No. 82-184 

IN THE SUPREME COUKT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA 

1982 

EARL I?. McCONNELL, 

Plaintiff and Appellant, 

VS. 

NINA R. DEWSTER, formerly 

known as NINA R. McCONNELL, 

Defendant and Respondent. 

Appeal from: District Court of the Eighteenth Judicial. District, 

In and for the County of Gallatin 

Honorable W. W. Lessley, Judge presiding. 

Counsel of Record: 

For Plaintiff: 

Berg, Coil, Stokes & Tollefsen; Michael C. Coil, Bozeman, 

Montana 

For Defendant: 

Morrow, Sedivy, Olson & Eck; Edmund P. Sedivy, Bozeman, 

Montana 

Submitted on briefs: August 19, 1982 

Decided: September 10, 1982 
4. Determine there is a clear abuse of the discretion 

of the District Court. 

5. Decide that there was an arbitrary exercise of 

discretion without the employment of conscientious judgment. 

6. Hold that child support payments may only be modified 

upon a showing that there are changes in the situation of the 

child so substantial and continuous as to make the original 

child support payments unconscionable. 

However, the primary and only issue we need to address 

is whether the District Court's judgment of May 21, 1981, is 

supported by substantial credible evidence. 

On review, this Court must determine whether there is 

sufficient evidence in the record to sustain the findings of 

the District Court. Only when the findings of the District 

Court are clearly erroneous will they be set aside. Rule 

52(a), M.R.Civ.P.; Baer v. Baer (1982), - IYlon t . - , 647 

P.2d 835, 39 St.Rep. 1178. 

The record shows that the father proposed the establishment 

of a trust for the benefit of the child; the mother's expense 

to support the child is between $210 and $260 per month; the 

mother is providing housing and transp~rtation for the child 

and the father of the child is able to provide $200 per month 

for the child's support and $100 per month in trust for the 

child's future. In this case, the mother is supplying 

substantial support by providing housing and transportation. 

There is substantial credible evidence in the record 

to affirm the judgment of the District Court. Therefore, 

the determination of the father's child support obligation 

is not clearly erroneous. Rule 52 (a) , M. R. Civ. P . 

Affirmed. 
Mr. Justice John C. Sheehy delivered the Opinion of the 

Court. 

Appeal by husband Earl P. McConnell from a judgment 

against him in the District Court, Eighteenth Judicial 

District, Gallatin County. He was ordered to pay to Nina R. 

Dempster, wife and respondent $200.00 per month child support 

for their minor son and $100.00 per month to a trust established 

for the child. We affirm the ~istrict Court. 

This petition for modification of a child support 

provision by the mother against the father on behalf of the 

minor child, Clinton Earl McConnell, was previously before 

this Court. In Dempster v. McConnell (1981), - Mont . - I 

622 P.2d 680, 38 St.Rep. 121, the appeal was remanded to the 

District Court for entry of consistent findings and conclusions in conformity with the opinion of this Court. 

A motion to enter judgment on remittitur was made and 

argued on May 11, 1981. The District Court's judgment on 

remittitur, entered May 21, 1981, stated: 

"That Plaintiff shall pay the sum of Two Hundred 

Dollars ($200.00) per month, plus medical and 

dental bills of Clinton Earl NcConnell, beginning 

July 1, 1981; that an additional One Hundred 

Dollars ($100.00) shall be paid into a trust fund 

established in the name of Clinton Earl McConnell, 

said trust to be for the boy's exclusive use. The 

Petitioner and Respondent shall be co-Trustees charged 

with the care and accounting of said trust fund." 

The father appeals this order and asks this Court to: 

1. Decide whether there is substantial credible 

evidence to support the findings and conclusions. 

2. Overturn the findings and conclusions if there is 

a clear preponderance of evidence against them. 

3. Consider the evidence in the light most favorable 

to the prevailing party. 
We Concur: