Heiligenstein v. Matney
| Decision Date | 26 February 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 49A05-9706-CV-225,49A05-9706-CV-225 |
| Parties | John HEILIGENSTEIN, Appellant-Respondent, v. Celestine (DeTrana) MATNEY, Appellee-Petitioner. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
John Heiligenstein appeals the trial court's judgment which was rendered after a hearing on his petitions for modification of child support payments and custody rights. We restate the issues Heiligenstein has raised for our review:
1. Did the trial judge err when, directly after the hearing, he orally delivered his decision to the parties?
2. Did the trial judge properly deny Heiligenstein's petition for modification of custody rights?
3. Did the trial judge properly deny Heiligenstein's petition for modification of child support payments?
4. Did the trial judge properly order Heiligenstein to pay attorney fees of $8000?
Celestine Matney cross-appeals. We restate the issues she has raised for our review:
1. Did the trial judge properly order Heiligenstein to pay only one-half of future child care expenses?
2. Did the trial judge implement a proper method of calculating child care expenses?
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
Heiligenstein and Matney were married in 1982, and their marriage was dissolved in 1992. Pursuant to an agreement which was approved by the dissolution court, Heiligenstein and Matney were to share joint custody of their two minor sons, and Matney's primary residence was to be the sons' primary residence. On August 1, 1995, Heiligenstein filed a "Verified Petition to Modify Decree" in which he requested that his child support obligation be modified. On September 16, 1996, Heiligenstein filed a "Verified Petition for Modification of Custody and Consolidation of Issues" in which he requested modification of the existing custody arrangement. An evidentiary hearing on these petitions was held on March 7, 1997. At the end of this hearing, the trial judge read aloud, in open court, his decision which included findings of fact and conclusions of law. On March 10, 1997, the trial judge issued his written "Findings of Fact[,] Conclusions and Judgment" (hereinafter "Judgment"). The content of the March 10 written Judgment is not identical to that of the March 7 orally-delivered decision; the March 10 Judgment not only sets forth most of the March 7 decision, but also includes additional legal analysis. 1 Heiligenstein and Matney now appeal the Judgment, which contains the following rulings:
The court now finds that [Heiligenstein] has failed to meet the burden of proof. Therefore [Heiligenstein's] request to modify custody is denied.
....
It is further found, that support modification shall [be] denied except that from this time forward [Heiligenstein] shall pay 1/2 of child care determined to be an amount equal [to] the number of hours the parties['] children are actually in child care multiplied by 2 times the per child rate.
It is further found, that [Heiligenstein] shall pay [Matney's] attorney the sum of $8,000.00.
Before the hearing on Heiligenstein's petitions, Matney requested findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Indiana Trial Rule 52. R. 259, 274-75. Our standard of review is therefore two-tiered. "We first determine whether the evidence supports the findings of fact and then whether those findings support the judgment." Culley v. McFadden Lake Corp., 674 N.E.2d 208, 211 (Ind.Ct.App.1996). "The trial court's findings and judgment which flow therefrom will not be set aside on appeal unless they are clearly erroneous." Id. "Findings of fact are clearly erroneous if the record contains no facts which support the findings either directly or by inference." Id. "The judgment is clearly erroneous if it is unsupported by the findings of fact and the conclusions which rely on those findings." Id. "In determining whether the findings and judgment are clearly erroneous, we will neither reweigh the evidence nor judge witness credibility, but we will consider only the evidence and reasonable inferences therefrom which support the judgment." DeHaan v. DeHaan, 572 N.E.2d 1315, 1320 (Ind.Ct.App.1991). Sandoval v. Hamersley, 419 N.E.2d 813, 816 (Ind.Ct.App.1981).
The record indicates that, immediately after the evidentiary hearing, the trial judge orally delivered his decision to the parties. 2 Heiligenstein suggests that the trial judge, by rendering his decision so soon after the hearing ended, could not have evaluated the evidence. Heiligenstein then seems to argue that, if the evidence was not evaluated, then he was denied the right to present evidence, and reversible error has therefore occurred.
We fail to find error here. Even if we were to agree that a litigant's right to present evidence is denied when a trial judge does not evaluate the evidence, we would nevertheless refuse to hold that a trial judge could not have evaluated the evidence when he renders a decision immediately after a hearing. Heiligenstein has not presented, and we cannot find, any Indiana authority which holds that evaluation of evidence cannot have occurred when a decision is rendered immediately after an evidentiary hearing. In the absence of such authority, we refuse to assume that evaluation of the evidence did not occur here, especially when the trial judge's orally-delivered decision notes that "evidence was submitted to the Court" and that "[t]he Court having considered the evidence now finds as follows[.]" R. 632. We therefore hold that the timing of the trial judge's decision did not deny Heiligenstein the right to present evidence.
"The court may not modify a child custody order unless: (1) it is in the best interests of the child; and (2) there is a substantial change in one (1) or more of the factors which the court may consider under [Indiana Code Section 31-1-11.5-21(a) ]." Ind.Code § 31-1-11.5-22(d) (current version at Ind.Code § 31-17-2-21(a)(1)-(2)). "In making its determination, the court shall consider the factors listed under [Indiana Code Section 31-1-11.5-21(a) ]." Ind.Code § 31-1-11.5-22(e) (current version at Ind.Code § 31-17-2-21(b)). Among these factors are:
(1) the age and sex of the child;
(2) the wishes of the child's parent or parents;
(3) the wishes of the child, with more consideration given to the child's wishes if the child is at least fourteen (14) years of age (4) the interaction and interrelationship of the child with his parent or parents, his siblings, and any other person who may significantly affect the child's best interests;
(5) the child's adjustment to his home, school, and community;
(6) the mental and physical health of all individuals involved; and
(7) evidence of a pattern of domestic violence by either parent.
Ind.Code § 31-1-11.5-21(a) (current version at Ind.Code § 31-17-2-8). "[I]nherent in a custody modification proceeding is the issue of visitation." In re Marriage of Ginsberg, 425 N.E.2d 656, 659 (Ind.Ct.App.1981). "A trial court may change visitation when such change is in the childrens' [sic] best interests." Huffman v. Huffman, 623 N.E.2d 445, 448-49 (Ind.Ct.App.1993). "[C]ontinuity in custody remains a key element in determining the best interests of a child." Wallin v. Wallin, 668 N.E.2d 259, 262 (Ind.Ct.App.1996). "[A] trial court must ... balance the effects of a change in custody with the effects of maintaining the status quo." Dwyer v. Wynkoop, 684 N.E.2d 245, 249 (Ind.Ct.App. 1997), trans. denied.
Heiligenstein claims that the trial court resolved the issues raised in his petitions by applying an erroneous legal standard. He finds support for this claim in the Judgment rendered by the trial judge, and in remarks made by the trial judge at the evidentiary hearing's opening.
In our view, the trial judge's remarks 3 do not compel a conclusion that an inappropriate legal standard was applied to the evidence. What a trial judge says during an evidentiary hearing is not necessarily indicative of the legal standard he will apply once all of the evidence has been presented to him. A trial judge's understanding of the applicable legal standard may change during the course of, or after, an evidentiary hearing. Only an examination of a trial judge's final decision can clearly reveal which legal standard was applied to the evidence. Our determination of whether a proper legal standard was utilized is therefore guided by an examination of the final decision which is contained in the trial court's Judgment.
According to Heiligenstein, an examination of the Judgment reveals that the trial judge applied an erroneous legal standard. Correctly noting that the issue of visitation is always before the court during custody modification proceedings, Heiligenstein claims that the court did not consider whether he was entitled to more visitation with his children. But we do not believe this claim is accurate, for the Judgment shows that the trial court did consider Heiligenstein's visitation rights. 4 Because the trial judge recognized his legal obligation to consider the visitation issue, we cannot say that he applied an inappropriate legal standard to the evidence.
Heiligenstein also argues that a proper consideration of visitation could not have occurred because, he seems to claim, the trial judge did not evaluate visitation solely in light of the "best interests" standard. Heiligenstein's claim is not without merit. The trial judge may have held that visitation could not be modified unless it...
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