L. W. v. M. W.

Syllabus

The plaintiff, whose marriage to the defendant previously had been dis- solved, appealed to this court from the judgment of the trial court denying her postjudgment motion for contempt. The judgment of dissolu- tion incorporated the parties' separation agreement, which required the defendant to pay the plaintiff a minimum of $3000 per month in unallocated alimony, with an additional amount owed based on the annual earnings of the defendant. In her contempt motion, the plaintiff alleged that the defendant failed and refused to comply with the court's order to pay her additional unallocated alimony based on his earned income in 2018. The defendant's 1099 form for 2018 showed his income was $159,079; the court, however, found that the defendant's income for 2018 was $135,569, from which the court deducted certain self- employment expenses, for a net income of $102,363. On this basis, the court held that the defendant did not owe the plaintiff additional alimony and was not in contempt. On appeal, the plaintiff claimed that the court incorrectly calculated the defendant's earned income for 2018. The trial court granted two other of the plaintiff's postjudgment motions for contempt, and the defendant filed a separate appeal. Held: 1. The trial court erred when it found that the defendant's earned income for 2018 was $135,569: it was evident that the parties intended the defendant's earned income to be the amount shown on his 1099 form, as the separation agreement provided that, upon written request from the plaintiff, the defendant was required to produce his paychecks and W-2 and/or 1099 forms reflecting earned income, and that amount for 2018 was $159,079; moreover, the court erred when it reduced the defen- dant's 2018 income to $102,363 by deducting the defendant's self-employ- ment expenses, as the separation agreement contained no reference to and, thus, did not provide for, business deductions for tax purposes when calculating the defendant's earned income, and, a