Marriage of Gunz

(Decided Nov. 2003, Third Dist # C041519, unpublished.) The husband, a medical doctor, claimed his retirement plan contributions should be deducted from his gross income pursuant to Family Code section 4059, for "mandatory union dues and retirement benefits, provided that they are required as a condition of employment." The trial court denied the deduction and husband appealed. Representing the wife, Mr. Sargeant successfully argued that because, like most closely-held professional corporations, the husband's pension plan allowed its physicians to "opt out" of the plan, the contributions were not "required" for his employment.