NO. 93-013
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA
1993
IN RE THE PATERNITY OF W-L., a Minor:
ELIZABETH LAMDIN,
Petitioner and Appellant,
V.
ANGELO FERRARA,
Respondent and Respondent.
APPEAL FROM: District Court of the Thirteenth Judicial District,
In and for the County of Yellowstone,
The Honorable William J. Speare, Judge presiding.
COUNSEL OF RECORD:
For Appellant:
Donald L. Harris, Crowley, Haughey, Hanson, Toole
and Dietrich, Billings, Montana
For Respondent:
Mark D. Parker, Parker Law Firm, Billings, Montana
Submitted on Briefs: May 13, 1993
Decided: June 23, 1993
Chief Justice J. A. Turnage delivered the Opinion of the Court.
The mother appeals from the findings, conclusions, and order
entered in this paternity action in the District Court for the
Thirteenth Judicial District, Yellowstone County. We affirm in
part and reverse and remand in part.
The issues are:
1. Did the District Court err by not applying the uniform
child support guidelines to determine child support?
2. Did the court err by failing to award the mother past
child support?
3. Did the court err by failing to award the mother her lost
wages during the period of her confinement?
4. Did the court err by failing to order the father to pay
child support for W.L.'s college education?
5. Did the court err by failing to grant the mother sole
custody of W.L.?
6. Did the court err by finding that the best interest of
W.L. does not require that the mother remain home to raise him?
7. Did the court err by failing to award the mother her
attorney fees and costs?
W.L. was sixteen months old at the time of trial. His mother,
a registered nurse, and his father, a cardiologist, never married.
As is indicated by the issues on appeal, the focus of this action
is on child support, not on paternity, which has been conceded.
2
W.L.'s father, who now lives in another state, has an annual
income of nearly $280,000. During the first year of W.L.'s life,
the father voluntarily paid the costs of W.L.'s birth and $2,000
per month in child support. This allowed W.L.'s mother to stay
home and raise him during that time. After W.L.' s first birthday,
the father reduced his child support from $2,000 per month to
$1,000 per month. W.L. Is mother returned to work and placed W.L.
in day-care. Then she brought this action.
After a hearing, the District Court granted the parties joint
legal custody of W.L. with the mother as residential custodian. It
ordered the father to pay child support of $950 per month. It
denied the mother's request for attorney fees and costs and her
lost wages immediately after W.L.'s birth. The court did not grant
the mother's requests that it order the father to pay for a college
education for W.L. or that it order the father to pay past child
support. The mother appeals.
I
Did the District Court err by not applying the uniform child
support guidelines to determine child support?
The District Court found that, from the evidence presented,
necessary expenses for the care of W.L. are no more than $700 per
month. The court concluded that the child support guidelines
apply. It stated, however, that
[c]hild support is meant to support the child, not the
custodial parent of the child. The noncustodial parent
has no obligation to support the custodial parent. Child
3
support should not be used as a subterfuge to award
maintenancetothe custodial parent. [Citations omitted.]
As stated above, the court ordered child support of $950 per month.
The mother contends that the uniform child support guidelines
enacted by the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services
pursuant to § 40-5-209, MCA, require the father to pay $2,309.95
per month in child support.
The child support guidelines were amended after the hearing in
this matter but before the court issued its findings, conclusions,
and order. The effect of the amendment was to change the method by
which child support is calculated on parental income in excess of
$39,500 per year.
This Court recently held that district courts are to determine
child support obligations according to the guidelines in effect at
the times the court makes its decision. In re Marriage of Johnston
(Mont. 1992), 843 P.2d 760, 763, 49 St.Rep. 1047, 1049. The amount
of child support awarded in this case is therefore governed by the
guidelines which took effect on July 31, 1992.
The July 31, 1992 guidelines determine child support in cases
in which the parents' combined income exceeds $39,500 by adding 14
percent of the total income deemed available for child support
purposes to a basic support amount. Section 46.30.1534, ARM. In
making the child support order in this case, the District Court did
not use that procedure.
4
A district court can depart from the guidelines, but only if
it finds "by clear and convincing evidence that the application of
the standards and guidelines is unjust to the child or to any of
the parties or is inappropriate in that particular case." Section
40-6-116(6)(a), MCA. In such a situation, a district court is
required to "state its reasons for finding that the application of
such standards and guidelines is unjust to the child or a party or
is inappropriate inthatparticular case." Section 40-6-116(6)(b),
MCA. In this case, the District Court has not met those statutory
requirements for departing from the guidelines.
We remand this case for reconsideration of the proper amount
of child support to be paid by the father to the mother and, if
necessary, for entry of the required findings and conclusions in
support of the court's determination as to child support.
II
Did the court err by failing to award the mother past child
support?
The mother asks for past child support to reflect the
difference between the amount the father should have been paying
under the child support guidelines and the amount he actually paid.
She concedes that the proper amount of past child support is
established under the guidelines then in effect as 13.65 percent of
the first $39,500 of parental income, supplemented on a case-by-
case basis from the remaining income. Section 46.30.1543(2), ARM
(1990).
5
As discussed under Issue I, departures from the guidelines
must comply with 5 40-6-116(6)(a) and (b), MCA. On remand, the
District Court is directed to make such adjustments to its
findings, conclusions, and order concerning past child support as
are necessary as a result of this Opinion.
III
Did the court err by failing to award the mother her lost
wages during the period of her confinement?
Section 40-6-116(3)(c), MCA, provides that, in a paternity
action, the court may direct the father to pay "the reasonable
expenses of the mother's pregnancy and confinement." The mother
contends that, under that statute, she is entitled to $3,000 as
compensation for the net income she lost during the last weeks of
her pregnancy and the first six weeks after W.L. was born.
We decline to interpret § 40-6-116(3)(c), MCA, so broadly as
to include lost wages as a reasonable exnense of the mother's
pregnancy and confinement. We hold that the District Court did not
err in failing to award the mother those lost wages.
IV
Did the court err by failing to order the father to pay child
support for W.L. 's college education?
Section 40-4-208(5), MCA, provides that a child support
obligation terminates no later than the child's nineteenth birthday
"unless the termination date is extended or knowingly waived by
written agreement or by an express provision of the decree." The
6
mother cites this Court's opinion in Torma v. Torma (1982), 198
Mont. 161, 645 P.2d 395, as authority that a district court cannot
later modify child support to extend beyond a child's emancipation
unless the original decree so provided. She claims the District
Court erred in assuming it would retain continuing jurisdiction so
that it could later provide for W.L.'s college education.
Section 40-4-208(5), MCA, and Torma do not control the issue
of future educational support in this case, however. The mother
did not bring her action under Title 40, Chapter 4, MCA, which
governs child support in the context of marriage dissolution
actions. She, instead, brought her action under the Uniform
Parentage Act, Title 40, Chapter 6, MCA. In the instant case,
5 40-6-118, MCA, controls. That statute provides that "[t]he court
has continuing jurisdiction to modify or revoke a judgment or
order: (1) for future education and support[.]" (Emphasis added.)
Under that section of the code, the District Court retains
jurisdiction to modify its initial support order to provide for the
educational needs of the child. We therefore hold that the
District Court did not err.
V
Did the court err by failing to grant the mother sole custody
of W.L.?
There is no dispute about the actual custodial arrangement,
just about whether it is called joint custody or sole custody. The
mother contends that the court did not consider the factors
7
required pursuant to § 40-4-212, MCA, for deciding custody. She
argues that the case should be remanded for entry of further
findings on the issue of custody.
The father points out that the court heard a day's worth of
testimony in this case, and that it was not disputed that the
mother is doing a good job of raising W.L. or that she should be
his primary custodian. He also points out the statutory presump-
tion favoring joint legal custody. See § 40-4-222, MCA.
The District Court found that both parents and W.L. are in
good health. It found that W.L. has lived with his mother since
his birth and that the father has visited him on numerous occa-
sions. These findings relate directly to factors listed under
5 40-4-212, MCA, for determining the best interest of a child. The
court made no findings which rebut the statutory presumption
favoring joint custody.
We conclude that the court has met its obligation to state the
determining factors upon which it based its decision on child
custody in the best interest of W.L. We hold that the court did
not err in failing to grant the mother sole custody of W.L.
VI
Did the court err by finding that the best interest of W.L.
does not require that the mother remain home to raise him?
The mother claims that it would be in W.L.'s best interest for
her to work only part-time, because she alone is raising him. She
a
proposed to work two days a week and to stay home with W.L. five
days a week.
As the father points out, the court cannot order the mother to
stay home and raise W.L. Best interest as defined at § 40-4-212,
MCA, is used to determine the type of custody arrangement for a
child, not to determine the employment status of the parents. We
hold that the court did not err in finding that the best interest
of W.L. does not require the mother to stay home to raise him.
VII
Did the court err by failing to award the mother her attorney
fees and costs?
The mother argues that, in light of the parents' relative
incomes and the father's position that he should be obligated to
pay only $600 per month in child support, the District Court
committed reversible error by failing to award her reasonable
attorney fees and costs.
Montana statutes do not provide for the award of attorney fees
in a paternity action. We hold that the District Court did not err
in failing to award the mother her attorney fees in this action.
Affirmed in part and reversed and remanded in part.
9
We concur:
June 23, 1993
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that the following order was sent by United States mail, prepaid, to the following
named:
Donald L. Harris
Crowley, Haughey, Hanson, Toole & Dietrich
P. 0. Box 2529
Billings, MT 59103-2529
Mark D. Parker
Parker Law Firm
P. 0. Box 7212
Billings, MT 59103-7212
ED SMITH
CLERK OF THE SUPREME COURT
STATE-OF MONTANA