Downey v. Downey

The trial court entered orders of contempt, commitment, and for income deduction against Margherita Downey, the former wife, for the non-payment of child support. We reverse because the trial court’s finding of present ability to pay a purge conflicts with an order, entered two weeks earlier, that the former wife was insolvent.

The former wife filed a timely motion to vacate the orders, arguing that there was no evidence of her present ability to pay. Significantly, she pointed out that within a few weeks prior to the subject hearing on January 15, 2003, the court entered an order of…