Court Rulings

The plaintiff, whose marriage to the defendant had previously been dis- solved, appealed to this court from the decision of the trial court denying her postdissolution motion for contempt as to a claimed arrearage for unallocated alimony and child support, claiming that the court incor- rectly determined that she was not entitled to receive a percentage of profit distributions received by the defendant from his purchased membership interest in a company, P Co. The trial court found that the defendant received income from two sources: commission income as an employee of C Co., and distributions as a member of P Co. The court denied the plaintiff's motion for contempt, concluding that the distributions that the defendant received from P Co. were not included in the defendant's gross annual earned income from employment, as defined in the parties' separation agreement. Held that the trial court properly denied the plaintiff's motion for contempt because the distribu- tions received by the defendant as a member of P Co. were not included in the definition of gross annual earned income from employment as defined in the parties' separation agreement: the evidence supported the court's conclusion that the distributions were not derived from the defendant's employment with C Co., including expert testimony that the defendant had paid for an equity interest in P Co., and that the income he received derived from that interest; moreover, there was no provision in the members' agreement, which concerned distributions from P Co., that required members of P Co. to be employed by C Co., the defendant purchased his membership interest in P Co. postdissolu- tion, and he receives distributions on that investment, and the separation agreement provides that all income received by the defendant due to his investment of certain assets shall not be considered in the definition of gross annual earned income from employment. Argued January 19—officially released April 6, 2021