MARK RATCLIFF, APPELLANT,
v.
TRACI B. RATCLIFF, APPELLEE
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Mark Ratcliff appeals a final judgment of dissolution of marriage challenging awards of child support, alimony, and asset distribution. The court affirmed the child support and alimony awards and asset distribution, but reversed the child support duration provision as erroneous because it extended support beyond age 18 without statutory justification.
The court affirmed the awards of child support and alimony and the distribution of marital assets and liabilities, finding no abuse of discretion. However, the court reversed the provision extending child support beyond age 18 because there was no evidentiary basis under Florida Statutes section 743.07(2) to justify extending support beyond the age of emancipation at 18, absent evidence of mental or physical incapacity or school delay with reasonable expectation of graduation before age 19.
[1] Child support obligations for a child who has reached the age of 18 may continue if the child is mentally or physically incapacitated prior to reaching 18, or if the chil…
[2] Absent evidence of incapacity or a good faith effort to graduate before age 19, child support terminates for each child upon reaching age 18, marrying, becoming self-supp…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The Husband's obligation for child support shall continue until the youngest child reaches the age of 19 years or graduates from high school, whichever shall first occur.”
The erroneous child support provision that the court reversed as exceeding statutory authority and being literally impossible to apply to each child individually.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMark and Traci Ratcliff were parties to a dissolution of marriage with two daughters. The final judgment awarded child support and alimony to Traci an…
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[*1280] PER CURIAM.
Mark Ratcliff, the former husband, appeals a final judgment of dissolution. We conclude that he has failed to demonstrate that the trial court abused its discretion in its awards of child support and alimony to the appellee, Traci B. Ratcliff, or that the trial court made an inequitable distribution of the marital assets and liabilities. Accordingly, we affirm those portions of the final judgment. We write only to address the provision in the final judgment that establishes the duration of the former husband’s obligation for child support for the parties’ two daughters. The final judgment provides that: “The Husband’s obligation for child support shall continue until the youngest child reaches the age of 19 years or graduates from high school, whichever shall first occur.” For the reasons that follow, this provision is erroneous and requires reversal. Hunter v. Hunter, 626 So. 2d 1069 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993).
In Hunter, this court reversed a support provision similar to the provision now before us and directed the trial court to substitute a provision setting forth that child support for each child continue “until such time as each child reaches the age eighteen, marries, becomes self-supporting or dies, whichever first occurs.” Id. at 1070. The Hunter court acknowledged that section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes, authorizes an award of child support for a child who has reached his or her eighteenth birthday where the child is mentally or physically incapacitated prior to reaching that eighteenth birthday or if the child
is dependent in fact, is between the ages of 18 and 19, and is still in high school, performing in good faith with a reasonable expectation of graduation before the age of 19.
Nevertheless, no evidence in Hunter brought that case within the terms of the statute and the court concluded that “the better practice is to resort in a final judgment of dissolution of marriage to the general rule” of terminating support upon a child’s emancipation at age 18. Id.; see, § 743.07(1), Fla. Stat. (1995).
There is no evidence in the instant record that either of the parties’ daughters is mentally or physically incapacitated or that either child is presently delayed in school such that, if each child “perform[s] in good faith,” section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes (1995), she will not graduate before age 18. Thus, the trial court had no evidentiary basis to extend the duration of child support beyond age 18 pursuant to section 743.07(2). See, Walworth v. Klauder, 615 So. 2d 219 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993). As the Hunter court observed, however, in the event one of the exceptions in section 743.07(2) subsequently becomes applicable, a petition to modify the award of child support can then be filed.
We distinguish Goodwin v. Goodwin, 640 So. 2d 173, 177 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994), upon which the wife relies. As the Goodwin court noted, the child support provision in Goodwin complied with section 743.07(2), unlike the provisions at issue in the instant case and in Hunter. In addition to conflicting with Hunter, the instant child support provision, as literally written, would require the continuation of child support for the older daughter “until the youngest child reaches the age of 19 or graduates from high school....” This is obviously error. On remand, the support provision should be written so that the support obligation for each child terminates based upon that child’s age or, if applicable, on other circumstances relating to that child.
AFFIRMED in part, REVERSED in part, and REMANDED with directions.
WOLF, VAN NORTWICK and PADOVANO, JJ., concur.
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Cited By
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Drake v. Drake, 686 So. 2d 753 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997)…ected to graduate from high school before the age of 19, the trial court’s award of child support “until the parties’ minor child reaches the age of 19 or upon her graduation from high school, whichever occurs first” was error. Ratcliff v. Ratcliff, 679 So. 2d 1279 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996); Hunter v. Hunter, 626 So. 2d 1069 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993). In section 743.07(2) the legislature established certain limited exceptions to the general rule that child support obligations are terminated upon the child reaching majori…
Authorities Cited
- In re The Marriage of Or. K. Hunter v. Hunter, 626 So. 2d 1069 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993)
- Goodwin v. Goodwin, 640 So. 2d 173 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994)
- Haluska v. State, 615 So. 2d 219 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993)
- Walworth v. Klauder, 615 So. 2d 219 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993)