Lawrence v. Delkamp, 980015

• Decision Date: 29 September 1998
• Docket Number: No. 980015,980015
• Citation: 1998 ND 178,584 N.W.2d 515
• Parties: John Daniel LAWRENCE, aka, Dan Lawrence, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Tina Lucille DELKAMP, Defendant and Appellee. Civil
• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

Page 515

584 N.W.2d 515

1998 ND 178

John Daniel LAWRENCE, aka, Dan Lawrence, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Tina Lucille DELKAMP, Defendant and Appellee.

Civil No. 980015.

Supreme Court of North Dakota.

Sept. 29, 1998.

James J. Coles of Snyder Coles Lawyers, Bismarck, for plaintiff and appellant.

Arnold V. Fleck of Wheeler Wolf, Bismarck, for defendant and appellee.

Candace A. Prigge Assistant Attorney General, Bismarck, amicus curiae.

NEUMANN, Justice.

¶1 John Daniel Lawrence appeals from the district court's judgment increasing the child support payment and affirming the original judgment as amended. We affirm the judgment of the district court.

I

¶2 A child was born in August of 1992 to John Lawrence and Tina Delkamp. Lawrence and Delkamp were never married to each other. On October 9, 1992, the district court entered a stipulated judgment giving custody and care of the child to Lawrence. The judgment also directed no child support be paid to or by either party.

¶3 On May 22, 1995, the district court entered an amended judgment incorporating a child and visitation agreement entered into by the parties subsequent to the first stipulated judgment. The amended judgment gave Delkamp custody of the child, and directed Lawrence to pay $540 per month in child support.

¶4 On June 6, 1996, by stipulation of the parties, the district court entered another judgment amending the May 22, 1995, judgment. This second amended judgment among other things decreased Lawrence's child support obligation to $200 per month.

¶5 On June 30, 1997, Delkamp moved to invalidate Lawrence's child support obligation of $200 per month and set a new obligation consistent with the North Dakota Child Support Guidelines.

¶6 On November 6, 1997, the district court entered judgment amending Lawrence's child support obligation to $942 per month. The district court found Lawrence would earn $59,134 in taxable wages in the following twelve months from his employer Dakota Gasification Company (DGC). In addition, Lawrence would receive $1,106 in interest and dividend income. The district court also found Lawrence would receive other tax-exempt income and benefits: Lawrence's contribution to his 401k plan ($2,347), Lawrence's employer's contribution to the 401k plan ($2,347), medical insurance premiums paid by DGC ($2,605), dental insurance paid by DGC ($280), life insurance premiums paid by DGC ($50), accidental death and disability insurance premiums paid by DGC ($56), long-term disability insurance premiums paid by DGC ($207), pension fund contribution paid by DGC ($5,535), and Lawrence's contribution to a cafeteria plan offered by DGC to reimburse for medical expenses not covered by insurance ($180). These income deferrals and benefits totaled $13,627.

¶7 The district court found Lawrence was entitled to $16,305 in deductions under the North Dakota Child Support Guidelines. See N.D. Admin. Code § 75-02-04.1-01(7). The district court found Lawrence's total gross income to be $73,867. Applying the deductions, the district court calculated Lawrence's net annual income to be $57,562 and his monthly net income to be $4,797. Applying the North Dakota Child Support Guidelines, the district court determined the proper support obligation to be $862 per month. See N.D. Admin. Code § 75-02-04.1-10. The district court added one-half of the parties' monthly child care expenses ($80) for a total support obligation of $942 per month. See N.D. Admin. Code § 75-02-04.1-09(2)(f).

¶8 Lawrence appeals from the second amended judgment, arguing the district court erred in determining a child support obligation of $942 per month. The Department of Human Services filed an amicus brief in support of Lawrence, arguing the employer benefits were improperly included as gross income, and also arguing that to include them in gross income is inconsistent with the intent of the Department of Human Services. ¹

II

¶9 A district court's determination of child support is a finding of fact which will not be reversed on appeal unless it is found to be clearly erroneous. See Harty v. Harty, 1998 ND 99, p 14, 578 N.W.2d 519. A finding of fact is clearly erroneous when it has been induced by an erroneous view of the law, if there is no evidence supporting the finding, or if, after review of all the evidence, the court is left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made. Steffes v. Steffes, 1997 ND 49, p 8, 560 N.W.2d 888.

¶10 Lawrence argues the district court erred in including employer-paid benefits in its calculation of gross income because the North Dakota Child Support Guidelines do not provide for the inclusion of those benefits.

¶11 The child support guidelines are mandatory "presumptively correct" guidelines. See N.D.C.C. § 14-09-09.7(3). Therefore, an accurate finding of income is necessary to determining the proper amount of child support under the guidelines. See e.g., Shaver v. Kopp, 545 N.W.2d 170, 174-75 (N.D.1996).

¶12 At a minimum, the federal government requires a definition of income, for child support determination, to take into account "all earnings and income of the absent parent." 45 C.F.R. § 302.56(c)(1). "Income" is broadly defined under N.D.C.C. § 14-09-09.10(8) as:

[A]ny form of payment, regardless of source, owed to an obligor, including any earned, unearned, taxable or nontaxable income, workers' compensation, disability benefits, unemployment compensation benefits, annuity and retirement benefits, but excluding public assistance benefits administered under state law.

¶13 The North Dakota Child Support Guidelines use the "net income" approach. This does not mean the net income used to determine an obligor's child support obligation will coincide with the net income from a paycheck. Rather, net income under the guidelines refers to the remaining balance once specified deductions are subtracted from the obligor's gross income. Lynne Gold-Bikin & Linda Ann Hammond, Determination of Income, in Child Support Guidelines: The next generation 29, 32 (U.S. Dept. Human Serv.1994); see N.D. Admin. Code § 75-02-04.1-01(7)(a-h).

¶14 The guidelines define gross income under N.D. Admin. Code § 75-02-04.1-01(5), providing:

5. "Gross income" means income from any source, in any form, but does not mean benefits received from means tested public assistance programs such as aid to families with dependent children, supplemental security income, and food stamps. Gross income includes salaries, wages, overtime wages, commissions, bonuses, deferred income, dividends, severance pay, pensions, interest, trust income, annuities income, capital gains, social security benefits, workers' compensation benefits, unemployment insurance benefits, retirement benefits, veterans' benefits (including gratuitous benefits), gifts and prizes to the extent each exceeds one thousand dollars in value, spousal support payments received, cash value of in-kind income received on a regular basis, children's benefits, income imputed based upon earning capacity, military subsistence payments, and net income from self-employment.

(Emphasis added.)

¶15 We must use words as they are used in their ordinary sense, absent a contrary intent. See N.D.C.C. § 1-02-02. The statutory definition of income includes "any form of payment regardless of source." N.D.C.C. § 14-09-09.10(8). The administrative code defines gross income as "income from any source" and provides a nonexclusive listing of items properly included in gross income. See N.D. Admin. Code § 75-02-04.1-01(5).

¶16 Currently, DGC makes premium payments on behalf of Lawrence for dental insurance, life insurance, long-term disability insurance, and accidental death and disability insurance. During the trial, a representative from DGC was asked, "[d]oes ... John pay any of these premiums," referring to the medical insurance and dental insurance. The witness responded, "No." Similarly, the witness was asked whether Lawrence paid any portion of the long-term disability insurance or the accidental death insurance. Again, the witness responded, "No." Regarding the life insurance premiums, the witness stated, "[t]he company [DGC] pays for two times the employees' annual salary and that premium comes out of the company's pocket to the extent that the premium is paid."

¶17 Clearly, DGC was making those payments for Lawrence. As a result, he did not have to spend his own disposable income on them. Under the broad statutory and administrative definition of income and gross income, those payments constitute income properly considered in determining child support. N.D.C.C. § 14-09-09.10(8); N.D. Admin. Code § 75-02-04.1-01(5); cf. Shaver, 545 N.W.2d at 175 (holding an employer's contribution to a tax-deferred plan also constitutes income); Shipley, 509 N.W.2d at 53 (holding employer contributions to health insurance and pension plans are income under the broad definition of gross income in N.D. Admin. Code § 75-02-04.1-01). Therefore, we find the district court was not clearly erroneous in including these employer-paid benefits in gross income.

¶18 We have previously interpreted gross income under the North Dakota Century Code and the N.D. Admin. Code. In Shipley, we determined that under the broad definition of income in N.D. Admin. Code § 75-02-04.1-01(2) an employer's contributions to the obligor's pension fund and employer-paid health insurance premiums both constitute "income from any source." Shipley, 509 N.W.2d at 53. Similarly, in Shaver, we found an employer's contributions to a tax-deferred savings plan also constitute "income from any source," under N.D. Admin. Code § 75-02-04.1-01(2). Shaver, 545 N.W.2d at 175. We decided there was no principled reason to treat employer contributions to a pension plan differently than employer contributions to a tax-deferred savings plan. ² Id.

¶19 In this case, we have similar employer benefits that were included in the gross income. Under our previous holdings employer...