Whitt v. State ex rel. Wright

• Decision Date: 17 December 2001
• Docket Number: No. 00-306.,00-306.
• Citation: 36 P.3d 617,2001 WY 128
• Parties: Kenneth Justin WHITT, Appellant (Respondent), v. STATE of Wyoming, ex rel., Kaycee Lynn WRIGHT and Justin James Wright, minor children, Appellee (Petitioner).
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

36 P.3d 617

2001 WY 128

Kenneth Justin WHITT, Appellant (Respondent), v. STATE of Wyoming, ex rel., Kaycee Lynn WRIGHT and Justin James Wright, minor children, Appellee (Petitioner).

No. 00-306.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

December 17, 2001.

Sky D Phifer, Lander, WY, Representing Appellant.

Gay Woodhouse, Attorney General; Michael L. Hubbard, Deputy Attorney General; and Sue Chatfield, Assistant Attorney General, Cheyenne, WY, Representing Appellee.

Before LEHMAN, C.J., and GOLDEN, HILL, KITE, and VOIGT, JJ.

VOIGT, Justice.

[¶ 1] This is an appeal from a judgment for back child support. The district court accepted the Department of Family Services' (DFS) computations and ordered Kenneth Justin Whitt (appellant) to pay the State $21,811.96 for Medicaid reimbursement and back child support. We reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

ISSUES

[¶ 2] The appellant raises these issues:

1. Did the State meet its burden of proof that it had an assignment of child support benefits?

2. Did the State meet its burden of proof that the father of the two minor children owed back support in the amount of $18,322.65?

3. Did the State meet its burden of proof that the father of the two minor children owed reimbursement to the State in the amount of $18,322.65?

4. Did the State meet its burden of proof that the State was entitled to Medicaid reimbursement in the amount of $3,489.31?

5. Is Appellant entitled to attorney's fees?

FACTS

[¶ 3] The appellant filed a petition to establish paternity and custody on January 30, 1998. He alleged that he was the biological father of two minor children, one born in 1990 and the other in 1992. The appellant and the natural mother of the minor children, Ranae Wright (Wright), were not married at the time the children were born, nor did they ever marry; the two were involved in an on and off relationship from 1989 to 2000.

[¶ 4] DFS brought its own action to establish paternity and support on March 13, 1998, alleging that Wright and the minor children received public assistance and that the right to back child support had been assigned to DFS. The district court consolidated this action with the appellant's petition. The parties settled matters concerning paternity, custody, and current child support in a stipulation dated October 14, 1998. However, the issue of back child support remained. The trial set for October 21, 1998, to determine paternity, was vacated, and the matter of back child support was assigned to the district court commissioner. Adopting the district court commissioner's findings of fact for lack of objection thereto, the district court, on February 15, 2000, found that the appellant owed back child support to the State, through August 30, 1998, in the amount of $10,384.00, and assessed against the appellant attorney's fees and costs in the amount of $865.00. The district court set aside this judgment on May 23, 2000, and scheduled another hearing to determine the back child support issue.¹

[¶ 5] At the next hearing, Wright and the appellant entered into a second stipulation in which Wright agreed that the appellant did not owe her any back child support. DFS did not join in the stipulation. The district court then took evidence from the appellant and Wright and ordered DFS and the appellant to prepare and submit child support calculations. The district court received DFS's calculations with attachments on June 26, 2000, and the appellant's calculations and exhibits on July 10, 2000. A final hearing was held on August 10, 2000. On September 12, 2000, the district court's oral pronouncement at the August hearing, that the appellant owed back child support in the amount of $18,322.65 and Medicaid reimbursement in the amount of $3,489.31, was entered as a judgment in favor of the State for a total of $21,811.96.

DISCUSSION

[¶ 6] Three of the appellant's issues can be dealt with quickly. First, it is clear that the State met its burden of proof concerning the assignment of child support benefits. Chapter 6 of Title 20 of the Wyoming Statutes is known as the "Child Support Enforcement Act." Under the Act, DFS is obligated to "establish a program of enforcement services ... to aid in enforcing support obligations owed by obligors to their children... and in obtaining child support." Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-6-103(a) (Michie 1997). To assist DFS in accomplishing these goals, recipients of public assistance assign their rights to child and spousal support to DFS, by operation of law, to the extent of any public assistance provided. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-6-106(a) and (d) (Michie 1997); State, Dept. of Family Services v. Peterson, 957 P.2d 1307, 1309-11 (Wyo.1998).

[¶ 7] In the instant case, Wright testified that Medicaid paid for the births of both children, and that she received food stamps and aid to families with dependent children (AFDC). She testified that she received AFDC for about four and one-half years, specifically from February 1990 to July 1994 and from July 1995 to June 1996. Further, upon questioning by the DFS attorney, Wright indicated that she had "no disagreement" with an estimated $20,000.00 received in AFDC benefits. There can be no dispute that Wright, by being a recipient of public assistance, assigned her rights by operation of law to the State.²

[¶ 8] Two related issues presented by the appellant are whether the State met its burden of proving that it is entitled to reimbursement in the amount of $18,322.65 and Medicaid reimbursement in the amount of $3,489.31 as the assignee of Wright. After careful review of the record, we conclude that the State proved it is entitled to reimbursement for public assistance benefits and Medicaid; however, we find no factual basis or evidentiary support for the amounts claimed by the State. We agree with the appellant that the State failed to meet its burden of proving the exact amount to which it is entitled as the assignee of Wright.

[¶ 9] The appellant argues that, since the State did not prove the amount it paid out in public assistance benefits and Medicaid, he owes no money at all. Although he accepts the proposition that legally a parent is obligated to support his or her children from the date of birth, he argues that the measure of recovery is only the amount actually expended in the support of the children by DFS. In support of this argument, the appellant points to the following sentence from Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-2-204(d) (Michie 1997): "The measure of recovery from the defendant is the reasonable value of the care or support which has been furnished to the child by the petitioner." [¶ 10] This Court has consistently held that Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-2-204(d) does not refer to expenses actually incurred, but rather is much broader. The State brought this case in the name of the children. Thus, the focus is not on the amount assigned to the State, but rather on the amount the appellant owes to his children. In Holtz v. State ex rel. Houston, 847 P.2d 972, 977 (Wyo.1993), we stated:

It seems reasonably clear that the statutes contemplate provisions in the judgment for more than recovery of "expenses incurred." (In this case, AFDC funds.)... Likewise, there is not a provision that limits the state (if it is the petitioner) to expenses incurred.

Further, in Thomas v. Thomas, 983 P.2d 717, 720 (Wyo.1999), this Court stated:

The language of the statute leads to the clear inference that the legislature intended and recognized that child support would be collected retroactively in cases where a parent has abandoned a child and refused to participate in the support of the child.³

Thus, the appellant owes his children reasonable support from the date of their birth. This brings us to the key issue in this case.

BACK CHILD SUPPORT

[¶ 11] The appellant's primary contention is that the State did not meet its burden of proof that he owed back child support in the amount of $18,322.65. Again, the appellant acknowledges his parental obligations and that they relate back to the date of birth of his children. He argues, however, that the back child support amount of $18,322.65 is unsupported by the evidence.

[¶ 12] While the findings of a trial judge concerning conclusions of law and disposition of the issues are presumptively correct, the appellate court may examine all of the properly admissible evidence in the record. Shores v. Lindsey, 591 P.2d 895, 899 (Wyo.1979). Because this Court does not weigh the evidence de novo, findings may not be set aside because we would have reached a different result. Id. On appeal, findings of fact are not set aside unless they are clearly erroneous. Id. "`A finding is "clearly erroneous" when although there is evidence to support it, the reviewing court on the entire evidence is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.'" Cross v. Berg Lumber Co., 7 P.3d 922, 928 (Wyo.2000) (quoting Hopper v. All Pet Animal Clinic, Inc., 861 P.2d 531, 538-39 (Wyo.1993)). The appellant bears the burden of persuading the appellate court that a finding is erroneous. Cross, 7 P.3d at 928 (quoting Hopper, 861 P.2d at 538-39).

[¶ 13] At the end of the June 8, 2000, hearing, the DFS attorney informed the district court that he could at that time provide to the appellant's attorney "an AFDH which shows the AFDC, what we used to call Aid for Dependent Children, paid to the mother." He was ordered to do so and complied. The district court then ordered counsel to prepare and submit their income and child support calculations, and a final hearing was scheduled. DFS's calculations with attachments and appellant's calculations and exhibits are both in the record.

[¶ 14] In establishing the amount of back child support owed, the State attempted to determine the income of both parents for previous years and then applied the current child support guidelines to establish the amount of support owed. Neither parent could give complete and...