Little v. Little

975 P.2d 108 (1999)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

H and W divorced, and the court ordered H, an Air Force lieutenant, to pay $1,186 per month for the support of his two young children. In August 1996, H resigned his commission in the Air Force, a position that paid $48,000 in yearly salary plus benefits, and chose to enroll as a full-time student at Arizona State University College of Law rather than to seek employment. H petitioned the court to reduce his child support obligation to $239 per month. The trial court concluded that H had failed to prove a substantial and continuing change of circumstances. The trial court specifically found that appellant voluntarily left his employment to further his own ambition; that he failed to consider the needs of his children when he made that decision; and that to reduce his child support obligation would be to his children's immediate detriment and their previously established needs. The trial court did reduce appellant's child support obligation to $972 per month on the ground that W had acquired a higher paying job. H appealed. The court of appeals, applying a good faith test to determine whether H acted reasonably in voluntarily leaving his employment, held that the trial court abused its discretion in finding that H's decision to terminate his employment and pursue a law degree was unreasonable. W appealed.