Brown v. Miss. Dept. of Human Services, 1998-CA-01213-SCT.

• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Mississippi
• Citation: 806 So.2d 1004
• Docket Number: No. 1998-CA-01213-SCT.,1998-CA-01213-SCT.
• Parties: Claudette BROWN f/k/a Claudette Brown Hines and Vanessa Hines, a Minor v. MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES.
• Decision Date: 24 February 2000

806 So.2d 1004

Claudette BROWN f/k/a Claudette Brown Hines and Vanessa Hines, a Minor
v.
MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES

No. 1998-CA-01213-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

February 24, 2000.

Rehearing Denied August 10, 2000.

Shirley G. Rice, Greenwood, Attorney for Appellants.

Office of the Attorney General by Leman D. Gandy, Attorney for Appellee.

EN BANC.

SULLIVAN, Presiding Justice, for the Court:

¶ 1. This case involves a claim filed against the Mississippi Department of Human Services (DHS) by Claudette Brown (formerly Claudette Brown Hines) (Brown) to recover arrearages of her former husband's child support payments. Brown assigned the rights she had to these payments to the DHS as a condition of her receiving public assistance under the Aid

806 So.2d 1005

to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Brown initially applied for AFDC benefits in 1981 for her two children, Julius Brown and Amos Brown. Vanessa Hines, Brown's minor child who was also made party to this action, was added to the AFDC program resulting in an increase of monthly benefits by $24. In order to receive the AFDC benefits, Brown executed a child support assignment, assigning her rights to child support to the State through DHS. Brown maintains that even though she assigned her rights to the delinquent child support payments to the State under the program, if the amount recovered by the State exceeds the amount received by her and her children under the AFDC program, she and Vanessa should be entitled to an accounting and to receive payment of the difference

¶ 2. Proceeding on that theory, Brown, individually and on behalf of Vanessa, initiated this civil action against the DHS in the Leflore County Chancery Court by filing a Motion for Accounting and Payment of Support Collected. DHS filed a Motion to Dismiss on the ground that Brown lacked standing given her assignment to DHS and the applicable statutes. Subsequent to a hearing on the Motion to Dismiss filed by the DHS, the chancellor issued an order dismissing Brown's Motion for Accounting and Payment of Support Collected. Upon a Motion to Reconsider filed by Brown and her minor child, Vanessa Hines, the chancellor, on January 23, 1998, ordered the DHS to furnish an accounting of all sums that had been paid to Brown under the AFDC program, as well as all sums received by the AFDC program as a result of Brown's assignment of child support. The prior order was held in abeyance until such an accounting was received, after which the 30-day appeal deadline would then apply. Though the chancellor had concerns about how the DHS determined the arrearage on individual accounts, and whether this was done in an equitable manner, because of the waiver and assignment the chancellor ruled that Brown and her minor child lacked standing as a matter of law under the applicable statute and granted the motion to dismiss.

¶ 3. Following the filing of the accounting by the DHS, Brown and her minor daughter, Vanessa Hines, filed a Notice of Appeal on July 17, 1998, asserting that as mother of the minor child, Brown did have standing to bring an action against the DHS after she had assigned her rights to the Department upon receiving AFDC benefits for her minor child.

STATEMENT OF THE LAW

Standard of Review

¶ 4. Brown claims that the issue in this case represents solely a question of law, and the standard of review should therefore be de novo. DHS claims that Brown's execution of the child support assignment presents a question of "fact" which would prevent a de novo review, but does not suggest or cite to an applicable standard of review. The standard of review for findings of fact by the chancellor is that such findings will not be disturbed on appeal unless they are manifestly wrong, clearly erroneous, or not supported by substantial credible evidence. Sandlin v. Sandlin, 699 So.2d 1198, 1202 (Miss. 1997). At issue in this case is whether Brown has legal standing to bring an action against the DHS under the applicable statute, having assigned her rights to receive delinquent child support payments in order to receive AFDC benefits, and whether under the terms of the statute such an assignment is for all purposes, or for limited purposes. These are questions of law reviewed under the de novo standard.

806 So.2d 1006

Department of Human Servs. v. Gaddis, 730 So.2d 1116, 1117 (Miss.1998); Mississippi State Dep't of Human Servs. v. Barnett, 633 So.2d 430, 434 (Miss.1993)

I.

DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR AS A MATTER OF LAW IN DISMISSING THE MOTION FOR ACCOUNTING AND PAYMENT COLLECTED, FILED BY CLAUDETTE BROWN AND HER MINOR CHILD VANESSA HINES, ON THE GROUNDS THAT THEY LACKED STANDING DUE TO THE EXECUTION OF A CHILD SUPPORT ASSIGNMENT TO THE DHS?

¶ 5. Brown acknowledges the fact that she assigned...