Leonova v. Leonov

Citations

• 201 Conn. App. 285

Syllabus

The defendant appealed to this court from the judgment of the trial court dissolving his marriage to the plaintiff and from the trial court's granting of the plaintiff's motions for attorney's fees. Held: 1. The plaintiff could not prevail on his claim that the trial court abused its discretion by improperly basing the supplemental alimony awarded to the plaintiff on the defendant's gross, rather than net, bonus income, as the court had ample evidence at its disposal to adequately inform it as to the defendant's financial status with respect to his net bonus income; the trial court did not state that it relied on the party's gross earnings to form the basis of its order, the record demonstrated both parties' net available income, including the defendant's base pay, and it was apparent that the court intended its supplemental alimony order to be a function of the gross bonus income, which was a convenient and economical method of calculation, and was distinguishable from the court basing its order on the bonus gross income, especially as the court did not use gross income to calculate the periodic alimony order or the monthly and supplemental child support orders. 2. Contrary to the defendant's claim, the trial court did not act in excess of its statutory (§ 46b-81) authority applicable to dissolution proceedings by ordering the parties to establish and to contribute to educational savings plans, as the court properly exercised its authority pursuant to the applicable statute (§ 46b-56) to secure contemplated future educa- tional support orders by requiring each party to restore one half of the gift money that had been donated to the parties' two children from their grandmother and to protect it for their future use; the court's order to establish the plans was eminently fair, as both parties were ordered to contribute equally to their creation after they had used the children's gift money to renovate a home that the children will never occupy, although the defendant