Paden v. Kerns, WD 71182.
| Citation | 318 S.W.3d 304 |
| Decision Date | 17 August 2010 |
| Docket Number | No. WD 71182.,WD 71182. |
| Parties | Helen J. PADEN (Kerns), Appellant,v.David S. KERNS, Jr., Respondent. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
318 S.W.3d 304
Helen J. PADEN (Kerns), Appellant,
v.
David S. KERNS, Jr., Respondent.
No. WD 71182.
Missouri Court of Appeals,
Western District.
Aug. 17, 2010.
James A. Nadolski, for Respondent.
Before Division Three: JAMES M. SMART, JR., Presiding Judge, JOSEPH M. ELLIS, Judge and GARY D. WITT, Judge.
JOSEPH M. ELLIS, Judge.
Helen Paden (“Mother”) appeals from a judgment modifying the decree dissolving her marriage to David Kerns (“Father”) by terminating his child support obligation based upon the emancipation of the couple's two children. For the following reasons, the judgment is reversed, and the cause is remanded for further proceedings.
The marriage between Mother and Father was dissolved by the Circuit Court of Buchanan County on September 19, 1991. That decree of dissolution was modified in 1993 to place sole physical custody of the couple's two sons, Bo Kerns and Joseph Kerns, with Mother, and Father was ordered to pay $465.00 per month in child support. In 2004, Father's child support obligation was increased by the court to $700.00 per month. On October 2, 2008, Father filed a motion to have the children declared emancipated.
At the evidentiary hearing on Father's motion, in addition to stipulating that Bo was indeed emancipated, the following facts were stipulated:
Mother's attorney: Joseph Kerns is 19 years old. He graduated from high school in 2008, in May of 2008.
Father's attorney: January.
Mother's attorney: January of 2008. He enrolled in college at Metropolitan Community College at Longview by October 1st of that year. He enrolled in 12 hours of classes. And there was one particular class in which he had an issue with his grades. And the instructor had withdrawn him from the class to sort of protect his GPA and assigned a W grade as opposed to an F. Joseph is now currently enrolled in over 12 hours of classes for the spring semester of 2009. And I believe that that is the-those would be the undisputed facts pertaining to the education portion of this.
The Court: All right. Let's talk about-finish with that. Mr. Nadolski, anything you want to add to it.
Father's attorney: No, Your Honor, other than the fact that there was some issues about notice and all that. But I think what Mr. Wortman cited on the record is probably the most relevant information for your consideration under that statute, yes.
In addition, Father submitted a print out of Joseph's grades for the Fall semester listing a “W” as his grade for Introductory
This letter is regarding our decision to withdraw you from the Mathematics 40 class in which you were enrolled Fall 2008.
The date at which we withdrew you was past the date for assessment, meaning that an automatic grade of “W” was assigned. The instructor has the right to change the “W” to an “F” if he/she so chooses. Your instructor chose not to do so since Fall 2008 was your first semester here and the “F” would adverse [sic] your Grade Point Average. It was an attempt on our part to give you a fresh start next semester.
The reason for the withdrawal boiled down to the obvious reality for both of us that you were not academically prepared for MATH 40 curriculum [sic]. You had shown on your last test that you had not mastered factoring and the class was proceeding to the next level, but mastering factoring was essential for moving on.
I wish we could have detected the issue earlier but we did not. You were technically enrolled full time at the college and remained so for the semester, since the W is a grade. I trust this is understandable to you, and if you or either or both of your parents have questions, they call can [sic].
Following the evidentiary hearing, the circuit court entered its...
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Brown v. Brown
...class, her transcript lists a “W” in place of a letter grade, indicating that she withdrew from the class. As Paden v. Kerns, 318 S.W.3d 304 (Mo.App. W.D.2010) explains, “[w]here a student voluntarily withdraws from a class prior to its completion, he or she clearly fails to meet the requir......
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Klein v. Klein
...does not fail half or more of his or her classes, the child is deemed to satisfy the requirements of § 452.340.5." Paden v. Kerns, 318 S.W.3d 304, 307 (Mo.App.2010). Finally, Father asserts that Casen's failure to provide official documents from the school for the Spring 2014 semester requi......