Bedford v. Bedford

• Decision Date: 03 August 1989
• Citation: 563 A.2d 102,386 Pa.Super. 349
• Parties: Ruth BEDFORD v. Robert BEDFORD, Appellant. 02705 PHILA. 1988
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

Page 102

563 A.2d 102

386 Pa.Super. 349

Ruth BEDFORD v. Robert BEDFORD, Appellant.

02705 PHILA. 1988

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued June 7, 1989.

Filed Aug. 3, 1989.

Susan E. Grosh, Lancaster, for appellant.

Russell W. Stabler, Lancaster, for appellee.

Before CIRILLO, President Judge, and ROWLEY and MONTEMURO, JJ.

CIRILLO, President Judge:

This is an appeal from an order of support entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Lancaster County in response to appellant Robert Bedford's petition to modify his support obligation. We affirm in part and vacate in part.

Robert Bedford (hereinafter "father") and Ruth Bedford (hereinafter "mother") had two children during the course of their marriage: Michael and Robert, Jr. After the parties' divorce, a support obligation for these children, who were living with their mother, was placed upon their father. From time to time, the amount of father's obligation was modified because of a change in circumstance which the parties brought to the court's attention. As of November 17, 1987, father was obligated to pay the amount of eighty-five dollars per week (forty-two dollars and fifty cents each) for the support of Michael and Robert.

On April 11, 1988, father filed a petition for modification of his support obligation. In the petition, he requested a reduction in his support obligation on the ground that his son Michael was scheduled to graduate from high school on June 10, 1988. A conference on this petition was held between the parties and a domestic relations hearing officer. On June 29, 1988, the hearing officer filed a recommendation with the court suggesting that it continue father's support obligation of forty-two dollars a week for Robert, Jr., but that it terminate father's support obligation for Michael because he had turned eighteen and graduated from high school. Upon consideration of this recommendation, the trial court entered an order directing the parties to comply with the terms of the recommendation. See Pa.R.C.P. 1910.11(f).

On July 7, 1988, mother filed exceptions to the recommendation and requested a hearing before the court of common pleas. A de novo hearing ¹ was then conducted by the trial court pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. 1910.11(i). ² On August 15, 1988, the trial court entered an order raising father's support for Robert, Jr. from forty-two dollars and fifty cents a week to fifty-five dollars per week and continuing father's support for Michael in the amount of thirty dollars per week. Regarding father's support obligation toward Michael, the court stated: "There was no estrangement between Michael Bedford and [his father] and Michael Bedford was entitled to support and it would not be an undue hardship for [father] to provide support for Michael Bedford." ³ Shortly after this order was entered, father filed this appeal.

On appeal, father claims that the trial court erred by ordering him to pay support for his son Michael's college expenses. He contends specifically that the trial court erred in the following respects:

(1) the trial court erred by failing to find that Michael's estrangement from his father relieves his father of his duty to pay support for Michael's college expenses; ⁴

(2) the trial court erred by ordering father to pay support towards Michael's college expenses without considering the earning capacity of Michael and his mother;

(3) the trial court erred by not finding that Michael failed to make a good faith effort to minimize his college expenses by timely applying for scholarships, grants, and loans, and by not concluding that Michael should defer his acceptance into college until after he has timely applied for this aid; and

(4) the trial court erred by concluding that it would not be an undue hardship for father to provide support towards Michael's college expenses.

In addressing these claims of trial court error, we are mindful that our review of the trial court's support order is limited to a determination of whether the court abused its discretion in fashioning the award. Leonard v. Leonard, 353 Pa.Super. 604, 608, 510 A.2d 827, 829 (1986). An abuse of discretion is not "merely an error of judgment, but if in reaching a conclusion the law is overridden or misapplied, or the judgment exercised is manifestly unreasonable, or the result of partiality, prejudice, bias or ill-will, as shown by the evidence or the record, discretion is abused." Fee v. Fee, 344 Pa.Super. 276, 279, 496 A.2d 793, 794 (1985) (quoting Boni v. Boni, 302 Pa.Super. 102, 109, 448 A.2d 547, 550 (1982)). A finding of abuse is not lightly made and must rest upon a showing of clear and convincing evidence. Shindel v. Leedom, 350 Pa.Super. 274, 279, 504 A.2d 353, 356 (1986).

Father first argues that the trial court erred by not concluding that Michael is estranged from him and, further, that this estrangement bars Michael's right to recover support from him for his college expenses. He buttresses this claim by describing the minimal amount of contact that Michael has had with him since he separated from Michael's mother when Michael was four.

Mother counters this estrangement argument by asserting that it was father and not Michael who willfully terminated the father-son relationship by choosing not to continue to visit or communicate with his son. She urges this court to affirm the trial court's finding that there is no estrangement between Michael and his father which would affect Michael's right to receive support from his father for his college education.

We approach these contentions regarding the nature of the relationship between Michael and his father and its effect on father's duty to pay support for Michael's college education by noting that until recently only two factors were considered in determining whether to award educational support to an adult child. These two factors were: (1) the desire and ability of the child to successfully pursue post-secondary education; and (2) the ability of his or her parents to contribute to that effort without undue hardship. See Commonwealth ex rel. Ulmer v. Sommerville, 200 Pa.Super. 640, 643, 190 A.2d 182, 184-85 (1963). By focusing exclusively on these two pragmatic factors, however, we found ourselves "champion[ing] the importance of post-secondary education over that of adult responsibility." Milne v. Milne, 383 Pa.Super. 77, ---, 556 A.2d 854, 859 (1989) (en banc). We corrected this situation in Milne, supra, by holding that estrangement between a child and his or her parent should also be considered a factor in determining whether to award educational support for an adult child. We stated:

[W]e now make it clear that estrangement is one of the circumstances to be formally considered in deciding postminority support cases. It should not necessarily be a complete defense to such an action, barring an award, nor even a dispositive factor, but it should be weighed in the equitable balance.

Id. at ---, 556 A.2d at 865. Articulating the rationale which prompted us to reach this holding, we declared:

By college age, children of divorced parents must be expected to begin to come to terms with the reality of their family's situation. They must begin to realize that their attitudes and actions are their individual responsibilities. Whatever their biases and resentments, while one can understand how they got that way, when they become adults it is no longer appropriate to allow them to stay that way without consequence. One of a parent's main duties in raising a child is to teach him that he must take responsibility for his actions. The time-honored way in which this is accomplished is to make certain that a child deals with the natural consequences that follow from whatever course of action was chosen. Consider the lesson we are teaching if we allow adult children to use the powers of the state to force a parent whom they have abused and rejected to contribute to their college education. This kind of message can hardly be considered one which is beneficial for the welfare of those children.

Id. at ---, 556 A.2d at 861.

The support action at issue in Milne was initiated by Caleb Milne against his mother. We concluded therein that Caleb Milne's abusive behavior toward his mother and his willful estrangement from her was sufficient reason for us to refuse to order her to contribute towards his college expenses. Describing the factual scenario that led us to this decision, we stated:

Caleb Milne and his mother are estranged. It is undisputed that it was Caleb's unilateral choice to leave his mother's house. Caleb's testimony shows his feelings of justification in cutting off relations with his mother and his lack of desire to improve them. The record indicates that, while her attempts to stay in contact with him have not been successful, she has made some efforts to leave the door open for his approach, should he wish to do so.... Perhaps, the single most compelling piece of evidence in this case is Ms. Milne's testimony that her son "spat in my face and shoved me so that I fell over. He never spat but once. He did push me more than once. He struck me at least twice."

Id. at ---, 556 A.2d at 859. Our decision not to award Caleb educational support from his mother, therefore, was based on our conclusion that Caleb unilaterally chose to reject and renounce his relationship with his mother.

In the present case, the situation is different. Unlike Caleb, Michael cannot be faulted for unilaterally renouncing his relationship with his father; one simply cannot renounce something which does not exist.

Michael and his father have not had a relationship to speak of since Michael was eleven years old ⁵ and his father stopped exercising his right of visitation. ⁶ Father's reasons for discontinuing his visitation with Michael and his brother, Robert, Jr., are typical. During his visits with them, Michael and Robert, Jr. continued to chide him regarding his actions toward their mother. This behavior...