In re Marriage of Berger (2009) 170 Cal.App.4th 1070
Holding
The trial court abused its discretion in limiting earning capacity to actual current income where the husband had voluntarily left a $600,000 salaried accounting position to work full-time in a landscape business in which he held an equity interest, and effectively granted himself a “holiday” from significant support obligations. A parent “cannot unilaterally, and voluntarily, arrange his business affairs in such a way as to effectively preclude his children from sharing in the benefits of his current standard of living.”
Relevance to this matter
Cited by opposing counsel as part of their imputation theory. Distinguishable on the facts: Charles was laid off involuntarily by Parry Labs in February 2025 (not a voluntary departure), and his subsequent transition to Mail Station was driven by the Parry Labs layoff and structural realities of the ROBS C-corp arrangement (the W-2 employee + shareholder structure required by the ROBS rules). Berger does not support imputation where the income reduction is the result of an involuntary layoff followed by a documented good-faith business transition.