Charlottesville Divorce Lawyer: Award of Child Support and Attorneys Fees to Mother Upheld on Appeal.

In the case of James v. Owens, the Virginia Court of Appeals, in an unpublished opinion, held that the trial court properly awarded child support, determined child support arrearages, awarded attorney’s fees, and awarded expert witness fees to mother in a child support case.In determining father’s income, the circuit court accepted the testimony of Mother’s expert as to Father’s incomeand expenses.  The expert’s calculations were derived from a series of conclusions the expert reached, such as that father was paying a significant amount of personal expenses through hisbusiness, over-reporting fuel expenses, under-reporting income from selling or renting trucks,and deducting expenses that were non-deductible.  The expert also concluded that withheld reporting certain income, such as insurance reimbursements from drivers and lease orinstallment payments for trucks that father owned.In reaching his conclusions, the expert reviewed not only father’s tax returns but alsofather’s bank statements, credit card statements, and trip tickets from drivers for his business.

-Rob Hagy, Charlottesville Divorce Lawyer.