East v. Stephens
Annotate this CaseLeon East and Donia Stephens divorced in 2002. They entered a settlement which was incorporated into their divorce decree. By their settlement, East and Stephens agreed that Stephens would have custody of their two children, and East would pay weekly child support and would reimburse Stephens for certain miscellaneous expenses that she incurred for the benefit of the children, including "one-half of the minor children’s school expenses. East later petitioned for a modification of the decree, and the trial court granted that petition in part in March 2011. The order of modification said nothing expressly about miscellaneous expenses, but it specified that any and all other provisions of the incorporated settlement "not modified herein shall remain in full force and effect." Following the modification, Stephens moved to have East held in contempt for, among other things, his failure to pay half of miscellaneous expenses that she incurred on behalf of the children. The trial court held East in contempt for that failure, as well as other failures to meet his court-ordered obligations. The court specifically rejected East’s contention that the March 2011 modification discontinued and superseded his obligation in the 2002 decree and incorporated settlement to pay half of the miscellaneous expenses. East appealed the trial court's contempt order, contending that he could not be held in contempt for failing to pay miscellaneous expenses for the children when the modification order directed him to pay the presumptive child support amount and made no deviation for miscellaneous expenses. Upon review, the Supreme Court agreed with East and reversed the final contempt order to the extent that East was held in contempt for failure to pay a portion of the miscellaneous expenses that Stephens incurred for the benefit of the children.
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