Should Entertainment and Personal Automobile Expenses Paid by a Party's Business Be Included In Income for Calculating Support ?

In Heisey v. Heisey, 430 Pa. Super. 16, 633 A.2d 211, 212 (Pa. Super. 1993), the Court stated that even if not received by the support obligor as cash, "personal perquisites, such as entertainment and personal automobile expenses, paid by a party's business must be included in income for purpose of calculating support." Heisey, 633 A.2d at 212. Accord Calabrese v. Calabrese, 682 A.2d at 396 ("It is clear that automobile expenses paid by a company for the payor spouse are properly included in the determination of the payor's available income."). Our jurisprudence is clear, therefore, that the owner of a closely-held corporation cannot avoid a support obligation by sheltering income that should be available for support by manipulating salary, perquisites, corporate expenditures, and/or corporate distribution amounts. By the same token, however, we cannot attribute as income funds not actually available to or received by the party.