Egan v. Egan

• Decision Date: 15 December 2010
• Docket Number: No. S-10-0065.,S-10-0065.
• Citation: 244 P.3d 1045,2010 WY 164
• Parties: Joseph Alan EGAN, Appellant (Defendant), v. Kori Kae EGAN, Appellee (Plaintiff).
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

244 P.3d 1045

2010 WY 164

Joseph Alan EGAN, Appellant (Defendant),

v.Kori Kae EGAN, Appellee (Plaintiff).

No. S-10-0065.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

Dec. 15, 2010.

Representing Appellant: Alex H. Sitz III of Meinecke & Sitz, LLC, Cody, Wyoming.

Representing Appellee: Kori Kae Egan, pro se.

Before KITE, C.J., and GOLDEN, HILL, VOIGT, and BURKE, JJ.

KITE, Chief Justice.

[¶ 1] The district court allowed a significant deviation from Kori Kae Egan's (Mother) child support obligation. Joseph Alan Egan (Father) claims that the district court abused its discretion by considering improper factors in allowing the deviation and erred in calculating Mother's net income. We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion when it ordered a deviation from the presumptive child support amount and, although it erred by deducting certain expenses in calculating Mother's net income, the error was harmless.

[¶ 2] We affirm.

ISSUES

[¶ 3] Father presents the following issues:

1. Whether the district court abused its discretion by using improper factors to deviate from the presumptive amount of child support?

2. Whether the district court erred in computing Appellee's net monthly income for purposes of calculating child support?

Mother did not file a timely brief on appeal.

FACTS

[¶ 4] Mother and Father married in 1988 and had two children, a son born in 1991 and a daughter born in 1993. The parties divorced in 2002, and Mother was awarded primary physical custody of the children. They agreed that Father would pay $500 per month child support, which was an upward deviation from the presumptive amount provided in the child support guidelines. Both parties remarried and had two additional children with their new spouses. Mother and Father each have one child from their subsequent marriage with special needs.

[¶ 5] In February 2009, the parties stipulated to modification of the primary physical custody of their son after he began to reside with Father and agreed to eliminate all child support since each party had physical custody of one child. In August 2009, the parties' daughter also moved in with Father. The parties agreed to modification of custody of the daughter, but could not agree on child support.

[¶ 6] The district court held a hearing on the child support issue. In the resulting child support order, the district court calculated support using Mother's net income as indicated on her pay check stub and imputed income to Father because he worked on a ranch and received substantial non-cash compensation in addition to his monthly salary. Applying its income calculations to the child support guidelines, the district court determined that Mother's presumptive child supportobligation would be $817 ¹ per month. However, the district court ruled that deviation from the presumptive amount was warranted and ordered Mother to pay $200 per month in child support. Father appealed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[¶ 7] We review a district court's order modifying child support for abuse of discretion. Keck v. Jordan, 2008 WY 38, ¶ 6, 180 P.3d 889, 891 (Wyo.2008); Gray v. Pavey, 2007 WY 84, ¶ 8, 158 P.3d 667, 668 (Wyo.2007).

In determining whether the district court has abused its discretion, we must decide whether it could reasonably conclude as it did. Judicial discretion is a composite of many things, among which are conclusions drawn from objective criteria; it means exercising sound judgment with regard to what is right under the circumstances and without doing so arbitrarily or capriciously.

Gray, ¶ 8, 158 P.3d at 668. "This same abuse of discretion standard applies when we are asked to review a district court's decision to deviate from the presumptive child support amount." Keck, ¶ 6, 180 P.3d at 891. When a decision requires interpretation of a statute, our review is de novo. Dorr v. Smith, Keller & Assoc., 2010 WY 120, ¶ 11, 238 P.3d 549, 552 (Wyo.2010).

DISCUSSION

1. Deviation from Presumptive Child Support Amount

[¶ 8] Father asserts the district court abused its discretion by considering improper factors to deviate from the presumptive child support amount. The district court calculated Mother's child support obligation as $817 per month, but ruled that it was appropriate to deviate downward from that amount and ordered her to pay $200 per month. The district court explained its ruling as follows:

The Court believes it is appropriate to deviate from that amount, pursuant to Wyoming Statute § 20-2-307, for several reasons:

1. Both parents have the responsibility for the support of other children. Each parent has a child with special needs. [Father] has the benefit of his wife's background and her ability to utilize that experience and understanding to help provide care for their minor son. [Mother's] husband is unemployed and she suffers from her own debilitating condition.

2. It is clear [Mother] is attempting to advance her educational training and thus qualify for additional income. It is equally clear that the care of her minor child [from the subsequent marriage] will not allow employment above and beyond what she now maintains. It is also clear from Exhibit A that her current expenses exceed income, and that her proposal of $200 per month payment will require financial sacrifice on her behalf.

[¶ 9] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-304 (LexisNexis 2009) sets forth the guidelines for calculating a presumptive child support amount, based on factors including the parents' net incomes, the custody order and the number of children for whom support is sought. Opitz v. Opitz, 2007 WY 207, ¶ 8, 173 P.3d 405, 408 (Wyo.2007). "The presumptive child support established by W.S. 20-2-304 shall be rebuttably presumed to be the correct amount of child support to be awarded in any proceeding to establish or modify temporary or permanent child support amounts." Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-307(a) (LexisNexis 2009). However, "[a] court may deviate from the presumptive child support ... upon a specific finding that the application of the presumptive child support would be unjust or inappropriate in that particular case." Section 20-2-307(b).

In determining whether to deviate from the presumptive child support established by W.S. 20-2-304, the court shall consider the following factors:

(i) The age of the child;

(ii) The cost of necessary child day care;(iii) Any special health care and educational needs of the child;

(iv) The responsibility of either parent for the support of other children, whether court ordered or otherwise;

(v) The value of services contributed by either parent;

....

(vii) The cost of transportation of the child to and from visitation;

(viii) The ability of either or both parents to furnish health, dental and vision insurance through employment benefits;

(ix) The amount of time the child spends with each parent;

(x) Any other necessary expenses for the benefit of the child;

(xi) Whether either parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed. In such case the child support shall be computed based upon the potential earning capacity (imputed income) of the unemployed or underemployed parent....

(xii) Whether or not either parent has violated any provision of the divorce decree, including visitation provisions, if deemed relevant by the court; and

(xiii) Other factors deemed relevant by the court.

Id.

[¶ 10] It is clear, therefore, that although the district court must give serious consideration to the child support guidelines, it should not follow them blindly. Steele v. Steele, 2005 WY 33, ¶ 11, 108 P.3d 844, 848-49 (Wyo.2005); Holtz v. State ex rel. Houston, 847 P.2d 972, 976 (Wyo.1993). We have repeatedly stated that "the district court has discretion to deviate from the presumptive amount on a case by case basis." Keck, ¶ 10, 180 P.3d at 892; Plymale v. Donnelly, 2007 WY 77, ¶ 37, 157 P.3d 933, 941 (Wyo.2007). The district court is expected to exercise its discretion in determining child support to serve the best interests of justice in light of all the circumstances. Keck, ¶ 11, 180 P.3d at 892.

[¶ 11] Father claims the district court abused its discretion by considering several factors that are not allowed by § 20-2-307, including: the special needs of Mother's child from her subsequent marriage; the ability of Father's current wife to care for their child with special needs; the parties' current spouses' employment situations; Mother's health condition; Mother's efforts to further her education; and Mother's current financial situation.

[¶ 12] The first two challenged factors pertained to the special needs of Mother's and Father's children from their current marriages and the effect those circumstances have on the parties' families and support obligations. Father claims that, while the district court may consider the special health care needs of the children for whom support is sought under subsection (b)(iii), it should not consider the special needs of children from subsequent relationships. Father presented substantial evidence about the special needs of his own son; consequently, we find it perplexing that he was surprised the district court would consider that evidence and the evidence pertaining to the special needs of Mother's daughter from her subsequent marriage.

[¶ 13] In addition, subsection (b)(iv) directs the court to consider "the responsibility of either parent for the support of other children, whether court ordered or otherwise." See also, Hasty v. Hasty, 828 P.2d 94, 98 (Wyo.1992) (holding the district court "erroneously concluded that it had to apply the guidelines strictly and could not deviate from them by considering appellant's support obligations to his two later-born minor children"). In weighing the responsibilities of the parties for their other children, the district court understandably considered the special needs of the children and the impact those needs had on the families. The district court did not abuse its discretion by considering those factors.

[¶ 14] Several other factors challenged by Father pertain, either directly...