Virgel Bennett v. Lucy Ward

Lloyd H. Stebbins (Appellant), the former husband, appeals the trial courts final judgment entered upon petitions filed by Appellant and his former wife, Donna J. Stebbins (Appellee), n/k/a Donna Allen, seeking modification of a supplemental final judgment of dissolution of marriage; he appeals also the courts order holding him in contempt and ordering him to pay a purge amount or else report to jail. Appellant contends that the lower court reversibly erred 1) by finding that he was voluntarily unemployed, thereby justifying the imputation of income, based on his failure to search for work in other states; 2) by imputing income to him also based on the finding that he had refused to look for work outside his narrow field of employment; 3) by holding him in contempt for failure to comply fully with his child-support obligation; 4) by ordering him to pay a purge amount or else go to jail for contempt, without making an affirmative finding of his present ability to pay the purge amount; and 5) by ordering him to contribute to Appellees attorneys fees. Given the need for the trial court to reconsider the factors and make findings pertinent to the threshold issue of whether Appellant was voluntarily unemployed or underemployed---a determination that will affect whether income can be imputed to him---we reverse the final judgment on the parties petitions for modification of the supplemental final judgment of dissolution of marriage, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. As the trial courts findings on remand regarding the question of voluntariness will impact the determination of whether Appellant was in contempt for failure to make full payments of child support, we reverse the order of contempt and the purge provision, with instructions that the lower tribunal make the necessary findings pursuant to Bowen v. Bowen, 471 So. 2d 1274 (Fla. 1985), and Scapin v. Scapin, 553 So. 2d 319, 320 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989).