CAROL SMOOT, N/K/A CAROL ANDERSON, APPELLANT,
v.
DALE SMOOT, APPELLEE
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Wife appeals from a trial court order temporarily reducing husband's child support obligation from $1,000 to $800 per month. The appellate court reverses, holding that husband failed to prove a substantial change in circumstances and that debts paid on wife's behalf cannot be used to reduce child support obligations.
The trial court erred in reducing the child support obligation. The husband did not prove a substantial change in circumstances because debts paid on the wife's behalf do not constitute allowable deductions from gross income under Florida's child support guidelines. Additionally, there is no statutory authority to offset marital debt payments against child support obligations, and the trial court failed to adequately consider the needs of the children.
[1] A party seeking modification of child support must demonstrate a substantial change in circumstances.
[2] Payments made by one spouse towards the other spouse's marital debts do not constitute allowable deductions from gross income for the purpose of calculating guideline chi…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The debts he paid on the wife's behalf do not constitute allowable deductions from gross income in calculating the guideline amount of child support.”
Establishes that husband cannot reduce his child support obligation by crediting debts he paid for the wife under Florida's statutory guidelines
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe final judgment of dissolution required the husband to pay $1,000 per month in child support for two children. The husband filed a supplemental pet…
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PATTERSON, Judge.
Carol Smoot (the wife) appeals from a postjudgment order which temporarily reduces the child support obligation of Dale Smoot (the husband). We reverse.
The husband filed a supplemental petition for modification of the final judgment of dissolution and requested that his child support obligation be reduced for the parties’ two children. The final judgment requires the husband to pay $1,000 per month in child support. In his modification petition, the husband alleged a substantial change of circumstances had occurred because he paid debts to Visa, Master Card, and Texaco that the final judgment obligated the wife to pay. He sought the support reduction as a credit against money the wife owed him. After hearing, the trial court found that: the wife failed to pay certain obligations required by the final judgment; to preserve the parties’ credit rating, the husband made payments of $2,236 toward the wife’s obligations on the marital debt; and the husband had obtained judgments against the wife totaling $1,632.64. As a result, the trial court concluded, the husband’s ability to pay child support was temporarily decreased. The trial court reduced the husband’s child support obligation from $1,000 to $800 per month for twenty months.
Under the circumstances presented, the trial court erred in temporarily reducing the husband’s child support obligation. First, the husband did not prove a substantial change in circumstances. The debts he paid on the wife’s behalf do not constitute allowable deductions from gross income in calculating the guideline amount of child support. See § 61.30, Fla.Stat. (1995). Thus, the husband has not shown a change in net income. Second, it does not appear that the trial court considered the needs of the children when it ordered the reduction in support. See § 61.30(l)(a), Fla.Stat.(1995); Hillman v. Hillman, 567 So. 2d 1066 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990) (court must consider needs of children and ability of parties to pay in modifying support). Finally, there is no statutory authority to offset the payment of marital debts against child support obligations. Thus, we reverse the order on motion for temporary relief.
Reversed.
RYDER, A.C.J., and DANAHY, J., concur.