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In re Marriage of Opat8/17/2005
A wife appeals from the child and medical support provisions of the decree dissolving the parties' marriage. AFFIRMED.
Considered by Huitink, P.J., and Vogel and Zimmer, JJ.
Stacy Opat appeals from the child and medical support provisions of the decree dissolving her marriage to Michael Opat. Upon our de novo review, Iowa R. App. P. 6.4, we affirm the district court.
Stacy and Michael were married in 1993. The parties have four children: Hannah, born in 1994; Emyleigh, born in 1996; Sara, born in 2000; and Olivia, born in 2002. Stacy filed a petition to dissolve the parties' marriage in March 2004. At the time Stacy was employed with the Iowa Department of Agriculture, earning approximately $37,000 per year. Michael was employed by Alliant Energy (Alliant), where he earned approximately $58,000 per year, and had access to family health insurance at the cost of approximately forty dollars per month.
In June 2004, citing psychological and emotional stressors associated with the divorce, Michael notified Alliant of his intent to quit his position as a utility line maintenance foreman. Alliant granted Michael a six-month unpaid leave of absence, which allowed him to return to his position at the company, with full benefits, up until December 24, 2004. Shortly thereafter, Michael obtained employment with a friend's company, Better Life, Inc., as a truck driver. In the new position Michael earns approximately $45,000 and does not have access to employer-sponsored health insurance.
By the time of the September 2004 trial, the parties had stipulated to the resolution of most issues. The parties agreed they would share legal custody of the children and Stacy would be awarded the children's physical care. The court was asked to resolve child support issues.
In calculating Michael's child support obligation, the court utilized Michael's actual, current income of $45,000. The court ordered Stacy to provide health insurance coverage for the children, which was available from her employer for somewhere between $209 and $230 per month. As the custodial parent, Stacy was ordered to pay the first $250 per year per child of uncovered medical expenses, up to a maximum of $500 per year for all children. The court further ordered that Stacy was to pay forty-four percent and Michael was to pay fifty-six percent of uncovered medical expenses beyond these maximums.
On appeal, Stacy first asserts that Michael's support obligation should be calculated by using his earning capacity as measured by his former income at Alliant, rather than his current income at Better Life, Inc. In Iowa, there is a rebuttable presumption that application of the Child Support Guidelines, which utilize a party's actual net income, results in the correct amount of child support. Iowa Code ยง 598.21(4)(a) (2003); Iowa Ct. Rs. 9.4, 9.5. However, the court may vary from the amount of support that would result from an application of the guidelines if substantial injustice would result to the children or either party, or if it is necessary to provide for the children's needs and to do justice between the parties under the special circumstances of the case. Iowa Ct. R. 9.9.
Stacy does not claim that additional support is required to meet the children's needs, but asserts that calculating Michael's child support obligation based upon his current income results in a substantial injustice to the children. She contends that Michael's decision to voluntarily reduce his income deprived the children of a post-dissolution standard of living closer to that which they enjoyed during the parties' marriage.
In considering whether we should deviate from the guid
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