Mascaro v. Mascaro
Pennsylvania Supreme Court
569 Pa. 255, 803 A.2d 1186 (2002)
- Written by Eric Miller, JD
Facts
Joseph Mascaro (defendant) and Rosemary Mascaro (plaintiff) married in 1978, had a child in 1984, and separated in 1994. Rosemary filed a complaint for support. A master issued a recommendation that Joseph pay Rosemary spousal and child support in the amount of $130,000 per year. Both parties filed exceptions. In a hearing, the trial court determined that Joseph’s after-tax income was $52,000 per month and ordered him to pay Rosemary $19,786 per month. Joseph sought reconsideration, after which the amount of the order was reduced to $13,000 per month. Although Pennsylvania had adopted alimony guidelines under which an obligee was presumptively entitled to a certain percentage of the difference between the parties’ net incomes, the court ruled that the guidelines did not apply to cases in which the parties’ combined net income exceeded $15,000 per month. Instead, the court based its order on a determination of Rosemary’s reasonable needs. Joseph appealed. The superior court affirmed the trial court’s judgment. Joseph again appealed. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Newman, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,400 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
