Department of Human Services v. Marshall, 2001-CT-01845-SCT.
Decision Date | 13 November 2003 |
Docket Number | No. 2001-CT-01845-SCT.,2001-CT-01845-SCT. |
Citation | 859 So.2d 387 |
Parties | DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, STATE OF MISSISSIPPI v. Ronald MARSHALL. |
Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Darrell Baughn, Deborah Darden Kennedy, attorneys for appellant.
Lynn Hughes Sorey, Raleigh, Stanley Alex Sorey, attorneys for appellee.
EN BANC.
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI
¶ 1. We granted the Department of Human Services' petition for writ of certiorari to address the issue of whether a son's conduct was such a clear and extreme abandonment of the parent-child relationship that the father was entitled to termination of his child support obligations. The Court of Appeals affirmed the chancellor's (1) award of past due child support against the father and (2) termination of the father's future duty to provide child support because there was a breakdown in the parent-child relationship caused in part by the son's mother and grandmother. Miss. Dep't of Human Servs. v. Marshall, 856 So.2d 441 (Miss.App. 2003). After consideration, we affirm in part and reverse in part the judgments of the Court of Appeals and the chancery court and remand to the chancery court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
¶ 2. This statement is taken from the opinion of the Court of Appeals in this case:
Id. at 443-44. The Court of Appeals affirmed on direct and cross-appeal. It found that the chancellor did not err in finding the relationship between Ronald and Ronnie had deteriorated to the extent that Ronald should not have to pay child support for the present time. Id. at (¶ 17). It further found that Ronnie should not be penalized for the conduct of his parents, and it affirmed the chancellor's award of past due child support against Ronald. Id. at ¶ 20.
¶ 3. This Court employs a limited standard of review when reviewing a chancellor's decision. Miss. Dep't of Human Servs. v. Shelby, 802 So.2d 89, 92 (Miss. 2001). We will not disturb a chancellor's findings unless the court was manifestly wrong, abused its discretion or applied an erroneous legal standard. Sandlin v. Sandlin, 699 So.2d 1198, 1203 (Miss. 1997).
¶ 4. The Department argues that Ronnie has done nothing under the authority of Caldwell v. Caldwell, 579 So.2d 543 (Miss. 1991), to forfeit his right to child support. In Caldwell, we stated a child that has a strained relationship with the non-custodial parent should not be in danger of having his support reduced. Id. "The amount of money that the non custodial parent is required to pay for the support of his minor children should not be determined by the amount of love the children show toward that parent." Id. at 548, quoting Holston v. Holston 58 Md. App. 308, 473 A.2d 459, 463 (1984). However, a minor child as young as fifteen years old could forfeit his support from the non-custodial parent through his actions toward that parent, but those actions must be clear and extreme. Caldwell, 579 So.2d at 548.
¶ 5. In Caldwell, the father argued that his fifteen-year-old son had abandoned the father-son relationship and disliked his father so severely that he was no longer entitled...
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