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Family Law Supreme Court Opinion

by Booth, George

 

SC20593 - Birkhold v. Birkhold (Dissolution; Alimony; Whether trial court properly included advances on commissions from plaintiff former husband's employment and money earned by and paid to plaintiff's LLC as income subject to alimony under separation agreement; "In this appeal, we are called on to interpret a separation agreement to determine whether draws or advance payments on commissions are loans, and thus do not constitute income for the purposes of awarding alimony. The plaintiff, Stephen Birkhold, appeals from the trial court's decision granting both his motion for modification of alimony and a postjudgment motion for contempt filed by the defendant, Susan Birkhold, which the trial court resolved by finding the plaintiff in contempt and awarding the defendant past due alimony and attorney's fees. On appeal, the plaintiff claims that the trial court incorrectly (1) interpreted the parties' separation agreement to conclude that the draws from his employment as a real estate broker were income subject to alimony, (2) interpreted the parties' agreement to conclude that money paid to his limited liability company (LLC) was income subject to alimony, (3) modified his future alimony obligation, (4) found him in contempt for his failure to pay alimony, and (5) awarded the defendant attorney's fees as the prevailing party under the separation agreement. We affirm the trial court's decision in full.")