Gentzel v. Williams

• Decision Date: 09 October 1998
• Docket Number: No. 78935,78935
• Citation: 965 P.2d 855,25 Kan.App.2d 552
• Parties: Valerie M. GENTZEL, Appellant, v. Keith A. WILLIAMS, Appellee.
• Court: Kansas Court of Appeals

Page 855

965 P.2d 855

25 Kan.App.2d 552

Valerie M. GENTZEL, Appellant, v. Keith A. WILLIAMS, Appellee.

No. 78935.

Court of Appeals of Kansas.

Oct. 9, 1998.

Syllabus by the Court

Provisions of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, the Interstate Income Withholding Act, and the Full Faith and Credit for Child Support Orders Act are applied to the facts of the case.

Timothy G. Givan, of Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, for Appellant.

No appearance for Appellee.

Before BRAZIL, C.J., and GERNON and PIERRON, JJ.

PIERRON, Judge.

The Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS), on behalf of Valerie M. Gentzel (formerly Valerie Williams), appeals the district court's ruling that the court had continuing exclusive jurisdiction over an Arizona order requiring Keith Williams to pay child support to Gentzel. The district court then modified the order by reducing the amount of child support. Williams has not favored the court with an appellate brief.

The facts are undisputed. The sole issue on appeal is whether the Kansas district court had jurisdiction to modify an Arizona child support order.

Gentzel was divorced from Williams in Maricopa County, Arizona, on August 17, 1994. In the decree of dissolution of marriage, Williams was ordered to pay $640 per month in child support.

Following the divorce, Gentzel and her children moved to Texas and Williams moved to Hutchinson, Kansas. Gentzel assigned the child support rights to the State of Texas, and the Texas Attorney General sought collection of Williams' child support arrearage. As of October 31, 1996, the Texas Attorney General figured Williams was in arrears in the amount of $17,613.

On December 19, 1996, in the Reno County District Court, the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services filed a notice of intent to apply for issuance of an income withholding order. The notice stated:

"That an interstate income withholding order is being requested on the basis of a support order from another jurisdiction, to wit Valerie Williams vs. Keith Williams, Case No. DR94-90048, in the Superior Court of the State of Arizona in and for the County of Maricopa, which has been registered in the Reno County District Court pursuant to K.S.A. 23-4,129."

The notice indicated that Williams could challenge the issuance of an income withholding order only for the grounds of mistake of fact, namely that he was not the person who owed the money, that the amount of support was not correct, that the amount in arrears was not correct, or that the amount to be withheld was greater than that permitted by law.

On January 15, 1997, the Reno County District Court issued an income withholding order against Williams. The order requested $800 per month in support--$640 per month for the current support and $160 per month for the $17,613 in arrears.

On January 17, 1997, in the Reno County District Court, Williams filed for an order staying the issuance of a proposed income withholding order, arguing that the amount of current support was not correct and the amount stated as due and owing was not correct. William requested the court to enter an order reflecting payments he made to Gentzel and establishing a child support payment consistent with the Kansas Child Support Guidelines.

At a hearing on February 21, 1997, SRS did not object to the jurisdiction of the Reno County District Court over the matter but requested a continuance to figure Williams' actual earnings and to allow the Texas Attorney General time to verify Williams' affidavit of alleged child support payments. The district court found that it had continuing exclusive jurisdiction over the matter and then continued the matter pursuant to the request of SRS.

On March 21, 1997, the district court resumed the proceedings. SRS made an oral motion requesting the court to reconsider the finding that it had continuing exclusive jurisdiction. SRS argued that pursuant to the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) as adopted by Kansas, K.S.A. 23-9,101 et seq., the court did not have continuing exclusive jurisdiction under K.S.A. 23-9,611(a) since all the parties were not in Kansas or that Williams, the petitioning party, was a resident of Kansas. SRS also argued that for similar reasons the court did not have jurisdiction to consider the matter under the requirements of the Full Faith and Credit for Child Support Orders Act (FFCCSOA), 28 U.S.C. § 1738B (1996 Supp.). The district court denied the oral motion by SRS and then reduced Williams' child support payment to $237 per month pursuant to the Kansas Child Support Guidelines and also $63 per month to be applied to the arrearage.

SRS appeals the district court's decision to assume jurisdiction over the child support order and to reduce Williams' child support payment.

SRS argues the district court did not have jurisdiction under the Interstate Income Withholding Act (IIWA), K.S.A. 23-4,105 et seq., the UIFSA, or the FFCCSOA to modify the existing child support order entered by the Arizona court.

Whether the district court has jurisdiction is a question of law over which this court enjoys an unlimited standard of review. See Carrington v. Unseld, 22 Kan.App.2d 815, 817, 923 P.2d 1052 (1996); Grindsted Products, Inc. v. Kansas City Power and Light Co., 21 Kan.App.2d 435, 437, 901 P.2d 20 (1995).

There are no reported Kansas cases addressing either IIWA, UIFSA, or FFCCSOA. As a result, the questions in this case present issues of first impression.

SRS filed its income withholding order pursuant to K.S.A. 23-4,129 of the Kansas IIWA. The IIWA provides the necessary avenue for Gentzel to enforce the Arizona child support order but does not provide the jurisdiction for Williams to modify the support order.

The objective of IIWA is to provide a quick and effective procedure for the withholding of income derived in Kansas to enforce support orders of other jurisdictions and by requiring that income withholding to enforce Kansas support orders be sought in other jurisdictions. K.S.A. 23-4,125(b).

The district courts of Kansas are expressly created by the Kansas Constitution and are given only such jurisdiction as may be provided by the legislature. Kan. Const. art. 3, § 6; Thompson v. Amis, 208 Kan. 658, 661, 493 P.2d 1259, cert. denied 409 U.S. 847, 93 S.Ct. 53, 34 L.Ed.2d 88 (1972); State v. Adams, 2 Kan.App.2d 135, 136-37, 576 P.2d 242, rev. denied 225 Kan. 845 (1978). The Kansas Legislature has clearly limited the jurisdiction of the district courts concerning interstate income withholding orders. K.S.A.1997 Supp. 23-4,129(e) states that entry of an order pursuant to IIWA "shall not confer jurisdiction on the courts of this state for any purpose other than income withholding."

An obligor can request a hearing to contest a proposed income withholding order. However, the issues an obligor can raise at the hearing are limited. K.S.A. 23-4,131(b) provides that an obligor can raise only the following:

"(1) A mistake of fact that is not res judicata concerning the amount of current support owed or arrearage that had accrued, mistaken identity of the obligor or the amount of income to be withheld;

"(2) that the court or agency which issued the support order entered under K.S.A. 23-4,129 and amendments thereto lacked personal jurisdiction over the obligor.

"The burden shall be on the obligor to establish these defenses ."

Modification of a child support order, even for justifiable grounds, is not one of the limited objections an obligor can raise regarding an interstate income withholding order. Consequently, the IIWA does not provide the necessary jurisdiction to address Williams' requested modification.

The Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act of 1970 (URESA), K.S.A. 23-451 et seq., was repealed by the Kansas Legislature effective July 1, 1995. In its place, the legislature adopted the UIFSA. In its model form, UIFSA was endorsed in 1993 by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, the American Bar Association, and the United State Commission on Interstate Child Support. Oliphant, Is Sweeping Change Possible? Minnesota Adopts the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, 21 Wm. Mitchell L.Rev. 989, 992-93 (1996). To further national uniformity regarding the enforcement of child support orders, Congress required that all states adopt UIFSA by January 1, 1998. 42 U.S.C. § 666(f) (1996 Supp.).

Both URESA and UIFSA were promulgated and intended to be used as procedural mechanisms for the establishment, modification, and enforcement of child and spousal support obligations. See Thompson v. Kite, 214 Kan. 700, Syl. p 2, 522 P.2d 327 (1974). Under URESA, a state had jurisdiction to establish, vacate, or modify an obligor's support obligation even when that obligation had been created in another jurisdiction. The result was often multiple, inconsistent obligations existing for the same obligor and injustice in that obligors could avoid their responsibility by moving to another jurisdiction and having their support obligations modified or even vacated. See, e.g., Burnworth v. Hughes, 234 Kan. 69, 670 P.2d 917 (1983); Dipman v. Dipman, 6 Kan.App.2d 844, 635 P.2d 1279 (1981).

An article in the Family Law Quarterly examined the improvement of UIFSA over URESA:

"How does the new Act differ from URESA? ... Probably the most significant improvement offered by UIFSA is the elimination of the multiple-order system existing under URESA. Orders entered under URESA have been defined as additional to, and not replacements of, prior support orders. Thus, at any particular time, two or more orders covering the same child might exist with different levels of support set by each one. When combined with the general family law rule permitting modification of existing child support orders on the basis of changed circumstances, the resultant chaos and confusion is certainly understandable.

"By contrast,...