If you have questions about divorce, legal separation, alimony pendente lite, or alimony in Connecticut, please feel free to call the experienced divorce attorneys at Maya Murphy, P.C. in Westport today at 203-221-3100 or email Joseph C. Maya, Esq. at JMaya@Mayalaw.com.

A wife’s motion for modify a judgment ordering her to pay 20% of her children’s educational expenses was denied, because the plaintiff wife’s failure to seek new employment undermined her claims based on changes to her actual earnings.

In 1983, the parties’ dissolution judgment was modified so as to require the plaintiff to pay 20 percent of the educational expenses for her children. At that time, she was earning 17,600 annually. She was employed as a “guidance person” at the Mead School, and held a degree in dance. In 1984, her job at the Mead School was terminated through no fault of her own, and since then has not sought new employment and earned no income from employment. The plaintiff’s present husband was supporting her, and was not responsible for the children’s education.

The court found that the plaintiff’s situation had not proven a substantial change of circumstance, because she had in no way established that her earning capacity had changed. A motion for modification burdens the moving party to establish a legitimate basis for the modification sought. The court could not ignore the fact that the plaintiff chose not to seek other employment, or to even demonstrate that other suitable employment was unavailable.

For a free consultation, please do not hesitate to call the experienced family law and divorce attorneys at Maya Murphy, P.C. in Westport, CT at 203-221-3100. We may also be reached for inquiries by email at JMaya@mayalaw.com

Source: Logan v. Logan, 535 A.2d 1332 ; 1988 Conn. App. LEXIS 76 (Conn. App. Ct. 1988)