In Re Marriage of Corman

Appellant Cindy Corman appeals from a post-dissolution judgment child support order entered in favor of her former husband, respondent Clifford L. Corman. Cindy contends that the family law court abused its discretion by, in effect, including nonmodifiable spousal support paid to her by Clifford as an item of her gross income for purposes of determining child support. We conclude spousal support received from a party to the child support proceedings does not constitute gross income for purposes of determining the presumptively correct guideline child support under Family Code sections 4055 and 4058. We conclude further that a trial court may not exercise its discretion to consider spousal support received from a party to the child support proceedings as a special circumstance justifying departure from the guideline under Family Code section 4057. Accordingly, the postjudgment order modifying child support must be reversed.

Facts and Procedural Background

Clifford and Cindy were married on June 20, 1981, and separated on November 20, 1992, after a marriage of 11 years. Clifford is a board-certified child, adolescent, and family psychiatrist. Cindy is unemployed, but has…