Ayres v. Ayres

Citations

• 193 Conn. App. 224

Syllabus

The defendant, whose marriage to the plaintiff previously had been dis- solved, appealed to this court from the judgment of the trial court resolving a postjudgment motion for contempt filed by the plaintiff. The parties' separation agreement included payment of alimony to the plaintiff calculated from the defendant's gross income of base pay and performance based bonuses, and a provision stating that income shall not include stock that may be awarded to either party. In 2011, the defendant was hired by a company that was acquired by V Co., and he accepted a position with V Co. that included a retention plan, which included short-term incentives, long-term incentives, including both restricted stock units that would be payable in the form of stock and performance stock units that would be payable in the form of cash, and a severance package. In August, 2015, the defendant's employment with V Co. was terminated, and he received a severance payment, after which he found higher paying employment and adjusted his alimony payment accordingly. In July, 2014, the plaintiff filed a motion for contempt, alleging, inter alia, that the defendant failed to amend support based on the total reported for his income. There were three court rulings as to this motion, the last of which declined to find the defendant in contempt but ordered, inter alia, the defendant to include all past long- term incentive payments and the severance payment from V Co. in the calculation of gross income and to recalculate past alimony owed to the plaintiff. From that decision, the defendant appealed to this court, claiming, inter alia, that the trial court improperly interpreted a provision in the parties' separation agreement governing alimony to require that restricted stock units and performance stock units received from the defendant's employer be included within the alimony calculation. Held: 1. The trial court erred in ordering the defendant to include all past and future restricted stock unit p