## Facts

- A 1989 dissolution decree incorporated a separation agreement giving Margaret Elaine Seanor primary physical custody and Nick Nimmo sole legal custody of their two children.
- Nimmo agreed to pay maintenance until June 1991 and child support thereafter under Colo. Rev. Stat. § 14-10-115.
- After Seanor remarried, she moved (October 1991) to increase Nimmo’s child-support obligation.
- Nimmo served interrogatories seeking Seanor’s income since June 1, 1991, defining income to include “all funds available for [her] use, including gifts.”
- Nimmo sought details about benefits allegedly provided by Seanor’s new husband, including gifts and payments to third parties that benefitted Seanor or the children, and related bank and credit-card records.
- After incomplete responses, Nimmo moved to compel discovery; the trial court denied the motion as “immaterial” and as an invasion of the new husband’s privacy, and later granted the requested child-support increase.
- The court of appeals affirmed, reasoning that a third party’s income (including a new spouse’s) is generally irrelevant to a parent’s child-support obligation.

## Issues

1. Whether, in a child-support modification proceeding, a party is entitled to discovery of the other parent’s “gross income” from all sources, including gifts and contributions originating from a new spouse.
2. Whether privacy concerns categorically bar discovery of financial information reflecting benefits provided by a nonparty new spouse.

## Decision

- The Colorado Supreme Court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
- It held that the statutory definition of “gross income” permits discovery into “income from any source,” expressly including “gifts,” so discovery may reach benefits conferred on the parent that qualify as gifts or otherwise increase the parent’s gross income.
- It agreed that the new spouse’s income, by itself, is not a proper basis for calculating the parent’s child-support obligation.
- It directed that discovery be limited to information bearing on the parent’s income (including gifts and expense payments) while protecting the new spouse’s privacy through tailored trial-court management.

## Legal Principles

- Under Colo. Rev. Stat. § 14-10-115(7)(a)(I)(A), “gross income” includes income from any source and includes, without limitation, “gifts.”
- Discovery in child-support proceedings may extend to information reasonably calculated to prove the parent’s statutory gross income, including gifts and third-party payments that discharge the parent’s expenses and increase funds available for the parent’s use.
- A new spouse’s earnings are not attributed to the parent for child-support computation merely because of the marriage.
- Trial courts must distinguish between (a) the new spouse’s income as such (generally not discoverable or relevant) and (b) the economic benefits actually received by the parent from the new spouse (potentially discoverable and relevant).
- Privacy interests of nonparties do not create a complete bar to discovery; courts may limit scope and use protective measures to obtain only what is necessary to determine the parent’s income.

## Conclusion

The court held that Colorado’s child-support statute requires an expansive view of a parent’s discoverable “gross income,” allowing inquiry into gifts and similar benefits provided by a new spouse to the parent, while maintaining that the new spouse’s income itself is not attributable and should be shielded through properly limited discovery.


In re Marriage of Nimmo, 891 P.2d 1002 (Colo. 1995)