[mhurst0602]

Can dividends be paid from retained earnings unless its in excess of the retained earnings amount and then it is paid from contributed capital?

[morgaine300]

Please always start your own thread for your question rather than tagging onto someone else's. That was a two-page thread and would keep getting awful messy if everyone tagged on new questions. I've moved yours to its own thread.

Not only can dividends be paid from retained earnings, they are paid from retained earnings. Asking "can" they be is implying they could have been paid from somewhere else first, and no - they are paid from retained earnings.

If they wanted to pay something in excess of retained earnings (which is a bit on the unthinkable side in my opinion), then whether they can dig into the contributed capital is local law. If they're digging into contributed capital, then something screwy is going on.