Ragan v. Thomas
| Decision Date | 17 November 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. BQ-259,BQ-259 |
| Citation | 515 So.2d 405,12 Fla. L. Weekly 2635 |
| Parties | 12 Fla. L. Weekly 2635 Linda F. RAGAN, formerly Linda F. Thomas, Appellant, v. Willie I. THOMAS, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Lester Makofka, Jacksonville, for appellant.
Kenneth Vickers of Vickers & Andrews, Jacksonville, for appellee.
The former wife appeals an order wherein it appears the trial court awarded the former husband a credit in the form of previously paid child support to offset his obligation to pay their child's medical bills. We reverse.
The parties were divorced on December 21, 1977. The modified final judgment of dissolution held that each party should be responsible for one-half of the dental and medical expenses of the minor children which are not covered by insurance. Also, the former husband was required to contribute $125 per month per child as a contribution toward the support of the two children who were in the custody of appellant. Michael, one of the children who was residing with appellant, was committed to a drug rehabilitation clinic for 14 months. After leaving the clinic Michael then went to live with his uncle.
Appellee filed a motion to terminate child support alleging that Michael, who was 17 years old, no longer resided with appellant, and that he was employed and self-supporting. On April 2, 1986, appellant filed a motion for contempt alleging that her former husband failed to pay any sums towards the children's medical bills. The trial court entered a supplemental order on appellant's motion for contempt in which the trial judge found that the former husband was in arrears for payment of his share of the medical bills for the minor children in the amount of $2,127.90. The court awarded the former husband a credit toward the sum of $1,750 for child support paid for Michael while this child lived in a drug and alcohol abuse residential treatment facility. Therefore, appellee was only ordered to pay $377.90 of the $2,127.90 of his share of the children's medical expenses. Also the court granted appellee's motion to terminate child support for Michael.
Appellant moved for a rehearing which was denied by the trial court. The court rejected the former wife's argument that past due medical bills, like child support payments, constitute vested property rights which are not subject to modification. The trial court determined that it had the authority as part of its general equitable powers to grant a set-off against the former husband's obligation for medical bills. The court further found that while the minor child was in the treatment facility it would be inequitable for the former husband to have paid appellant child support and then in addition assess against him one-half of the child's medical expenses.
We find the record before us to be incomplete, and therefore it cannot be reasonably reviewed. There are no transcripts of hearings held, and no "Directions to the Clerk" to ascertain what was supposed to be before this court. The exhibits...
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