Pickens v. Brown

• Decision Date: 26 October 2004
• Docket Number: No. WD 63522.,WD 63522.
• Citation: Pickens v. Brown, 147 S.W.3d 89 (Mo. App. 2004)
• Parties: Joan PICKENS, Respondent, v. Reginald BROWN, Appellant.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

147 S.W.3d 89

Joan PICKENS, Respondent, v. Reginald BROWN, Appellant.

No. WD 63522.

Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District.

October 26, 2004.

Brice R. Taylor, Kansas City, for Appellant.

John L. Williams, Kansas City, for Respondent.

PAUL M. SPINDEN, Judge.

Reginald Brown appeals the circuit court's judgment denying his request to terminate his obligation to pay child support to his son, Matthieu Pickens. Brown contends that his son did not complete at least 12 credit hours at the University of Missouri-Columbia during the 2002 fall semester. Among Pickens' apparent problems with his studies was that he suffered attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but he did not take medication prescribed by physicians to control the disorder and did not inform the university of the disorder and his need for accommodations. The circuit court found that manifest circumstances beyond Pickens' control prevented him from successfully completing several courses at the university and ordered Brown to continue to pay child support. We affirm the circuit court's judgment.

Physicians diagnosed Pickens in 1995 as suffering ADHD and prescribed medication. He received special education and an Individual Education Plan accommodation under the Individual with Disabilities Education Act in middle school and high school. His grades improved in high school, and he received no failing grades.

During fall 2002, Pickens enrolled in 13 credit hours at UMC. Because of his grade improvement in high school, Pickens decided unilaterally that he did not need accommodations at the university for his ADHD. He was unaware of what accommodations the university offered. Moreover, although he said that he did the best he could, Pickens said that he would forget to take his ADHD medicine two or three times during the school week. At the completion of the fall semester, Pickens received credit for only five of the 13 credit hours and had a grade point average of 0.462.

On February 3, 2003, Brown asked the circuit court to terminate his obligation to pay child support to Pickens because Pickens had failed to complete at least 12 credit hours of study at the university as required by § 452.340.5, RSMo 2000. Brown appeals the circuit court's judgment that manifest circumstances beyond Pickens' control prevented him from successfully completing at least 12 credit hours at the university and that Brown's child support obligation should continue.

Brown contends that Pickens' ADHD was not a circumstance beyond his control that caused him to fail all but five credit hours at the university. Brown asserts that Pickens failed to complete the required amount of credit hours because he chose not to take his medication for ADHD and chose not to request reasonable accommodations from the university.

Section 452.340 provides:

3. Unless the circumstances of the child manifestly dictate otherwise and the court specifically so provides, the obligation of a parent to make child support payments shall terminate when the child:

....

(5) Reaches age eighteen, unless the provisions of subsection 4 or 5 of this section apply[.]

....

5. If when a child reaches age eighteen, the child is enrolled in and attending a secondary school program of instruction, the parental support obligation shall continue, if the child continues to attend and progresses toward completion of said program, until the child completes such program or reaches age twenty-one, whichever first occurs. If the child is enrolled in an institution of vocational or higher education not later than October first following graduation from a secondary school or completion of a graduation equivalence degree program and so long as the child enrolls for and completes at least twelve hours of credit each semester, not including the summer semester, at an institution of vocational or higher education and achieves grades sufficient to reenroll at such institution, the parental support obligation shall continue until the child completes his or her education, or until the child reaches the age of twenty-two, whichever first occurs. To remain eligible for such continued parental support, at the beginning of each semester the child shall submit to each parent a transcript or similar official document provided by the institution of vocational or higher education which includes the courses the child is enrolled in and has completed for each term, the grades and credits received for each such course, and an official document from the institution listing the courses which the child is enrolled in for the upcoming term and the number of credits for each such course. If the circumstances of the child manifestly dictate, the court may waive the October first deadline for enrollment required by this subsection. If the child is enrolled in such an institution, the child or parent obligated to pay support may petition the court to amend the order to direct the obligated parent to make the payments directly to the child. As used in this section, an "institution of vocational education" means any postsecondary training or schooling for which the student is assessed a fee and attends classes regularly. "Higher education" means any junior college, community college, college, or university at which the child attends classes regularly. A child who has been diagnosed with a learning disability, or whose physical disability or diagnosed health problem limits the child's ability to carry the number of credit hours...