Williamson v. Williamson

Frederick W. Williamson II is the son of a wealthy Los Angeles patrician family. Through his parents’ generosity, Frederick and his wife, Mary Kate Williamson, enjoyed a lavish high-society lifestyle during their 20-year marriage. When the parties separated, their monthly expenses averaged $45,000, yet they had no employment income. Based on Frederick’s postseparation annual income of $99,000, the trial court ordered him to pay monthly permanent spousal support of $2,000 and child support of $1,235.

The principal issue before us is whether the trial court abused its discretion by declining to treat historical cash advances from Frederick’s parents as income in calculating child and spousal support. The trial court determined they were loans and therefore excludable as income under the child support statutes. Because the advances are to be deducted from Frederick’s expected inheritance, we conclude they were gifts in lieu of a devise or inheritance, rather than loans. This distinction is immaterial, however, because the advances ceased before trial and there was no evidence they would resume. Recognizing it could not order Frederick’s parents to make further cash…