Should ex-wife be allowed to "shirk" child-support duties?

From the Wisconsin Supreme Court decision in Chen v. Warner
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Dr. Jane Chen and Dr. John Warner have three daughters, born on October 11, 1991, April 22, 1993, and July 12, 1995. In 1999, after an eighteen-year marriage, the parties divorced.

The parties entered into a marital settlement agreement, which was later incorporated into the judgment of divorce. The parties agreed to joint custody, equal physical placement, and no child support. At the time of the divorce in 1999, both parents were employed as medical doctors in Marshfield. Dr. Chen was earning $19,670 per month, which means an annual income of $236,040. Dr. Warner was earning $21,371 per month, which translates into an annual income of $256,452. 1

Prior to and after the divorce, both parties worked full time. After persistent and unsuccessful efforts to obtain a part-time schedule so that she could spend more time parenting, Dr. Chen voluntarily quit in May of 2000. By quitting, Dr. Chen gave up her substantial current income, contributions to her retirement plan, and job security. The undisputed testimony was that she was performing at a high level and was the administrator of a profitable department. If Dr. Chen had remained in her job, she would have made $410,175 in 2002.

At the time Dr. Chen quit in 2000, she was advised, based on market returns over the past fifty years, that she could expect approximately 10% per year income on her investments with a conservative investment plan. Since Dr. Chen had about 1.1 million dollars in savings, she hoped to earn about $110,000 per year. She estimated her budget at $7,000 per month or $84,000 per year.

Unfortunately, the stock market declined dramatically in 2001 and Dr. Chen's investment income likewise dropped dramatically. That year, her total income was $32,000. Thus, Dr. Chen began to invade her principal in order to meet expenses. At the same time, Dr. Chen investigated the possibility of returning to work part-time. She was unable to locate work in the Marshfield area, and she declined to pursue part-time work in communities beyond commuting distance.

In January of 2002, Dr. Chen filed a motion requesting that the divorce judgment be amended to order Dr. Warner to pay child support. At that time, Dr. Warner was earning $472,000 per year and his employer contributed an additional $73,000 per year to Warner's retirement plan. During an evidentiary hearing, Dr. Chen detailed her activities with the children. Those activities are set forth in detail in the discussion section below. Dr. Chen testified that her monthly budget was about $7,000. She asked the circuit court to order child support in the amount of $4,000 per month.

The circuit court determined that Dr. Warner could afford to pay child support and that Dr. Chen was not shirking. The court declined to use Dr. Chen's earning capacity and ordered Dr. Warner to pay $4,000 per month in child support.
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What should the result be? The wife here didn't even have full custody of the children, yet she quit a high-paying job and asked the courts to force her ex-husband to pick up the tab for full child-support payments.

For an interesting analysis of this case, click here.