Fitzgerald v. Fitzgerald

• Decision Date: 13 October 1989
• Docket Number: No. 87-1259.,87-1259.
• Citation: 566 A.2d 719
• Parties: Alice M. FITZGERALD, Appellant, v. Lorenzo C. FITZGERALD, Appellee.
• Court: D.C. Court of Appeals

566 A.2d 719

Alice M. FITZGERALD, Appellant, v. Lorenzo C. FITZGERALD, Appellee.

No. 87-1259.

District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

Argued January 4, 1989.

Decided October 13, 1989.

E. Marie Wilson-Lindsay, Washington, D.C., with whom Joyce A. Wilson was on the brief, for appellant.

Ronald K. Henry, Washington, D.C., with whom Kathryn A. Ellis, Seattle, Wash. was on the brief, for amicus curiae National Council for Children's Rights and Greater Washington Area Chapter, Wornen's Div. of the Nat. Bar Ass'n.

Thomas W. Kavanagh, Columbia, Md., for appellee.

Charles L. Reischel, Deputy Corp. Counsel, with whom Frederick D. Cooke, Jr., Corp. Counsel at the time the brief was filed, and Edward E. Schwab, Asst. Corp. Counsel, Washington, D.C., were on the brief, for amicus curiae District of Columbia.

Sandra Lord, with whom Cathy A. Simon and Mary Helen Carlson, Washington, D.C. were on the brief, for amici curiae the Women's Legal Defense Fund, Children's Defense Fund, D.C. Chapter of the Nat. Organization for Women, D.C. Com'n for Women, D.C. Rape Crisis Center, Family and Child Services, Fred Taylor (Executive Director, For Love of Children), the Women and the Law Clinic of the American University's Washington College of Law, Women's Bar Ass'n of the District of Columbia, Diane M. Brenneman, and Catherine Woods.

Before ROGERS, Chief Judge, and TERRY and STEADMAN, Associate Judges.

ROGERS, Chief Judge:

The provision of adequate child support surely ranks high among the priorities of a civilized nation. Congress has acted in recognition of the need to assure appropriate action by the states and the District of Columbia. Among the required actions is the establishment of child support guidelines. In this appeal the principal issue is whether the Superior Court of the District of Columbia had the authority to establish the Child Support Guideline,¹ and if so, to what extent the Guideline can be validly applied. Upon review of the relevant legislation, the Guideline and the Report of the Superior Court Child Support Guideline Committee, and other materials in the record, we conclude that the Superior Court had the authority to promulgate a Guideline as a Superior Court rule consistent with existing law. Because the Guideline established by the Superior Court conflicts with existing law, however, we hold that it is invalid. With respect to the appeal of the custody order, we find no abuse of discretion by the trial judge in granting pendente lite custody of the parties' minor child to the father in order to maintain the status quo pending entry of a final custody order.

I. STATEMENT OF FACTS

This litigation commenced when appellant Alice M. Fitzgerald sued appellee Lorenzo C. Fitzgerald for divorce, child custody and support of their nine year old daughter, and a division of property. The husband filed a counterclaim seeking the same relief for himself, including "reasonable child support." The wife also sought custody and pendente lite child support. An evidentiary hearing established that the wife is a newly practicing medical doctor with a gross annual income of $120,000 and over $200,000 of educational debts and annual medical malpractice premiums of $30,000. The husband is a police officer with a law degree and a gross annual income of $30,344. Their daughter, born in 1978, has lived almost since birth with the husband's father and step-mother while the parents pursued their educational and professional advancement. The husband testified that the minimum monthly needs of his daughter were $724.00, and that he only paid approximately one-third of those costs.

The trial judge pendente lite awarded temporary custody of the child to the husgaud and ordered the wife to make temporary child support payments to the husband of $1,316 a month. In making the determination of child support, the trial judge followed the then recently established Child Support Guideline² The wife appeals, challenging the custody determination and the child support order and the validity and application of the Guideline. The amici address only the general validity of the Guideline.

II. CHILD CUSTODY

The trial court ordered, pendente lite, that custody of the child would be granted to the husband. In effect, this preserved the status quo, whereby the child would continue living with the husband's father and stepmother. This arrangement had been entered into when the child was about a year old, to accommodate the educational and professional commitments of the parents.

Trial court determinations of child custody are subject to reversal only for clear abuse of discretion. Plumley v. Plumley, 465 A.2d 393, 394 (D.C. 1983); Moore v. Moore, 391 A.2d 762, 770 (D.C. 1978). This is particularly the case where, as here, the order under review is pendente lite, and where the continuance of the status quo does not conflict with the best interests of the child. Cf. Bazemore v. Davis, 394 A.2d 1377, 1380-83 (D.C. 1978) (eliminating legal presumption that it is in the best interest of the child to be placed with mother). Here, the trial judge applied the custody criteria set forth in D.C.Code § 16-911(a)(5) (1989 Repl.) and in applicable case law. See, e.g., Albergottie v. James, 470 A.2d 266, 271-72 (D.C. 1983); Moore v. Moore, supra, 391 A.2d at 770-71 (D.C. 1978); Rutledge v. Harris, 263 A.2d 256, 257-58 (D.C. 1970). The judge, inter alia, found that the child had a close relationship with her father in an "appropriate, warm loving arrangement"; the father's "direct love has been expressed on a frequent and daily basis"; "her adjustment at the present time is really excellent"; she "is a secure child because of the arrangement she has"; and that she is well taken care of and currently comfortable.

The wife argues that in effect custody has been awarded to the grandparents rather than to the husband, and that she therefore is entitled to custody unless shown to be unfit, citing Bazemore v. Davis, supra. We think this is a misconception of Bazemore, as well as the family situation. The trial judge found that in fact the husband visited the child on a daily basis and made decisions that are imposed upon the custodial parent. Especially in the context of review of a pendente lite order, we find no abuse of discretion here.

CHILD SUPPORT GUIDELINE

The other major issue in this appeal, which has attracted the interest of three amici curiae,³ is the validity and application of the Guideline to child support determinations. Under pre-existing law, child support awards were based on the child's documented expenses and the parents' net incomes, while under the Guideline there is a presumptive formula based exclusively on gross income. In substance, the disagreement is over the proper interpretation of the congressional statute authorizing adoption of such guideline. The relevant language is:

In any case . . . involving the establishment or enforcement of child support . . . the hearing commissioner shall conduct a hearing on support, make findings, and enter judgment as provided by law, and in accordance with guidelines established by rule of the Superior Court, which judgment shall constitute a final order of the Superior Court.

D.C.Code § 11-1732(j)(4)(A) (1989 Repl.) (emphasis added). The fundamental issue is whether, and the degree to which, Congress intended to empower the D.C. Superior Court to affect pre-existing law relating to child support determinations through establishment of the Guideline.

Recognizing that the "primary and general rule of statutory construction is that the intent of the lawmaker is to be found in the language that he has used," we construe the language in the context of the entire legislative scheme. Peoples Drug Stores v. District of Columbia, 470 A.2d 751 (D.C. 1983) (en banc) (citations omitted). D.C.Code § 11-946 (1989 Repl.) defines the rule-making authority of the Superior Court, and the issue is how the reference to court rule was intended to affect the nature of the child support guidelines that the Superior Court could establish under § 11-1732(j)(4)(A). No legislative history of the cited code section answers directly the question of congressional intent. However, statutory language can derive "meaningful content from the purpose of the Act, its factual background and the statutory context." Florida Power & Light Co. v. United States, 269 U.S.App.D.C. 377, 387 n. 9, 846 F.2d 765, 775 n. 9 (1988), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 109 S.Ct. 1952, 104 L.Ed.2d 422 (1989) (quoting American Power & Light Co. v. SEC, 329 U.S. 90, 104, 67 S.Ct. 133, 142, 91 L.Ed. 103 (1946)). "[O]ur task is to interpret the words of these statutes in light of the purposes Congress sought to serve." Chapman v. Houston Welfare Rights Org., 441 U.S. 600, 608, 99 S.Ct. 1905, 1911, 60 L.Ed.2d 508 (1979).

A. Introduction

In 1984 Congress mandated that all states and the District of Columbia adopt child support guidelines as a condition of receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children funding. 42 U.S.C.A. § 667 (West Supp. 1988). Implementing regulations, promulgated in 1985, required that the guidelines "be based on specific descriptive and numeric criteria and result in a computation of the support obligation." 45 C.F.R. § 302.56(c) (Supp. IV 1986). Both the statute and regulations contemplated that the guidelines could be established "by law or by judicial or administrative action." 42 U.S.C. § 667(a). The same law also mandated that each state establish expedited support procedures, 42 U.S.C. § 666(a)(2) (Supp. IV 1986), including hearings in which the presiding officer is not a judge. 45 C.F.R. § 202.101.

In 1986 Congress enacted the District of Columbia Judicial Efficiency and Improvement Act of 1986, Pub.L. No. 99-573 (Oct. 28, 1986), 100 Stat. 3228, to provide, inter alia, permanent authority for hearing commissioners reissioners in the Superior Court. This Act provided that in matters concerning child support the order of...