Hendry v. Hendry, No. S12F1302.

• Court: Supreme Court of Georgia
• Writing for the Court: BLACKWELL
• Citation: 292 Ga. 1,734 S.E.2d 46
• Parties: HENDRY v. HENDRY.
• Decision Date: 05 November 2012
• Docket Number: No. S12F1302.

292 Ga. 1
734 S.E.2d 46

HENDRY
v.
HENDRY.

No. S12F1302.

Supreme Court of Georgia.

Nov. 5, 2012.

[734 S.E.2d 47]

Elizabeth J. Kuhn, Hait, Eichelzer & Kuhn, Woodstock, for appellant.

Lawrence L. Washburn, III, Nicholas Paul Martin, Lawrenceville, for appellee.

BLACKWELL, Justice.

[292 Ga. 1]John Allan Hendry and Sally Frances Hendry were married in 1998, and after three children were born of the marriage, they were divorced. In its final judgment and decree of divorce, the trial court awarded primary physical custody of the children to Sally, and it ordered John to pay $2,400 to Sally each month as child support. John appeals,¹ contending that the court erred in several respects in its determination of his child support obligations. We agree with John that the trial court erred when it calculated his gross income to include amounts that his employer pays him to reimburse the costs of his family health insurance premiums, but we find no merit in his other claims of error. Accordingly, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for the trial court to recalculate his gross income and to consider again the amount of his child support obligation.

1. The record shows that John is paid $935 each month by his employer to reimburse the amount that he pays from a checking account as a premium for family health insurance, insurance that covers the children born of his marriage to Sally. The reimbursement covers the entire cost of the premium, and his employer identifies the reimbursement as a benefit, not as salary. Nothing in the record indicates that, if the cost of the premium decreased, his employer [292 Ga. 2]would continue to pay the same amount to John as a benefit, such that John might redirect the portion of the benefit in excess of the cost of the premium to his ordinary living expenses. The trial court counted the reimbursement as gross income attributable to John, and John contends that this finding was erroneous. We agree.

For purposes of child support, gross income includes “all income from any source,” OCGA § 19–6–15(f)(1)(A), and generally speaking, fringe benefits of employment that “significantly reduce personal living expenses” are counted as gross income. OCGA § 19–6–15(f)(1)(C). Gross income does not include, however, “employee benefits that are typically added to the salary, wage, or other compensation that a parent may receive as a standard added benefit, including, but not limited to, employer paid portions of health insurance premiums....” OCGA § 19–6–15(f)(1)(C) (emphasis supplied). John argues that his monthly reimbursement for the cost of his health insurance premium represents “employer paid portions of health insurance premiums,” and that the reimbursement does

[734 S.E.2d 48]

not count, therefore, as his gross income. In response, Sally notes that John himself remits the premium to his insurer, and his employer does not directly pay any amount to the insurer. For this reason, she contends, the reimbursement does not represent “employer paid portions of health insurance premiums.” ²

When we consider the meaning of a statute, “we look first to the text of the [statute], and if the text is clear and unambiguous, we look no further, attributing to the [statute] its plain meaning.” Daniel Corp. v. Reed, 291 Ga. 596, 732 S.E.2d 61 (2012). See also Opensided MRI of Atlanta v. Chandler, 287 Ga. 406, 407, 696 S.E.2d 640 (2010). And “[a]s we look to the words of a [statute], we attribute to those words ‘their ordinary, logical, and common meanings,’ unless a clear indication of some other meaning appears.” [292 Ga. 3]Daniel Corp., 291 Ga. at 597, 732 S.E.2d 61. See also Judicial Council of Ga. v. Brown & Gallo, 288 Ga. 294, 297, 702 S.E.2d 894 (2010). In ordinary usage, when one says that an expense is “employer paid,” he often means that the employer has tendered or delivered the payment directly to the person to whom payment is due. See American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, p. 1330 (3d ed.1992) (“pay” means “[t]o give (money) in exchange for goods or services; ... [t]o discharge or settle (a debt or an obligation)”); 2 New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, p. 2129 (1993 ed.) (“pay” means to “[g]ive ... money etc. that is due for ... a service done, or a debt incurred; ... [h]and over or transfer money in discharge of (a debt, fee, wage, etc.)”); Black's Law Dictionary, p. 1128 (6th ed.1990) (“pay” means “[t]o discharge a debt by tender of payment due; to deliver to a creditor the value of a debt, either in money or in goods, for his acceptance”). But that is not always the case. Sometimes, when one says that an expense is “employer paid,” he means only that the employer has borne the cost of the expense. Cf. Stern v. Provident Life & Accident Ins. Co., 295 F.Supp.2d 1321, 1323(I) (M.D.Fla.2003) (characterizing long-term disability insurance plan as “employee-paid plan” where employer remitted premiums to insurer, but employees “actually paid the premiums with their after-tax earnings”). Standing alone, the text of OCGA § 19–6–15(f)(1)(C) does not clearly answer the question with which we are confronted in this case.

But subsection (f)(1)(C), of course, does not stand alone. When we consider the meaning of a statutory provision, we do not read it in isolation, but rather, we read it in the context of the other statutory provisions of which it is a part. East West Express v. Collins, 264 Ga. 774, 775(1), 449 S.E.2d 599 (1994). “[A]ll statutes relating to the same subject matter are to be construed together, and harmonized wherever possible.” Id. (citation omitted). Context is important, and in this case, the context of subsection (f)(1)(C) provides an answer to our question.

When a parent provides health insurance for his child, and the parent, not his employer, bears the cost of the insurance, other statutory provisions...