GRACIA P. GIMENO, APPELLANT/CROSS-APPELLEE,
v.
NALTAN RIVERA, APPELLEE/CROSS-APPELLANT
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Florida appellate court reversed a downward modification of child support based on the obligor's subsequent children, holding that begetting additional children is a voluntary act insufficient to justify deviation from child support guidelines absent special circumstances.
Begetting subsequent children is not an involuntary change of circumstances sufficient to justify downward modification of child support absent special circumstances.
[1] The birth of subsequent children by a child support obligor is a voluntary act and does not constitute a substantial involuntary change of circumstances justifying downwa…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Begetting a child is not an involuntary act. Absent some special circumstance, the presence of subsequent children will not justify a deviation from child support guidelines.”
Court's statement of controlling law regarding subsequent children and child support modification.
Rivera fathered a child with Gimeno and later fathered three additional children with another woman, then sought downward modification of his child su…
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This is an appeal by Gracia Gim-eno from a downward modification of Nal-tan Rivera’s child support obligation in a post-paternity modification proceeding, based upon the fact that Rivera has fathered three more children by another woman after having fathered a child with Gimeno. It is settled law that a party moving for a downward modification of child support has the burden of proving (1) a substantial change of circumstances, (2) not contemplated at the time of the final judgment of dissolution or, as in this case, an order determining paternity, (3) that is sufficient, material, involuntary, and permanent in nature. Overbey v. Overbey, 698 So.2d 811, 814 (Fla.1997); Burkley v. Burkley, 911 So.2d 262, 268 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005); Laliberte v. Laliberte, 698 So.2d 1291, 1293 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997). Begetting a child is not an involuntary act. Absent some special circumstance, the presence of subsequent children will not justify a deviation from child support guidelines. See § 61.12(b), Fla. Stat. (2013); State, Dep’t of Revenue v. Feeney, 689 So.2d 350, 351-352 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997); Robinson v. Robinson, 657 So.2d 958, 960 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995).1
For the foregoing reason, we reverse the order of the trial court and remand this case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Overbey v. Overbey, 698 So. 2d 811 (Fla. 1997)
- Burkley v. Burkley, 911 So. 2d 262 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005)
- Robinson v. Robinson, 657 So. 2d 958 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995)
- Laliberte v. Laliberte, 698 So. 2d 1291 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997)
- Kipp v. State, 703 So. 2d 1121 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997)
- Pohlmann v. Pohlmann, 703 So. 2d 1121 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997)
- State v. Feeney, 689 So. 2d 350 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997)