Wilson v. Nenninger
| Decision Date | 07 August 2018 |
| Docket Number | No. ED 106032,ED 106032 |
| Citation | 561 S.W.3d 804 |
| Parties | Rachael Lynn WILSON, and State of Missouri, Department of Social Services, Family Support Division, Respondents, v. Pedro Moon NENNINGER, Appellant. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Tony R. Nenninger, 94 Huzzah Club Road, Bourbon, MO 65441, for appellant.
Joshua Hawley, Megan Jean Campbell, P.O. Box 861, Jefferson City, MO 65102, for respondent.
Pedro Moon Nenninger ("Father") appeals the trial court’s dismissal of his First Amended Petition to "withdraw judgment for fraud, mistake, and/or to modify child support." Father sought both retroactive and prospective relief from two administrative orders issued by the Family Support Division of the Missouri Department of Social Services ("FSD"), The administrative orders were docketed with the trial court and established Father’s monthly child support obligations. Father raises four points on appeal. Points One, Two, and Three argue that the trial court should set aside FSD’s past administrative orders. Point Four asserts that the trial court should prospectively modify his child support responsibilities. Because Father did not follow the administrative procedure established by statute to seek modification of FSD’s administrative orders, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal of Father’s petition seeking retroactive relief. However, we hold that the trial court erred in dismissing Father’s claim for prospective relief from the administrative orders. Accordingly, we grant Father’s Point Four, reverse the trial court’s judgment, and remand for further proceedings.
Father and Rachael Lynn Wilson ("Mother") are the natural parents of Child,1 who was born in 2003. After her birth, Child spent time in the physical custody of Debra LaFerney, her maternal grandmother ("Grandmother"). In 2006, FSD issued an administrative child support order requiring Father to pay Grandmother $49 per month. FSD docketed the order with the Phelps County Circuit Court. Thereafter, Mother applied for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families ("TANF") benefits for Child.
TANF benefits are temporary assistance and child support services provided by FSD to a parent or needy eligible relative caring for a dependent child. A person may become eligible for TANF benefits on behalf of a minor child in his or her custody when the child is deprived of parental support due to a parent’s continued absence from the home. Section 208.040.1(2).2 As an eligibility requirement to receive TANF benefits, the applicant for such benefits is required to assign to FSD any rights of support the applicant may have on behalf of the persons for whom the applicant is seeking assistance. Section 208.040.2(2).
Mother received TANF benefits from FSD for Child under this statutory framework. Pursuant to the requirements of the statute, Mother assigned to FSD her rights to obtain child support for Child from Father. FSD then initiated actions to collect child support from Father. FSD conducted an administrative hearing on April 14, 2010. After receiving evidence, FSD ordered that Father pay Mother child support in the amount of $62 per month. FSD docketed the order with the St, Louis County Circuit Court on September 9, 2010 ("2010 Order"). Father did not seek administrative or judicial review of the 2010 Order.
While overseeing Child’s case, FSD made several administrative determinations regarding Child’s custodian, which sometimes alternated between Mother and Grandmother. Grandmother was determined to meet the requirements as a needy eligible relative. When one custodian applied for TANF benefits, FSD reinstated the order in favor of the TANF-receiving custodian and suspended the order granting benefits to the other custodian. FSD did not notify Father when the receipt of TANF benefits for Child alternated between Grandmother and Mother.
In 2015, under its assignment of rights from Mother, FSD again sought to modify Father’s child support obligations and moved to increase Father’s monthly child support payments to $344. FSD served Father with notice of its motion on August 24, 2015. Father contacted FSD and indicated that he would fax to FSD his request for an administrative hearing on FSD’s motion. On August 27, 2015, Father arranged for his employer to fax his administrative-hearing request to FSD. FSD claimed not to have received any fax or other request from Father for an administrative hearing. Father did not confirm FSD’s receipt of the fax. FSD did not hold an administrative hearing. On September 29, 2015, FSD mailed Father a copy of the default order increasing his monthly child support payment to $344. Father responded to FSD that he had requested an administrative hearing. FSD denied receiving any such request, by fax or otherwise. On October 7, 2015, FSD docketed the default order with the St. Louis County Circuit Court ("2015 Order"). Father did not seek administrative or judicial review of the 2015 Order. Almost one year after the 2015 Order was docketed with the circuit court, Father filed a petition in which he moved to set aside the judgment and 2015 Order. After the trial court granted FSD’s motion to dismiss, Father filed the four-count First Amended Petition at issue here.
In Count One of the First Amended Petition, Father moved to "set aside judgment for intrinsic fraud regarding custodian of Child." Specifically, Father alleged that FSD used "self-serving statements from [Mother], her family members, or her personal acquaintances to determine whether [Child] has been in [her] physical custody" and failed to corroborate the statements made in her application for TANF benefits. According to Father, FSD and the trial court relied on false statements made by Mother in the TANF application process when the trial court entered the 2015 Order. For relief, Father asked the trial court, inter alia , to set aside the 2015 Order, to refund Father any sums paid pursuant to the 2015 Order, and to issue a finding that Mother defrauded FSD and the trial court.
In Count Two, Father moved to "withdraw judgment for extrinsic fraud regarding notice." According to Father, FSD made administrative determinations that Child’s physical custodian changed between Grandmother and Mother several times after FSD docketed the initial support orders in favor of Grandmother and Mother. Father maintained that FSD failed to provide him with notice or an opportunity to be heard regarding the change in Child’s custodian. Father reasoned that FSD’s failure to ensure his due process rights regarding custody voided the earlier 2010 Order. Father then posited that FSD misrepresented the 2010 Order’s validity to the trial court during subsequent court proceedings. For relief, Father asked the trial court to set aside the 2010 Order, to refund Father for sums paid pursuant to the 2010 Order, and to declare that FSD defrauded the trial court.
In Count Three, Father moved to "set aside modification judgment for extrinsic fraud regarding default, or in the alternative, motion to withdraw modification judgment for mistake or ex[c]usable neglect regarding facsimile transmission." Specifically, Father alleged that, after FSD moved to modify his monthly child support payment in August 2015, he arranged for his employer to fax his administrative-hearing request to FSD. Father averred in the amended petition that he provided the trial court with an affidavit and telephone records demonstrating that his employer faxed the request. No affidavit or telephone records were attached or otherwise incorporated into the amended petition. Father further claimed that FSD was unable or unwilling to provide documentation as to whether it received the fax. Father alleged that FSD falsely represented to the trial court that Father did not request an administrative hearing when FSD docketed the 2015 Order with the trial court. According to Father, FSD intended that the trial court rely on FSD’s false representations, and the trial court used the statements in entering the 2015 Order. Father reasoned that FSD’s conduct either voided the 2015 Order, or justified having the 2015 Order set aside because of mistake or excusable neglect. For relief, Father asked the trial court to set aside the 2015 Order, to refund Father for payments made pursuant to the 2015 Order, and to proclaim that FSD’s conduct voided the 2015 Order.
In Count Four, Father moved the trial court to enter a superseding order modifying his child support obligations. Father contended that there has been a continuing substantial change of circumstances because of Mother’s incarceration and Father’s disability since the FSD orders were docketed with the trial court. Father computed, in an attached Form 14, his new monthly child support obligation as $49. For relief, Father requested that the trial court terminate all previous orders requiring him to pay Mother for Child’s support or, in the alternative, to modify prospectively his monthly child support obligation to $49.3
FSD filed a motion to dismiss Father’s First Amended Petition, FSD asks this Court to uphold the trial court’s dismissal of the First Amended Petition because Father failed to properly utilize and exhaust the administrative process required to challenge the administrative orders. FSD also maintains that Father’s factual allegations failed to articulate a claim for relief.
The trial court dismissed Father’s First Amended Petition, finding that "[t]he lack of factual detail and the confusing nature of [Father’s] [a]mended pleading, made it extremely difficult for the Court to determine what he is actually claiming." In addressing Count One, the trial court reasoned that Father "does not...
To continue reading
Request your trial