## Facts

- After a 13-year marriage, the parties divorced and had two minor children.
- A stipulated 1994 order set child support at $1,511/month, based on the father’s gross monthly income of $5,405 and the mother’s part-time nursing income of $1,505/month.
- In 1995, the father remarried and his new wife gave birth to twins, giving him four children to support.
- The father sought a statutory hardship deduction to reduce guideline child support based on increased expenses from the twins.
- The mother had remarried and voluntarily left her nursing job, citing stress and concerns about recordkeeping at her workplace; she presented no evidence that she was unable to work or that comparable jobs were unavailable.
- After a hearing the mother did not attend, the trial court reduced support to $1,338/month and, for guideline calculations, continued to attribute $1,505/month income to the mother based on her prior earnings.
- The trial court stated it would reconsider if the mother later produced evidence that her loss of income was justified; she appealed instead.

## Issues

1. Whether substantial evidence supported granting a hardship deduction under Family Code section 4070 based on justifiable expenses from the birth of twins in the payor’s current household causing extreme financial hardship.
2. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by imputing income to the mother based on earning capacity (using her prior earnings) despite her current unemployment.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeal affirmed the modified child support order.
- Substantial evidence supported the finding of extreme financial hardship due to justifiable expenses associated with the twins, warranting a hardship deduction.
- The trial court did not abuse its discretion by using the mother’s earning capacity (reflected by her prior income) where she voluntarily left employment and did not show inability to work or lack of opportunity.

## Legal Principles

- A court may allow a hardship deduction from a parent’s income when the parent experiences extreme financial hardship due to justifiable expenses, including expenses for children in the parent’s current household. (Fam. Code § 4070.)
- Whether extreme financial hardship exists, and the amount of any hardship deduction, are fact-dependent determinations committed to the trial court’s discretion.
- For guideline child support, a court may base a parent’s income on earning capacity rather than actual earnings when the parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed and does not prove inability to work or unavailability of employment.
- Child support determinations are reviewed for abuse of discretion; supporting factual findings are reviewed for substantial evidence.

## Conclusion

The court upheld a modest child support reduction based on a statutory hardship deduction for expenses tied to newborn twins in the father’s new household and approved imputing income to the mother based on earning capacity where she voluntarily left work without persuasive proof she could not obtain suitable employment.


In re Marriage of Paulin, 54 Cal. Rptr. 2d 314 (Cal. Ct. App. 1996)