McDonough v. McDonough, No. Fa 01-0121813 (Feb. 5, 2003)

2003 Conn. Super. Ct. 1758
CourtConnecticut Superior Court
DecidedFebruary 5, 2003
DocketNo. FA 01-0121813
StatusUnpublished

This text of 2003 Conn. Super. Ct. 1758 (McDonough v. McDonough, No. Fa 01-0121813 (Feb. 5, 2003)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Connecticut Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McDonough v. McDonough, No. Fa 01-0121813 (Feb. 5, 2003), 2003 Conn. Super. Ct. 1758 (Colo. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

[EDITOR'S NOTE: This case is unpublished as indicated by the issuing court.]

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION
This dissolution of marriage action seeks the termination of the parties' fifteen-year marriage. The classic high conflict, over litigated family matter was commenced by complaint dated December 31, 2000, and filed with the court January 17, 2001.

The parties, represented by counsel, appeared at trial on June 27, 2002, August 13, 2002, August 22, 2002, October 16, 2002, and November 21, 2002.1 The court heard evidence from seventeen witnesses, several testifying more than once, and received into evidence thirty-three exhibits offered by the plaintiff and thirteen offered by the defendant. The minor child was represented by a court appointed guardian ad litem who was present at the trial. The parties were given time to file post-trial briefs; only the plaintiff did so on December 10, 2002. All of the evidence was considered by the court, as were the provisions of General Statutes §§ 46b-56, 46b-56a, 46b-56c, 46b-81, 46b-82, 46b-84, and 46b-215a, as well as the provisions of the Child Support Guidelines.

FINDINGS OF FACT
The parties met in 1981 and after a five-year engagement married on September 19, 1987, in New London, Connecticut, the first marriage for both parties. They have one minor child born of the marriage, Tyler McDonough, born November 11, 1994. Of the two, the plaintiff has always been the main wage earner, starting with their return from their honeymoon when the defendant informed the plaintiff that he had quit his job prior to the wedding. Although her only education at the time was high school, she managed to procure excellent jobs and at one point was a vice president of a financial institution with a substantial salary. She has been employed full-time consistently throughout the marriage and at certain times even worked a part-time job in order to meet the parties' financial obligations and goals. The defendant, on the other hand, also a high school graduate with some higher education in a community college, mostly worked part time during the marriage and dabbled in the buying and CT Page 1759 selling of coins.

A few years into the marriage, the parties decided to purchase a home and rented a condominium with an option to buy. Both parties were working at the time and the expenses were split 50/50. They eventually bought a house in 1992 which was partially unfinished. The money used to purchase the home came from savings and some came from the plaintiff's parents. The upper portion of the house was not completed and because of this the parties were able to obtain the property for an affordable price with the idea that they would complete the work themselves. They in fact completed the upstairs portion of the house by using various credit cards to finance the renovations and home improvements.

Their son, Tyler, at this time was in full-time day care which the plaintiff paid for out of her income. The defendant did not assist in any of the chores necessary for the caring of Tyler as he believed "that was a woman's job." The relationship became strained to the point where there were several physical altercations, one in which the plaintiff was hit with a telephone and on another occasion was hit with a frying pan. There was no intimacy in the marriage of any kind. When the plaintiff inquired as to why this was, she was told that if she stopped being difficult, maybe he would reconsider.

In 2000, there was a criminal investigation for embezzlement at the credit corporation where the plaintiff was the vice president and accounting manager.2 She was under tremendous strain and pressure during this time and began to see a therapist. After several months of counseling, the plaintiff decided her marriage was unhealthy and in September 2000, she consulted an attorney for the purpose of filing for divorce. She waited until after the holidays to have the defendant served and did not inform him of her intentions because she was afraid of what he might do given his past violent behaviors.

The plaintiff began a personal relationship with the state trooper, Darrin Magro, who headed the criminal investigation at her work in February 2001. There is no credible evidence indicating that this relationship began any time before the filing of the divorce action or was the cause of the breakdown of the marriage. That relationship has flourished and the plaintiff and Tyler reside with Magro in his home in North Haven. She pays rent to Magro and pays her proportionate share of the expenses related to the home.

All evidence directly portrays a woman who was a hard working and devoted wife and mother, completely invested in making a home for herself, her husband and her child. She possessed business acumen which CT Page 1760 the defendant clearly did not and managed the household and her career with relatively little to no help from her husband. Although the defendant favors the "traditional" roles that a woman is responsible for childcare and household tasks, there was no evidence that he accepted the flip side, that the man is the wage earner, protector and provider.

The defendant has been employed by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe at Foxwoods Casino since 1993. Although supposedly a full time employee since 1994, he has not worked a full forty hours per week in the last three years. He attributes this to being required to "give away time" because the casino "over hired" dealers. Hope Domingo, casino administrator, whose duties include overseeing the scheduling department, denied there ever was an over abundance of dealers. The employees are, however, permitted to switch shifts amongst themselves which the defendant has done on numerous occasions. As a result, his salary presented on his financial affidavit does not correctly reflect his earning capacity for full-time employment.

He also claims to suffer from tendonitis in his right arm which prevents him from working a full forty-hour week in his current position as a dealer, but he presented no medical or credible evidence that he suffers from such an ailment. The plaintiff also claims he was unable to work after he was served with the dissolution complaint and was in "shock" over the "horrors" the plaintiff did to him. Although the court concedes the defendant experienced emotional pain from being served with the divorce complaint, his work records do not reflect he decreased his hours immediately after being served. (Plaintiff's Exhs. 28 and 29.) There was no evidence that the defendant sought the assistance of a therapist or doctor. Both assertions conflict with his testimony that full-time work is not available because of the claimed "over-hiring." The court finds his testimony regarding his employment to be wholly not credible and almost to the point in which he is attempting to deceive the court. The court finds the defendant has voluntarily been underemployed to avoid his child support obligation and to attempt to create alimony entitlement.

The divorce action had a very tumultuous beginning and has never gotten any better. Once the action was filed, the plaintiff moved out of the marital residence and then pursuant to court orders, the defendant was to vacate the residence and turn over the keys to the plaintiff. He did not do so, and the plaintiff was forced to have all of the locks replaced so that she could gain access to the property.

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Related

Yontef v. Yontef
440 A.2d 899 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1981)
Hart v. Hart
561 A.2d 151 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1989)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2003 Conn. Super. Ct. 1758, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcdonough-v-mcdonough-no-fa-01-0121813-feb-5-2003-connsuperct-2003.