In Re the Marriage of Ostler & Smith

Summary

Husband, a bank executive, earned a fixed salary plus large, variable annual bonuses and stock dividends. The trial court set fixed spousal and child support from salary and dividends, then added 15% of his gross cash bonus as spousal support and 10% per child as child support, with a three-year spousal support step-down. The Court of Appeal held this was within the trial court's discretion under the support statutes and affirmed. It declined to consider his guideline argument because he had not raised it at trial.

What it means for the financial analysis

Where an obligor's pay includes variable bonuses, income analysis should break out salary, bonus, and dividends by year, since a court may treat bonuses as a separate support stream rather than fold them into a fixed figure. The court relied on the statute listing bonuses as gross income for child support, and on the pre-separation and current compensation history to show the marital standard of living, so that history may be worth documenting in detail. The decision rests on trial court discretion and does not require a percentage award.

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