In Re the Marriage of Pollard
991 P.2d 1201, 99 Wash. App. 48 (2000)
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Rule of Law:
A parent may not avoid a child support obligation to children from a prior marriage by voluntarily choosing to become unemployed or underemployed, even if the reason is to care for children from a new marriage. Courts must impute income to a voluntarily underemployed parent in such circumstances.
Facts:
- Joan Pollard Brookins and Martin Pollard divorced in 1989 and had two children together.
- The original support order required Ms. Brookins, the non-custodial parent, to pay Mr. Pollard $217 per month in child support.
- Both parties had been in active military service during their marriage.
- After the divorce, Ms. Brookins remarried and had two more children with her new spouse.
- Ms. Brookins voluntarily left her full-time military employment, where she earned approximately $22,150 per year, to become a full-time mother and homemaker for her new family.
- She subsequently took a part-time military job, reducing her income to approximately $323 per month.
- Mr. Pollard also remarried, left the military, and was working as an electrician earning about $31,000 per year.
Procedural Posture:
- In January 1997, Joan Pollard Brookins petitioned the Lincoln County trial court for a modification of the child support order to reduce her payments.
- The trial court granted the modification in April 1998, reducing Ms. Brookins's obligation to $85 per month.
- The trial court found that Ms. Brookins was not voluntarily underemployed with an intent to avoid her child support obligation.
- Martin Pollard, the appellee, appealed the trial court's modification order to the Washington Court of Appeals.
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Issue:
Does a parent's voluntary decision to leave full-time employment to become a stay-at-home parent for children of a new marriage relieve them of their full child support obligation to children from a prior marriage, thereby precluding a court from imputing income?
Opinions:
Majority - Schultheis, J.
No. A parent's voluntary decision to leave full-time employment to care for children from a new marriage does not relieve them of their child support obligation to children from a prior marriage, and a court must impute income to such a parent. The governing statute, RCW 26.19.071(6), mandates that a court shall impute income to a parent who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed. Ms. Brookins's choice to leave her higher-paying career was voluntary, and her work as a homemaker is not considered 'gainful employment' that would create an exception to the imputation rule. While her decision to care for her new children is 'laudable,' it cannot adversely affect her pre-existing financial obligation to the children from her marriage to Mr. Pollard. The court reasoned that the standard must be applied equally to both mothers and fathers, noting that a non-custodial father who chose to stay home with a new family would still have income imputed to him.
Analysis:
This decision clarifies that the duty to support children from a prior marriage takes precedence over a parent's personal or professional choices, including the choice to be a stay-at-home parent for a new family. It establishes that the 'voluntary underemployment' standard is objective, focusing on the choice to earn less rather than the parent's subjective motive. This precedent strengthens the legal obligation of non-custodial parents by requiring courts to base support calculations on earning capacity, not just actual earnings, when a parent voluntarily reduces their income.
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