Opinion
No. TTD FA 06 4004376 S
September 1, 2010
The plaintiff has filed post-judgment motions for (1) Modification of Child Support and (2) for Contempt. After a hearing was held, and at the request of counsel, briefs were subsequently submitted.
The motion for contempt was premised upon the defendants refusal or lengthy delay in signing the QDRO which the Court had ordered. When the parties were in court on August 5, 2010 for the hearing on these motions, the defendant delivered the signed QDRO to the plaintiff. Accordingly, the motion for contempt is moot and marked "off."
As to the motion to modify child support, the plaintiff had been working at a "hazardous duty" job which allowed him to retire sooner than most people not in a hazardous duty job. He has not been able to find other suitable employment in this economy since he retired in 2009.
The plaintiff retired from a job at Whiting Forensic Institute. Given that his work was classified as hazardous duty, he cannot be faulted for taking a retirement which removed him from the danger of physical harm or injury. The Court does not agree that a party must show that a serious health condition must be shown in order to reduce one's income by early retirement. Certainly that would be a justification for early retirement, but it appears to this Court that the risk of physical harm is, similarly, a justification. The plaintiff was a middle-aged man (53) at his retirement, and could only become more exposed to the increasing risk of harm with time. In Misinonile v. Misinonile, 35 Conn.App. 228 (1994), the Appellate Court decided a father who was, "tired" of working did not retire in order to avoid reducing his alimony obligation. This Court does not believe the plaintiff had an improper motive when he retired. He has not shirked his obligation to his son. He continues to have a shared parenting arrangement which alternates his son living with each parent.
It is also noted that the plaintiffs retirement has actually triggered a benefit to the defendant who gets $800 per month (which is one-half of the plaintiffs pension).
The motion to modify is granted. The plaintiff shall pay child support in the amount of $90.00 per week.
A deviation from the presumptive guidelines of $131 is warranted because of the shared parenting arrangement.
Unreimbursed medical expenses for the minor child shall be shared fifty-fifty by the parties.