Reid v. Reid, CA

• Decision Date: 21 May 1997
• Docket Number: No. CA,CA
• Citation: 944 S.W.2d 559,57 Ark.App. 289
• Parties: Danny Harold REID, Appellant, v. Theresia Neely REID, Appellee. 96-790.
• Court: Arkansas Court of Appeals

Page 559

944 S.W.2d 559

57 Ark.App. 289

Danny Harold REID, Appellant, v. Theresia Neely REID, Appellee.

No. CA 96-790.

Court of Appeals of Arkansas Division IV.

May 21, 1997.

Roland E. Darrow, Cabot, for appellant.

Sharon M. Fortenberry, Pine Bluff, for appellee.

ROGERS, Judge.

This is an appeal from an order denying appellant's request for his child-support obligation to be suspended during his incarceration in prison. Appellant argues on appeal that the chancellor abused his discretion by refusing to abate the payment of support because his imprisonment rendered him incapable of producing income with which to meet his obligation. We find no abuse of discretion and affirm.

When the parties divorced in July of 1995, custody of their two children, ages sixteen and four, was placed with appellee, Theresia Neely Reid. Appellant, Danny Harold Reid, was ordered to make biweekly payments of $200 in child support. On December 4, 1995, appellant was convicted of raping the parties' sixteen-year-old daughter, and he was sentenced to a term of twenty years in prison. On February 5, 1996, appellant filed a motion seeking abatement of his child-support obligation, urging his conviction and resulting imprisonment as the sole change in circumstances.

Appellee was the only witness at the hearing. She testified that appellant was a few hours shy of obtaining a bachelor's degree in engineering and that he was earning $42,000 a year at the time of the divorce. She agreed to a reduction in child support to the minimum family chart amount of $30 a week, but she stated her belief that appellant should not benefit by being relieved of his duty of paying support as a reward for raping their daughter.

After a brief recess, the chancellor issued his ruling denying appellant's motion to suspend the payment of child support. The chancellor found that the children's needs had not diminished and that the position in which appellant found himself was one of his own creation. He thus found no change in circumstances warranting abatement of the obligation. The chancellor further concluded that appellant should not be allowed to profit from a wrongful act committed against a child for whom he was obliged to pay support. The chancellor also reasoned that the continuation of the support obligation would not place an undue burden on appellant, given his level of education and earning potential. An order was entered incorporating the chancellor's findings and reducing appellant's child-support payments to $30 a week. This appeal followed.

Ordinarily, the amount of child support lies within the sound discretion of the chancellor. Irvin v. Irvin, 47 Ark.App. 48, 883 S.W.2d 862 (1994). A chancellor's finding as to child support will not be disturbed on appeal unless it is shown that the chancellor abused his discretion. Borden v. Borden, 20 Ark.App. 52, 724 S.W.2d 181 (1987). A change in circumstances must be shown before a court can modify an order regarding child support, and the party seeking modification has the burden of showing a change in circumstances. Hunt v. Hunt, 40 Ark.App. 166, 842 S.W.2d 470 (1992). In making this decision, the chancellor must consider the needs of one party as compared to the ability of the other to pay. Irvin v. Irvin, supra.

Appellant argues on appeal that the chancellor abused his discretion by refusing to abate his child-support obligation during the period of his incarceration. We are not convinced that the record in this case demonstrates such an abuse. The principle at the core of the chancellor's ruling was that appellant was not entitled to relief because he had come into court with unclean hands. It has long been recognized that the clean hands maxim bars relief to those guilty of improper conduct in the matter as to which they seek relief. Equity will not intervene on behalf of a party whose conduct in connection with the same matter has been unconscientious or unjust. Wilson v. Brown, 320 Ark. 240, 897 S.W.2d 546 (1995); Marshall v. Marshall, 227 Ark. 582, 300 S.W.2d 933 (1957). It is said that the purpose of invoking the clean hands doctrine is to protect the interest of the public on grounds of public policy and to preserve the integrity of the court. Grable v. Grable, 307 Ark. 410, 821 S.W.2d 16 (1991). It is within the chancellor's discretion to determine whether the interests of equity and justice require application of the doctrine. Id.

Although there is another school of thought, see e.g. Matter of Marriage of Edmonds, 53 Or.App. 539, 633 P.2d 4 (1981), we are of the same mind as was the court in Ohler v. Ohler, 220 Neb. 272, 369 N.W.2d 615 (1985). In that case, the payor spouse sought to suspend his child-support obligation because he had been sentenced to prison for fifteen years. In affirming the trial court's decision denying the petition, the court based its decision on the maxim of unclean hands and ruled that, under the circumstances, equity would not grant relief. The court further stated:

Incarceration is certainly a foreseeable result of criminal activity; we find no sound reason to relieve one of a child support obligation by virtue of the fact that he or she engaged in criminal...