LEVODIS ARTRIP V. JAMES STEPHEN NOE
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APPELLANT
LEVODIS ARTRIP
ON REVIEW FROM COURT OF APPEALS
CASE NO. 2008-CA-001115-ME
FAYETTE CIRCUIT COURT NO. 97-CI-01784
APPELLEE
JAMES STEPHEN NOE
OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUSTICE CUNNINGHAM
AFFIRMING
.
Pursuant to their Property Settlement Agreement and the Decree of
Dissolution of Marriage entered August 12, 1997, Levodis Artrip and James
Stephen Noe were awarded joint custody of their two minor daughters.
According to the agreement, Artrip was named the primary residential
custodian and Noe was required to pay child support in the amount of $300.00
per month for twenty-four months, and $400 .00 per month thereafter . This
agreement continued until May 2007, when the parties executed a Domestic
Mediation Agreement. This agreement made Noe the primary residential
custodian of the children on a temporary basis while Artrip finalized her
relocation to Florida .
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By order dated August 14, 2007, Noe was to remain the primary
residential custodian . Noe moved for child support, and on September 11,
2007, the trial court found that Artrip owed child support in the amount of
$415.00 per month . This obligation was later increased to $563 .79 per month
when Artrip ceased paying for the children's health insurance . On March 20,
2008, Artrip filed a motion to modify child support and requested a $265 .00
per month deduction due to the children's receipt of approximately $800 .00 per
month in Social Security benefits resulting from Noe's disability. After a
hearing, the trial court determined that, pursuant to KRS 403 .211(3)(d), the
children's Social Security income was the type of independent financial
resource that allowed for an appropriate adjustment of the child support
guidelines set forth in KRS 403 .212 . Accordingly, the trial court allowed the
$265 .00 deduction and set Artrip's child support obligation at $303 .62 per
month. Noe appealed, and in its opinion dated April 3, 2009, the Kentucky
Court of Appeals held that only Noe, the disabled parent, was entitled to claim
credit for the children's Social Security disability benefits . The case was
remanded to the Fayette Circuit Family Court to recalculate Artrip's child
support obligation . This Court granted discretionary review on October 21,
2009 .
Artrip raises two issues on appeal : (1) the Court of Appeals erred in its
statutory interpretation of KRS 403 .211 ; and (2) the Court of Appeals erred in
failing to acknowledge and reconcile the statutory provisions of KRS 403 .211 .
For the following reasons, we affirm the decision of the Court of Appeals .
KRS 403.211(15)
This statute states in pertinent part : A payment of money received by a
child as a result of a parental disability shall be credited against the child
support obligation of the parent. A payment shall not be counted as income to
either parent when calculating a child support obligation .
In interpreting KRS 403 .211(15), 1 the Court of Appeals stated that a
child support credit based upon Social Security disability benefits "may only be
taken by the disabled parent from whom the payments stem." This is the case,
according to the Court of Appeals, because "these social security benefits in
essence step into the shoes of the income lost by the father as a result of his
disability." Artrip, however, contends that the Court of Appeals failed to
consider the "clear statutory language" of KRS 403 .211(15), which refers to "the
parent" and "either parent" as opposed to "the disabled parent." According to
Artrip, had the legislature intended to restrict the statute's applicability, it
would have done so . However, it appears equally convincing that by use of the
word "either" when excluding such payments to be considered in calculating
child support but not when dealing with "parental disability," the legislature
did not intend to extend the credit to either or both parents. In addition, Artrip
argues that the court erroneously relied upon Miller v. Miller, 929 S .W .2d 202
(Ky.App . 1996) to reach its conclusion .
The opinion of the Court of Appeals, rendered April 3, 2009, refers to subsection (14)
of KRS 403.211, which is now subsection (15) .
At the outset, we note that this issue is purely a matter of statutory
interpretation. Statutory interpretation is a question of law and this Court
reviews it de novo. Neurodiagnostics, Inc. v. Kentucky Farm Bureau Mut. Ins.
Co., 250 S .W .3d 321, 325 (Ky. 2008) .
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The great weight of authority, and Kentucky courts have so held, states
that Social Security benefits received by a child for a disability sustained by the
non-custodial parent may be credited against the non-custodial parent's child
support obligation . Miller, 929 S .W.2d at 204 . See also Michael A. DiSabatino,
Right to Credit on Child Support Payments for Social Security or Other
Government Dependency Payments, 34 A .L.R. 5th 447 (1995) . However, in this
case, the Fayette Circuit Family Court applied a credit to the child support
obligation of the non-custodial parent for Social Security benefits based upon a
disability suffered by the custodial parent.
It defies both common sense and the plain wording of the statute to hold
that the non-disabled parent is entitled to a credit for his or her child support
obligation due to the Social Security disability payments of the disabled parent .
Such an interpretation would clearly reach an absurd result. See
Commonwealth v. Reynolds, 136 S.W .3d 442, 445 (Ky. 2004) ("We should not
add or subtract from the statute, nor should we interpret the statute to provide
an absurd result.") . KRS 403 .211(15) indicates that disability payments
received by the child are to be credited to "the child support obligation" of "the
parent." Clearly, the legislature intended that "the parent" receiving the credit
is to be the non-custodial disabled parent with the child support obligation .
Furthermore, such reasoning is in line with the nature of Social Security
disability benefits . The nature of these benefits was clearly laid out in Miller,
where the Kentucky Court of Appeals stated:
Social Security disability payments represent money
which an employee has earned during his employment
and also that which his employer has paid for his
benefit into a common trust fund under the Social
Security Act. 42 U.S.C . § 301 et seq. These payments
are for the purpose of replacing income lost because of
the employee's inability to work upon becoming
disabled. Thus, these payments substitute as income .
Miller, 929 S .W.2d at 204 (quoting Horton v. Horton, 132 S .E.2d 200, 201 (Ga.
1963)) .
In essence, the Social Security disability benefits received on behalf of
the parties' minor children are merely a substitute for the wages Noe would
have received, but for his disability, and from which his support payments
would otherwise have been made. See Board v. Board, 690 S .W.2d 380, 382
(Ky. 1985) ; Wilson v. Stenwall, 868 P.2d 1317, 1319 (Okla . Civ . App. 1992)
("Social Security benefits are analogous to private insurance, where a parent
insures against his ability to fulfill moral and legal obligations due his minor
children. The payments to a minor child are a direct result of the earnings and
payments of the parent through his prior employment .") .
We have found no authority, and Artrip points to none, which allows a
parent, who is not the disabled party through which the child is receiving
Social Security benefits, a credit against child support payments . Here, the
Social Security disability benefits were earned by Noe, made on behalf of Noe,
and, in fact, paid at least in part with contributions from Noe's own earnings.
Thus, we hold that Noe, not Artrip, is entitled to the credit for those benefits
against any child support obligation .
Deviation from child support guidelines
Artrip next complains that the Court of Appeals failed to make a finding
that the determination of the Fayette Circuit Family Court was "an abuse of
discretion, arbitrary, capricious, or otherwise unfair." Specifically, Artrip states
that the Court of Appeals gave no direction to the trial court as to how Noe's
Social Security benefits were to be considered in the calculation of Artrip's
child support obligation . Artrip alleges that the necessary implication of the
ruling is that these benefits cannot be considered by the trial court when the
obligor is not the disabled parent from whom the benefits are derived.
The trial court is vested with broad discretion in the establishment,
enforcement, and modification of child support. Accordingly, this Court
reviews child support matters under an abuse of discretion standard, i.e.,
whether the decision was arbitrary, unreasonable, unfair, or unsupported by
sound legal principles . McKinney v. McKinney, 257 S .W .3d 130, 133 (Ky.App.
2008) .
Child support issues are governed by KRS 403 .211, and deviation from
the guidelines is governed by subsection 3, which provides in pertinent part:
A written finding or specific finding on the record that
the application of the guidelines would be unjust or
inappropriate in a particular case shall be sufficient to
rebut the presumption and allow for an appropriate
adjustment of the guideline award if based upon one
(1) or more of the following criteria :
(d) The independent financial resources, if any, of the
child or children ;
(g) Any similar factor of an extraordinary nature
specifically identified by the court which would make
application of the guidelines inappropriate .
The trial court specifically found: "The children's receipt of Social
Security benefits in the sum of $800 per month is a type of independent
financial resource that may be considered for deviation from the child support
guidelines . . . ."
While this Court is cognizant of the fact that the Court of Appeals has
previously recognized supplemental Social Security income as an independent
financial resource of the child, we believe that the situation presented in this
case is sufficiently distinguishable . Barker v. Hill, 949 S.W.2d 896, 897 (Ky.
App . 1997) ("In determining whether application of the guidelines would be
unjust or inappropriate, we believe that an appropriate circumstance to
consider is the SSI received by the child as an independent financial
resource.") . In Barker, the Court of Appeals was dealing with supplemental
security income. "It is like a welfare program based on need ." Barker at 897.
There, it was a disabled child, not a parent, receiving supplemental Social
Security income. In contrast to Social Security benefits awarded to a child due
to the contributing parent's disability, as is the case here, SSI benefits awarded
to a disabled child are not intended to replace any lost income .
Paton v. Paton,
742 N.E.2d 619, 621 (Ohio 2001) . Instead, SSI benefits are granted to provide
parents of disabled children additional funds to offset the increased financial
burden incumbent with children who are physically or mentally disabled . 42
U .S.C. § 1381a (1973) .
While Social Security benefits of the type at issue here are arguably a
financial resource of a recipient, we do not believe that such benefits are the
type of "independent financial resource" that would allow a trial court to
deviate from the basic child support guidelines . Indeed, allowing the trial court
to consider the Social Security benefits of the disabled parent when calculating
the child support obligation of the non-disabled parent would, in effect, nullify
the mandate of KRS 403 .211(15) . As stated earlier, KRS 403 .211(15) does not
allow the non-disabled parent to receive a child support credit for the Social
Security disability payments of the disabled parent. If the trial court instead
were to consider these payments as "independent financial resources" of the
child, a back door would be created whereby the court essentially gives the
non-disabled parent credit for such payments.
The Social Security benefits paid to a child because of a parent's
disability are not a mere gratuity. Here, the benefits were generated by Noe's
own earnings, with the attendant payment of Social Security taxes. Hence, the
payments are properly regarded as a substitute for support payments from
Noe's own earnings . Allowing Artrip to receive a credit in this case would
frustrate the intent of KRS 403 .211(15) and would do little more than create a
windfall by diminishing her obligation to pay child support. To hold otherwise
would allow the "[m]other [to] directly benefit by the fruits of [f]ather's labor."
Stenwall, 868 P.2d at 1319 . In other words, it would be illogical to think that
the legislature would exempt the parent's disability benefits from being
calculated for income purposes under KRS 403 .211(15), and yet allow those
same benefits to be considered for deviation from the child support guidelines .
By finding that the Social Security disability payments constituted
"independent financial resources" of the children pursuant to KRS
403 .211(3) (d)', the Fayette Circuit Family Court abused its discretion .
Accordingly, we affirm the decision of the Court of Appeals and remand
this case to the Fayette Circuit Family Court for recalculation of Artrip's child
support obligation.
Minton, C .J . ; Abramson and Schroder, JJ ., concur. Noble, J ., concurs in
result only by separate opinion, in which Scott and Venters, JJ., join.
NOBLE, J ., CONCURRING IN RESULT ONLY: Initially, the two children
involved in this case lived with their mother after their parents' divorce
pursuant to an agreement which gave the parties joint custody . At that time,
the parties were dealing with child support by agreement . The father was first
paying $200 per month in support, which after 24 months increased to $400
per month . In the meantime, the mother remarried, and her new husband was
relocated to Florida due to employment. The father also became disabled in the
interim .
Due to the mother's relocation, the parties went to a Domestic
Mediation to resolve several issues . They agreed that the girls would
temporarily reside with the father for the last month of school, and most of the
summer, while the mother relocated to Florida. They agreed that the father
would receive the $794 per month the girls were receiving from his disability,
and that thereafter, whomever the girls resided with would receive it. They
further agreed that the father would completely offset the child support
obligation he was previously ordered to pay against these funds . The father
sought no further support at that time.
In August, the father filed a motion requesting information about the
mother's retirement account, and orally asked the court to set child support.
Although she was unemployed at the time, the mother agreed that the child
support obligation of the parents could be calculated using her income from
her previous job . The trial court calculated support based on KRS 403 .2 12,
but decided to deviate from the guidelines because of the income the children
were receiving from Social Security. The mother did not find employment in
Florida, and returned to Lexington, Kentucky three months later, in November.
She returned to her previous employment but at a significantly reduced salary.
She then filed a motion to modify child support, and requested the same
reduction she had been given based on the children's Social Security income.
The problem with this case is how the court determined what the
reduction should be, not with the court's authority to deviate from the
guidelines. When the trial judge allowed the initial deviation, which he said
was based on the children having independent income, he applied one-third of
that income against the mother's support obligation for a reduction. He was
not authorized to do this .
Where I do not agree with the majority is its reasoning that children's
Social Security benefits cannot be considered to be independent income as the
basis for a trial court to deviate from the support guidelines. Clearly it can be,
if the statute is properly applied . The rule the majority adopts avoids the plain
language of the statutes, and can lead to an improper result in the next case.
KRS 403.211(3) provides that a trial court can make a written and
specific finding that "application of the guidelines would be unjust or
inappropriate in a particular case," and that such a finding would be sufficient
to rebut the presumption that the guidelines amount was appropriate.
However, that finding must be based on one of several grounds, one of which is
the independent financial resources of the children under KRS 403 .211(3)(d) .
The statute does not define what an independent resource is, but for purposes
of calculating child support based on the parents' income pursuant to KRS
403 .212, "income" includes Social Security benefits. Presumably, such
benefits can thus be included in children's independent income. When a trial
court determines that the independent income makes the child support
guidelines amount unjust, it can deviate .
This case is better understood if one looks at how child support amounts
are calculated . First, KRS 403 .212(2)(a) provides that the income of each
parent must be determined to arrive at "actual gross income ." This section, as
mentioned above, specifically provides that Social Security benefits must be
used to arrive at actual gross income . The actual gross income of each parent
is then added together pursuant to KRS 403 .212(2)(g) to arrive at the
"combined monthly adjusted gross parental income," after allowing for
deductions for certain statutory payments to be deducted from the gross
income of the parent ordered to make the payments . Then, pursuant to
KRS 403 .212(3), the combined monthly adjusted gross parental income is
applied to the table in KRS 403 .212(7) to determine the child support
obligation from that table, which the parents are then ordered to pay "in
proportion" to their share of the combined monthly gross parental income.
Thus if the father's proportionate share of the combined incomes is 60%, for
example, then he would be obligated for 60% of the total child support
obligation taken from the table .
The trial court is allowed to deviate from the table amount of child
support when it finds that "application of the guidelines would be unjust or
inappropriate," KRS 403 .211(3), or when the adjusted parental gross income
exceeds "the uppermost levels of the guideline table." KRS 403.412(5) . It is the
total amount of support (table amount) from which the court can deviate, not
the individual support obligation of one parent.
In application, this means that if the table amount for child support is
$600 from both parents, the trial court can consider the child's independent
income to reduce the table amount to $500, for example, if that would be just
and appropriate . Then each parent would still pay his or her proportionate
share of that amount based on his or her share of the combined gross parental
income. In this manner, the court can make an equitable reduction that
relieves both parents of some amount of table support which is offset by the
children's independent income to some degree .
In addition to this reduction, however, if the income comes from Social
Security based on disability, the disabled parent is entitled to offset dollar for
dollar the amount of his child support against the independent income that
comes to the child through him pursuant to KRS 403 .211(15) . Here, this
would probably zero out the father's support' obligation based on his
proportionate share of the combined gross parental income .
Unfortunately, what the trial judge stated on the record was that he was
reducing the mother's support obligation by one-third of the children's Social
Security benefits. The majority is correct that he cannot do this, and that there
is no statutory basis to do so. This does not mean, however, that in an
appropriate case those benefits could not be considered by the trial court to
deviate from the total support amount from the table. Had the trial court made
written findings on the record as to why the independent income of the
children made the total monthly support obligation from the table unjust or
inappropriate, he would have been well within his discretion pursuant to KRS
403 . 211(3) .
Consequently, due to the specific facts of this case, I agree with the
result reached by the majority, but cannot agree with its legal reasoning, which
I believe sets bad precedent.
Scott and Venters, JJ ., join this opinion, concurring in result only.
COUNSEL FOR APPELLANT:
Debra Ann Doss
108 Pasadena Drive
Suite 200
Lexington, KY 40503-2967
COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE :
Patrick Byron Shirley
809 Tiffanie Ct.
Lexington, KY 40514
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