Reif v. Reif

• Decision Date: 01 June 1993
• Citation: 426 Pa.Super. 14,626 A.2d 169
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court
• Parties: Michael E. REIF, Appellant, v. Elaine M. REIF, Appellee.

Page 169

626 A.2d 169

426 Pa.Super. 14

Michael E. REIF, Appellant, v. Elaine M. REIF, Appellee.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Submitted April 5, 1993.

Filed June 1, 1993.

John A. Boccabella, Reading, for appellant.

William R. Bernhart, Reading, for appellee.

Before WIEAND, OLSZEWSKI and TAMILIA, JJ.

OLSZEWSKI, Judge:

This is Michael Reif's [Father's] appeal from the Honorable Arthur E. Grim's order directing Father to pay $82.00 per week plus an amount to be determined by the Domestic Relations Section of the Berks County Court of Common Pleas for the college expenses incurred by his daughter, Jennifer ["Daughter"]. The order was the result of the trial court's determination that Daughter was not estranged from Father. We agree with the trial court's conclusion that Father and Daughter are not "estranged" so as to relieve Father of his obligation to pay post-high school educational support and affirm its order.

Father and Elaine Reif ["Mother"] were married with two children, Daughter and Michael. Although the couple separated in 1981 and reconciled for a brief period in 1987, the couple finally split in 1988. At the time, Daughter was "turning seventeen." N.T. 5/24/92 p. 5. Michael was several years older. ¹ Although Daughter lived with Mother while her parents were separated, Father testified that he maintained a steady relationship with her and visited her regularly. Id. at 14. Difficulty arose between Father and Daughter sometime in 1989, when Father attempted to explain to Daughter that he and Mother were going to divorce. Daughter testified that Father "made it pretty clear that he had a new family now and he really didn't want any part of his own family." Id. at 8. After several conciliatory phone calls between Father and Daughter in 1989, Father made no attempts to contact Daughter. Daughter graduated from high school in 1991 and entered East Stroudsburg University that fall. Father was not invited to Daughter's graduation and did not participate in Daughter's choice to continue her education. Father testified that he did not want to "harass" Daughter by making repeated attempts to reconcile when he knew that she would not accept his efforts.

Meanwhile, Father and Mother consented to a divorce and on March 7, 1991, the couple entered into a post-nuptial agreement ["the agreement"] which settled all property matters and claims against one another. Most pertinently, the parties contemplated Father's potential obligation to pay for Daughter's college expenses:

11. SUPPORT

[Father] will contribute to the post high-school education of [Daughter] in accordance with his obligation under the law of Pennsylvania and [Mother] will sign a [sic] necessary financial documents.

The agreement, p 11.

As we noted above, Daughter enrolled as a full-time student at East Stroudsburg University. She attended the university in the fall of 1991 and spring of 1992, incurring $5,676.00 in tuition and room and board costs and approximately $642 for books and related expenses. All of these college expenses were incurred by Mother. On May 21, 1992, Mother filed a petition pursuant to 23 Pa.S.A. §§ 401 and 401.1, seeking enforcement of paragraph 11 of the agreement and reimbursement of Daughter's college expenses. ² Father answered the petition claiming that he was relieved of any obligation under the contract because he was estranged from his daughter. On June 24, 1992, the trial court heard testimony, related above, regarding Father and Daughter's relationship. On August 24, 1991, the trial court concluded that Father could not avail himself of the estrangement defense and was not relieved of his contractual obligation to pay Daughter's educational support. The trial court also entered the following order:

AND NOW, August 24, 1992, after consideration of the record, hearing and argument, it is hereby ordered as follows:

1. The Domestic Relations Section is directed to determine the additional amount of support in excess of $82.00 per week which respondent/father owes his daughter, Jennifer L. Reif, for college related expenses at the conference on August 25, 1992, scheduled in the case of Jennifer Reif vs. Michael E. Reif docketed to 92-0226-00.

Trial court order 8/24/92. It is from this order that Father appeals.

Father raises two substantive arguments: (1) he claims that the trial court erred in finding that he and his daughter were not estranged; and (2) that since the recent Supreme Court case of Blue v. Blue, 532 Pa. 521, 616 A.2d 628 (1992), holds that Pennsylvania law does not recognize a parental obligation for post-high school support, paragraph 11 of his agreement, incorporating Pennsylvania law, should be interpreted to relieve his obligation to provide Daughter with educational support while she attends college. We disagree with both of these arguments.

We note initially that we are troubled with several aspects of the trial court's order of 8/24/92. First, although the order specifies that Father is responsible for paying $82.00 per week plus an amount to be determined by the Domestic Relations Board, the record contains no indication of how the trial court arrived at this figure. Second, the trial court refers to a hearing in front of the Domestic Relations Board on August 25, 1992, regarding a separate action involving (presumably) the identical issues as those involved here. The record, however, contains no further indication regarding the nature (or even the existence) of this separate action, or whether the conference took place. Third, the order leaves father's obligation beyond $82.00 per week unresolved pending the outcome of the Domestic Relations Board Conference. In this respect, the order appears to be interlocutory, since it lacks any finality regarding the amount of Father's obligation and the effect that Father's estrangement claim has on the amount of the obligation. ³

Since this case involves child support, however, we must resolve these peculiarities in such a way that will promote just and expedient resolution. Pennsylvania law consistently has held that while it abhors the "piecemeal litigation" resulting from interlocutory appeals of orders granting special relief in divorce cases, see Fried v. Fried, 509 Pa. 89, 501 A.2d 211 (1985), the "final order" requirement for appealability deserves more flexibility in cases involving child support:

[W]hile the adults can generally look to other sources of revenue to maintain themselves during litigation, the child is totally dependent on its parents for support; its needs are immediate and continuing, and in particular, any deficiency is likely to be recovered. We believe the child support Order requires review to protect the interests of the child, to avoid hardship, and to insure uninterrupted maintenance by its parents.

Ritter v. Ritter, 359 Pa.Super. 12, 17, 518 A.2d 319, 322 (1986).

In Ritter, this Court distinguished between orders of spousal and child support in the same trial court order, holding that while an order setting spousal support is interlocutory, an order setting child support is final and appealable. Id. See, Griffin v. Griffin, 384 Pa.Super. 210, 558 A.2d 86 (1989) (Although preliminary orders in a divorce action are interlocutory, particular order implicated child support, and was therefore final and appealable). The Griffin court added that "[i]n ascertaining whether an order is final and immediately appealable, we must consider not only the order's technical effect, but also its practical ramifications." Id. at 219, 558 A.2d at 91 (citing Bell v. Beneficial Consumer Discount Co., 465 Pa. 225, 348 A.2d 734 (1975)).

Although this case involves Father's duty to provide post-high school educational support, which has, at best, been described as a "qualified duty," Milne v. Milne, 383 Pa.Super. 177, 556 A.2d 854 (1989), alloc. denied, 524 Pa. 598, 568 A.2d 1248 (1989), expeditious consideration of the trial court order is warranted in light of Daughter's immediate concerns. The trial court order concludes that father assumed a contractual obligation to provide support, a conclusion which Father disputes. If we were to hold that the order was interlocutory because the amount of the obligation is undetermined, a remand and further hearings in front of the Domestic Relations Board might well be superfluous if we agree with Father. On the other hand, if we disagree with Father, and hold that he did assume an obligation, Father, Daughter, and Mother will know, beyond dispute, where they should look for financial assistance and further proceedings will have more meaning than they would if Father's duty is left unresolved. Again, it is important to note that Father is not contending that he is unable to pay an amount determined by the court, but only disputes whether he is obligated in the first place. Thus, insofar as the order conclusively determines that Father is under a contractual obligation to contribute toward Daughter's education, the order is final and prompt review of Father's claims is appropriate.

We will address Father's second claim first, because it concerns the very heart of a parent's duty, under the law of this Commonwealth, to provide post-education support for his or her children. Paragraph 11 of the post-nuptial agreement requires Father to provide post-high school support "in accordance with his obligation under the laws of Pennsylvania." Thus, Father contends that since the recent Supreme Court case of Blue v. Blue, supra, proclaims that there is no parental duty to provide support beyond high school, Id., 532 Pa. at 529, 616 A.2d at 633, he is accordingly under no contractual obligation to provide Daughter with support. We disagree.

It is well established that a party may contractually assume a duty to support his or her child's post-secondary education. Emrick v. Emrick, 445 Pa. 428, 284 A.2d 682 (1971). This is so, despite Blue's holding that there is no legal duty to provide...