In Re Marriage of Riddle

In this case we hold that the trial court abused its discretion by calculating income for pendente lite child and spousal support orders based on only the latest two months of a salesperson’s earnings. The trial court should have used a properly representative sample, which, on this record, would presumptively have been the previous 12 months.

I. FACTS

The Complicated Nature of Husband’s Income

1. The Sample the Trial Court Used

Husband Tracy Riddle works as a commissioned financial advisor for a major investment firm. There are four components to his income, the first two of which are somewhat unusual in that they constitute (1) the forgiveness of debt on an advance received by his employer during the marriage, and (2) the forgiveness of the/interest on the debt.

The circumstances behind these two components are these: During the marriage, in order to lure Husband away from his prior employer, his present employer paid him an “advance” against his fiiture earnings of $1.039 million. This amount was to be paid back every month in installments of $11,423.14, plus interest of $2,365.54. However, on Husband’s earning statement the $11,423.14 plus $2,365.54 is included…