Twaddell v. Anderson

Decision Date21 December 1999
Docket NumberNo. COA99-90.,COA99-90.
Citation523 S.E.2d 710,136 NC App. 56
PartiesKaren G. TWADDELL, Plaintiff, v. George Franklin ANDERSON, Defendant.
CourtNorth Carolina Court of Appeals

Michael F. Easley, Attorney General, by Gerald K. Robbins, Assistant Attorney General, for plaintiff-appellant.

McCotter, McAfee & Ashton, PLLC, by Rudolph Alexander Ashton, III, and Robert J. McAfee, New Bern, for defendant-appellee.

EDMUNDS, Judge.

This appeal arises from plaintiff's attempted registration, pursuant to the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, of a foreign support order. On motion of defendant, the trial court vacated and dismissed the attempted registration and found sanctionable plaintiff's attempt to register the foreign support order. We reverse the order of the trial court.

On 16 June 1981, a superior court in California entered a stipulated support order pursuant to which defendant George Franklin Anderson was required to pay $200.00 per month in spousal support to plaintiff Karen Anderson (now Karen G. Twaddell) and $200.00 per month for each of their two children. Payments were to begin 1 July 1981. The provision for child support was incorporated into the court's 29 January 1982 order of legal separation, but this order did not include a requirement for spousal support. When the parties divorced on 14 June 1982, the California court incorporated the 29 January 1982 order into the divorce decree.

On 9 September 1986, plaintiff filed in California a petition for support pursuant to the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act (URESA). The petition requested an order requiring defendant to (1) pay monthly child support of $400.00, (2) provide health insurance for his children, (3) pay $22,536.00 in child support arrears, and (4) pay $1,400.00 in spousal support arrears. In accordance with the terms of URESA, the petition was forwarded to the Clerk of Court in Craven County, North Carolina, where defendant was then living. The North Carolina court entered an order on 14 November 1986 (signed 6 June 1989) finding no arrearage in defendant's child support and requiring defendant to pay a total of $220.00 per month for his two children. Although the court further found that defendant was in arrears in his spousal support in an unspecified amount, it determined that defendant would not be held in contempt for the arrearage, but that plaintiff was entitled to a civil judgment against defendant "for said arrearages."

The North Carolina court held a show cause hearing on 26 June 1987 for defendant's alleged failure to comply with its 14 November 1986 order. The court found defendant in contempt and ordered that he could purge his contempt by paying his arrears of $230.00 plus a nominal service charge. On 28 October 1988, the trial court again found defendant in contempt for failure to pay his monthly child support obligations.

On 16 June 1993, the Craven County Clerk of Superior Court, in accordance with N.C. Gen.Stat. §§ 52A-29 and -30 (1992) (repealed 1996), sent defendant a Notice of Registration of Foreign Support Order. The Notice alleged that defendant owed in excess of $36,000.00 in unpaid child support as of 30 September 1992 and that he was to pay $400.00 per month in ongoing child support. Attached to the Notice were copies of the California order and the final judgment of legal separation. Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed this attempted registration on 29 July 1993.

Later, the New Bern Child Support Enforcement Office (Support Office) attempted to have $94.01 per week for child support withheld from defendant's salary. On 29 November 1993, defendant filed a Motion for Immediate Restraining Order to prevent the Support Office from garnishing his wages. After issuing a temporary injunction, the trial court on 16 December 1993 (signed 24 March 1994) permanently enjoined the Support Office. At the same time, the court found defendant owed a child support arrearage of $357.17 and set out a schedule for repayment. The court further found that defendant's only child support obligation was to pay $220.00 per month and that no state or local official was to take any steps to collect any arrearage other than that set out in its order. The North Carolina court conducted another hearing on 2 June 1994, and, after determining that there was an arrearage of $141.78, found defendant in contempt.

On 2 September 1997, a California superior court entered an order setting forth child support arrearage as of 31 December 1996 in the amount of $86,509.54 and spousal support arrearage of $4,041.72, all of which accrued under the 1981 California order. On 15 September 1997, the North Carolina district court terminated defendant's child support obligation, finding that both children had reached the age of majority. The court also determined that all arrears had been paid in full in accordance with the 16 December 1993 North Carolina order.

On 7 July 1998, a second Notice of Registration of Foreign Support Order was filed with the Craven County Clerk of Superior Court. The order registered pursuant to this second Notice of Registration was the 2 September 1997 California order cited in the preceding paragraph. On 21 August 1998, defendant filed in Craven County a Petition to Vacate Registration and to Dismiss Attempted Registration of Foreign Support Order. The matter came for hearing, and on 29 October 1998, the trial court entered an order that both dismissed plaintiff's attempted registration and held that plaintiff's actions in attempting the registration were sanctionable under N.C. Gen.Stat. § 1A-1, Rule 11 (1990). From this order, plaintiff appeals.

I.

Plaintiff first contends the trial court erred in finding that she failed to comply with the registration requirements of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA). See N.C. Gen.Stat. §§ 52C-1-100 to 52C-9-902 (1999). Any order of support issued by a court of another state may be registered in North Carolina for enforcement. See N.C. Gen.Stat. § 52C-6-601 (1999). To register such a foreign order, the documents set out in N.C. Gen.Stat. § 52C-6-602(a) (1999) must be submitted to the tribunal for the county in which the obligor resides. The trial court found that plaintiff's registration did not contain certain required documentation.

Under URESA, see N.C. Gen.Stat. §§ 52A-1 to -32 (1992) (repealed 1996), which was replaced by UIFSA, registration was proper so long as the plaintiff "substantially complied with the requirements of the statute." Silvering v. Vito, 107 N.C.App. 270, 274, 419 S.E.2d 360, 363 (1992). Because "[b]oth URESA and UIFSA were promulgated and intended to be used as procedural mechanisms for the establishment, modification, and enforcement of child and spousal support obligations," Welsher v. Rager, 127 N.C.App. 521, 524, 491 S.E.2d 661, 663 (1997) (citing N.C. Gen.Stat. § 52C-3-301 official comment), we hold that, under UIFSA, as under URESA, substantial compliance with the requirements of section 52C-6-602 will suffice to accomplish registration of the foreign order.

Plaintiff contends she was in substantial compliance with the statute. The provisions in dispute are section 52C-6-602(a)(1), which requires that a registration request include a "letter of transmittal to the tribunal requesting registration and enforcement," and section 52C-6-602(a)(5), which requires that the registration request include the "name and address of the obligee and, if applicable, the agency or person to whom support payments are to be remitted." The record indicates that plaintiff submitted a "Registration Statement," which contained the case number, date, and county of the California order; the parties to the action and their respective addresses and employers; and the support amount, date of last payment, and total amount of arrears. The Statement was signed by the Records Custodian in California and notarized, then forwarded to the Craven County Clerk of Court. We hold that this material is sufficient to satisfy section 52C-6-602(a)(1). Plaintiff's packet also included the name and address of the California agency to which support payments were to be remitted. Although this information may be found only upon a close reading of plaintiff's submitted material, we hold that plaintiff also substantially complied with section 52C-6-602(a)(5). Accordingly, the trial court erred in finding that plaintiff had not met the registration requirements of UIFSA.

II.

Next, plaintiff contends the trial court erred in concluding that the 1986 North Carolina intervening order superseded the 1981 California order so that when defendant satisfied his responsibilities under the North Carolina order, all duties under the California order also were satisfied. The 1986 North Carolina order found that the "Court/Administrative Agency has jurisdiction of the parties and subject matter of this case." That order included no finding that jurisdiction in North Carolina was continuing or exclusive. Subsequent North Carolina orders reiterated that North Carolina had "subject matter jurisdiction" over the case. Pursuant to those prior North Carolina orders, the North Carolina court found in its 1998 order that, at plaintiff's request, North Carolina previously had taken continuing and exclusive jurisdiction over the case and that North Carolina was now the only court to have such jurisdiction over the case. The issue, therefore, is whether the 1986 North Carolina order, issued under URESA, had the effect of nullifying the original 1981 California support order.

Initially, we must determine whether to apply URESA or UIFSA in resolving this issue. We previously have held that UIFSA will apply to all support orders registered in North Carolina after 1 January 1996. See Welsher, 127 N.C.App. 521,

491 S.E.2d 661. However, the Welsher case dealt with a 1996 registration (pursuant to UIFSA) of a 1985 foreign support order. Accordingly, that case dealt with a foreign support order...

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