deductiable [sic] to his income or income to her.

(Appellant’s App. p. 7). Thereafter, Mother appeared in Father’s bankruptcy proceedings as a creditor. She opposed his attempt to discharge the alimony obligation in bankruptcy. On October 27, 2011, Mother’s counsel deposed Father and he revealed that he received two bonuses from his employer in 2010 and 2011.

On December 12, 2011, Mother filed another verified petition for modification of child support. She alleged that the last child support modification order occurred in December 22, 2010 and that Father’s deposition testimony in the bankruptcy action revealed 2010 and 2011 bonus payments totaling $180,000, which he did not disclose to her or the trial court during the 2010 child support modification proceedings. On April 4, 2012, the trial court held a hearing on the modification petition.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
982 N.E.2d 366, 2013 WL 353085, 2013 Ind. App. LEXIS 38, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matthew-banks-ashworth-v-kathryn-ashworth-ehrgott-indctapp-2013.