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****************************************************** The ``officially released'' date that appears near the beginning of each opinion is the date the opinion will be published in the Connecticut Law Journal or the date it was released as a slip opinion. The operative date for the beginning of all time periods for filing postopinion motions and petitions for certification is the ``officially released'' date appearing in the opinion. In no event will any such motions be accepted before the ``officially released'' date. All opinions are subject to modification and technical correction prior to official publication in the Connecticut Reports and Connecticut Appellate Reports. In the event of discrepancies between the electronic version of an opinion and the print version appearing in the Connecticut Law Journal and subsequently in the Connecticut Reports or Connecticut Appellate Reports, the latest print version is to be considered authoritative. The syllabus and procedural history accompanying the opinion as it appears on the Commission on Official Legal Publications Electronic Bulletin Board Service and in the Connecticut Law Journal and bound volumes of official reports are copyrighted by the Secretary of the State, State of Connecticut, and may not be reproduced and distributed without the express written permission of the Commission on Official Legal Publications, Judicial Branch, State of Connecticut. ****************************************************** DONALD D. BOWERS v. FLORENCE IRENE BOWERS (AC 20420)
Lavery, C. J., and Foti and O'Connell, Js. Submitted on briefs September 15--officially released December 12, 2000 Counsel

Brian M. Silver filed a brief for the appellant (plaintiff). Robert H. Weinstein filed a brief for the appellee (defendant).
Opinion

FOTI, J. The plaintiff, Donald D. Bowers, appeals from the postjudgment order of the trial court finding him in contempt of orders that directed him to make certain payments of child support and counsel fees to the defendant, Florence Irene Bowers, and awarding further counsel fees to her. The plaintiff claims that the court improperly (1) concluded that he wilfully violated an order of the court, (2) entered an interim order and (3) awarded attorney's fees. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. The following undisputed facts and procedural his-

tory are relevant to our resolution of this appeal. The parties' marriage of approximately twenty years was dissolved on April 15, 1988. Thereafter, the parties presented a series of motions addressing child support and other financial orders. On June 3, 1993, the court modified previous orders and, as relevant to this appeal, ordered payments by the plaintiff against the child support arrearage1 suspended ``until [he] receives unemployment compensation, disability insurance or finds a new job. In the event of any of the above activities, the plaintiff is to notify the court of the amount of income and to provide an affidavit supporting his income/job.'' During the hearing on the defendant's motion for contempt relating to the plaintiff's alleged failure to comply with the court's June 3, 1993 order, the court entered an interim order dated March 26, 1996, ordering the plaintiff to seek employment and to remain employed. In a memorandum of decision filed on December 21, 1999, the court concluded that the plaintiff had failed to use an available inheritance to pay the amounts due to the defendant and had improperly diverted those funds. The court found that because the plaintiff had the ability to comply with the June 3, 1993 order, but chose not to do so, he was in contempt of that order. The court further found, in concluding as it did, that the plaintiff's mother had died on July 3, 1994, and that he subsequently was notified that he would receive a distribution from her estate of at least $18,500. The plaintiff, rather than accepting that amount, filed a formal notification of his intention to disclaim the distribution. The plaintiff claimed that he had been offered a loan from William Bowers, his brother and coexecutor of their mother's estate. The alleged loan had been made in April, 1994, subsequent to the entry of the court's June 3, 1993 order. The plaintiff's disclaimer was given in exchange for his brother's consideration of forgiving a portion of the loan. The court also found that the plaintiff was in contempt for his noncompliance with the March 26, 1996 interim order by failing to make efforts to secure employment as ordered by the court. The court awarded attorney's fees to the defendant in the amount of $4550 for the two contempt motions on which she prevailed.2 ``The standard of review in family matters is that this court will not disturb the trial court's orders unless it has abused its legal discretion or its findings have no reasonable basis in fact. . . . It is within the province of the trial court to find facts and draw proper inferences from the evidence presented.'' (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Werblood v. Birnbach, 41 Conn. App. 728, 730, 678 A.2d 1 (1996); see also Karen v. ParciakKaren, 40 Conn. App. 697, 703, 673 A.2d 581 (1996); Rummel v. Rummel, 33 Conn. App. 214, 220, 653 A.2d 295 (1993); Graham v. Graham, 25 Conn. App. 41, 47, 592 A.2d 424, cert. denied, 220 Conn. 903, 593 A.2d

969 (1991). ``[T]he factual findings of a trial court on any issue are reversible only if they are clearly erroneous. . . . This court cannot retry the facts or pass upon the credibility of the witnesses. . . . A finding of fact is clearly erroneous when there is no evidence in the record to support it . . . or when although there is evidence to support it, the reviewing court on the entire evidence is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.'' (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Schult v. Schult, 40 Conn. App. 675, 682, 672 A.2d 959 (1996), aff'd, 241 Conn. 767, 699 A.2d 134 (1997). ``[W]here the factual basis of the court's decision is challenged we must determine whether the facts set out in the memorandum of decision are supported by the evidence or whether, in light of the evidence and the pleadings in the whole record, those facts are clearly erroneous.'' Pandolphe's Auto Parts, Inc. v. Manchester, 181 Conn. 217, 221

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