McDaniel v. Winter
| Decision Date | 24 March 1982 |
| Citation | 412 So.2d 282 |
| Parties | Joseph C. McDANIEL v. Marilyn McDaniel WINTER. Civ. 2993. |
| Court | Alabama Court of Civil Appeals |
Thomas H. Boggs, Jr., of Lloyd, Dinning, Boggs & Dinning, Demopolis, for appellant.
William T. Coplin, Jr., Demopolis, for appellee.
This is a child support case.
The parties herein, Joseph C. McDaniel and Marilyn McDaniel Winter, were divorced in Alabama in 1969. Custody of the couple's two minor sons was awarded to the mother. Subsequently, she and the children moved to Georgia. The father resides in Demopolis, Alabama. At the time of the instant action, the father was obligated to pay $200 per month child support pursuant to a 1978 modification of the final decree of divorce.
The youngest son, Caldwell, now seventeen, left the mother's home in July 1980 for scheduled visitation with his father. Prior to his departure, he told his mother that he was not planning to return. He, in fact, did not return at the designated time, and the father reduced the child support payment by $100 per month, beginning in October 1980. On November 17, 1980, the mother filed a complaint against the father in Alabama asking that he be held in contempt for failure to comply with the divorce decree and its subsequent modifications. She also asked for an increase in child support due to changed circumstances, and for a reasonable attorney's fee. Following a motion to dismiss and for more definite statement by the father, the complaint was amended, but without substantial change. Four days prior to the hearing date, the father counterclaimed for a change of custody of Caldwell.
After an ore tenus hearing, the trial court entered its findings of fact and order on August 4, 1981. The trial court held that the husband was in arrears in child support in the amount of $900. No citation of contempt was entered, however, as the trial court held that the arrearage was the result of a misunderstanding rather than a willful act of contempt. The trial court found a material change in circumstances and increased child support to $130 per month for the remaining minor child, Caldwell. 1 The mother's request for attorney's fees was denied. The father's counterclaim for modification of custody was dismissed. On a post-trial motion for reconsideration, the trial court left intact the determination of child support arrearage and the modification, but ordered the custody counterclaim severed rather than dismissed. The father appeals.
The appellant's main contention here is that he should receive credit against the child support arrearage for the amounts...
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Goold v. Goold
...834 (1979); Fowler v. Fowler, supra, 156 Conn. at 573, 244 A.2d 375; Smith v. Smith, 443 So.2d 43 (Ala.Civ.App.1983); McDaniel v. Winter, 412 So.2d 282 (Ala.Civ.App.1982); Hanks v. Hanks, 334 N.W.2d 856 (S.D.1983); Bradley v. Fowler, 30 Wash.2d 609, 192 P.2d 969, 975 The trial court also fo......
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Bittick v. Bittick
...pendente lite order, was not so contemptuously willful that a criminal-contempt finding was warranted. See, e.g., McDaniel v. Winter, 412 So. 2d 282, 282 (Ala. Civ. App. 1982) (commenting upon a trial court's decision not to hold a party in contempt because the trial court had concluded tha......
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Rhodes v. Rhodes
...court recognized that a trial court has discretion to award credits against such an arrearage. Id. at 479 (citing McDaniel v. Winter, 412 So. 2d 282 (Ala. Civ. App. 1982) ). Furthermore, we noted that "[t]he father may be credited for expenses which he assumes gratuitously, but only if thes......
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Caswell v. Caswell
...father was entitled. This court has held that “the trial court has discretion to award credits against an arrearage. McDaniel v. Winter, 412 So.2d 282 (Ala.Civ.App.1982). However, although the father may be credited for expenses that he assumes gratuitously, these expenses must clearly be c......