M.E.K. v. J.E.K.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 13, 2019
Docket222 EDA 2019
StatusUnpublished

This text of M.E.K. v. J.E.K. (M.E.K. v. J.E.K.) 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
M.E.K. v. J.E.K., (Pa. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

J-A22018-19

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION – SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

M. E. K., : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA Appellant : : v. : : J. E. K., : : Appellee : No. 222 EDA 2019

Appeal from the Order Entered December 20, 2018 in the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County Domestic Relations at No(s): 2015-00837 PACSES # 998115266

BEFORE: MURRAY, J., STRASSBURGER, J.* and PELLEGRINI, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY STRASSBURGER, J.: FILED NOVEMBER 13, 2019

M.E.K. (Mother) appeals from the order entered on December 20, 2018,

which decreased the monthly child support obligation to Mother after J.E.K.

(Father) filed a petition for modification of support.1 Upon review, we affirm.

Mother and Father were married in August 1997, and separated in

February 2013. They are the parents of three children (Children), born in May

2001, November 2002, and April 2005. Mother has maintained primary

physical custody of Children. On November 6, 2015, the trial court entered

an agreed to support order. It awarded Mother $4,346.43 per month in child

1 By order filed March 8, 2019, this Court quashed Mother’s appeal with respect to the portion of the December 20, 2018 order regarding alimony pendente lite (APL). See Order, 3/8/2019.

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court. J-A22018-19

support.2 On March 31, 2016, Father filed a petition for modification of

support, seeking a reduction in support.3 After a hearing, on June 27, 2016,

a support master recommended decreasing the child support to $1,300 per

month, plus $130 per month in arrears.

Mother then filed a demand for a de novo hearing before the trial court.

The trial court held hearings on December 5, 2016, December 20, 2016, and

January 20, 2017. The trial court entered an order on May 2, 2017, which

imputed an annual earning capacity of $240,704.33 to Father4 and $60,143

to Mother,5 and ordered Father to pay Mother $1,981.38 per month in child

2 The order also awarded Mother $7,653.57 per month in APL.

3 Father was employed from 2007 to 2014 with the Glen Beck Organization. In 2013 and 2014, he earned more than $500,000 per year. He was terminated for cause in November 2014, and received a severance package that included payment of $750,000 over 18 months ($30,000 per month), which ended in May 2016. Accordingly, Father sought to decrease his support obligation.

4 Father has a law degree and a master’s degree in public policy. Based on Mother’s expert report, the trial court derived Father’s imputed earning capacity from “an average of the salary for persons in the 50th percentile for heads of nonprofits ($286,250), chief of staff ($195,863)[,] and personal injury lawyer.” Order, 5/2/2017, at ¶ 24 (unnecessary capitalization omitted).

5 Mother has a law degree, but has not worked outside of the home for many years. Based on Father’s expert report, the trial court derived Mother’s imputed earning capacity from “an average of the salaries reflected in [Father’s] expert report … for the most appropriate positions for [Mother] of lawyer, claims adjuster[,] and paralegal.” Order, 5/2/2017, at ¶ 36.

-2- J-A22018-19

support.6

On October 6, 2017, Father filed a petition for modification of support,

where he requested a decrease in his support obligation due to a material

change in his income. The trial court dismissed his petition on January 22,

2018, when Father failed to appear at a scheduled hearing.7, 8 Father filed a

motion for reconsideration the next day, which the trial court denied on

February 16, 2018.

Meanwhile, on February 2, 2018, while his motion for reconsideration

was pending, Father filed a subsequent petition for modification of support,

which similarly sought a decrease in his support obligation. Following a

hearing, the petition was dismissed by a support master on March 19, 2018,

because “no documentation [was] produced” by Father. Order, 3/29/2018,

at 2. Father then filed a demand for a de novo hearing before the trial court.

6The child support award was reduced from $2,466.06 per month based upon Father’s payment of $2,100 per month for health insurance for himself, Mother, and Children. Father was also ordered to pay Mother $2,198.51 per month in APL and $459.78 per month on arrears. On May 15, 2017, the trial court amended its May 2, 2017 order to reduce the monthly arrearage payment to $418.

7 According to Father, he failed to appear “due to an inadvertent scheduling error.” Father’s Brief at 10.

8 In the meantime, on December 29, 2017, Father filed a notice of appeal in this Court, docketed at number 275 EDA 2018, from a trial court order dated November 29, 2017, which denied Father’s objection to a Financial Institution Data Match (FIDM) freeze of his bank account relating to a dispute over the arrears balance. By per curiam order, this Court remanded that appeal and relinquished jurisdiction on May 3, 2018. Order, 5/3/2018.

-3- J-A22018-19

Following continuance requests by both parties, the trial court held a hearing

on December 4, 2018.

At the hearing, Father and Mother testified. According to Father, from

May to August 2017, he sought employment in the greater Philadelphia area

at the earning capacity of $240,704.33 that had been imputed to him by the

trial court in May 2017. N.T., 12/4/2018, at 29-31, 34, Exh. D-1. Father

testified that he was unsuccessful in his attempts, having applied to nearly

100 job openings, including positions as an attorney, director of development,

vice president of operations, and executive director. Id. However, Father

received only three interviews and zero offers. Id. According to Father, his

hiatus from the practice of law for many years while he performed non-legal

work at the Glen Beck Organization was a factor in his not receiving any offers.

Id. Moreover, Father testified that he had been alienated from his Mormon

church congregation due to his extramarital affairs, and could no longer use

it as a source of legal referrals as he had done when he was in private practice.

Id. at 43-44. Father also testified that from May to August 2017, he

networked with about a dozen attorneys he knew from his days in private

practice, but that effort did not result in any job offers. Id. at 31.

In the meantime, Father had started a social media marketing company,

Little Cloud Media, of which he is founder and president. Id. at 34-35. In

August 2017, the National Federal Lands Conference, a non-profit organization

based in Utah, offered Little Cloud Media a contract that provided $20,000 in

-4- J-A22018-19

monthly revenue, from which Father could draw an annual salary of $109,000.

Id. at 29, 35, 44, 114. Father stated that his annual salary is set by Little

Cloud Media’s board of directors. Id. at 35, 115. According to Father, a

condition of the contract was his relocation from Glen Mills, Pennsylvania to

Ogden, Utah. Id. at 29-30. Father testified that he had no desire to move to

Utah, but accepted the offer as a “lifeline” because it was the only offer he

received and he was going into debt with his support obligation. Id. at 29-

30, 40. Father relocated to Utah in August and September 2017. Id. at 29.

Father also stated that once in Utah, he started a law practice, Peace Legal,

but it did not generate enough revenue for him to draw a salary. Id. at 34.

Father presented documentary evidence of his gross earnings for the first 10

months of 2018 of $111,916.74, as well as his 2017 tax return. Id.

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

Related

Krankowski v. O'NEIL
928 A.2d 284 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2007)
Silver v. Pinskey
981 A.2d 284 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2009)
Grigoruk v. Grigoruk
912 A.2d 311 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2006)
Morgan, S. v. Morgan, D.
117 A.3d 757 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2015)
McClain v. McClain
872 A.2d 856 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2005)
Plunkard v. McConnell
962 A.2d 1227 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2008)
Summers v. Summers
35 A.3d 786 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
M.E.K. v. J.E.K., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mek-v-jek-pasuperct-2019.