Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision | 39A04-1408-JP-375 | February 10. 2015 Page 1 of 22

MEMORANDUM DECISION

Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this 

Memorandum Decision shall not be regarded as 

precedent or cited before any court except for the 

purpose of establishing the defense of res judicata, 

collateral estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT

Brian L. Ciyou

Lori B. Schmeltzer

Ciyou & Dixon. P.C.

Indianapolis, Indiana

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE

Mary Beth Mock

Madison, Indiana

I N T H E

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

In Re the Paternity of V.A., 

A Minor Child

Robert Anderson (Father),

Appellant-Petitioner,

v.

Billy Jo Youngblood (Mother),

Appellee-Respondent

February 10, 2015

Court of Appeals Cause No.

39A04-1408-JP-375

Appeal from the Jefferson Circuit

Court

The Honorable Ted R. Todd, Judge

Cause No. 39C01-1108-JP-28 

Riley, Judge.
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STATEMENT OF THE CASE

[1] Appellant-Petitioner, Robert Steven Anderson (Father), appeals the trial court’s 

Order on Remand, with respect to issues of custody, parenting time, and child 

support in his proceedings against Appellee-Respondent, Billy Jo Youngblood 

(Mother).

We affirm in part and remand.

ISSUES

[2] Father raises three issues on appeal, which we restate as follows:

(1) Whether the trial court erred by failing to make a determination of legal 

custody;

(2) Whether the trial court abused its discretion by declining to impose any 

sanctions after finding Mother in contempt; and

(3) Whether the trial court abused its discretion in its calculation of Father’s 

child support obligation.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

[3] Father and Mother have one child together, Vernon-William Ray-Steven 

Anderson (Child), born on June 30, 2003. Within a few days of the Child’s 

birth, Father established his paternity by executing a paternity affidavit. Father 

and Mother never married, but they lived together in Madison, Jefferson 

County, Indiana, for the first eight years of the Child’s life. Mother, who has 

three other children from different relationships, stayed home to care for the 

children, whereas Father periodically worked and also spent a substantial 
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amount of time in Bloomington, Indiana, in pursuit of his undergraduate 

degree at Indiana University.

[4] The parties’ nine-year relationship ended on July 26, 2011, when Mother 

moved out of the house, taking the Child with her. Soon after she moved into 

her new apartment, Mother obtained a protective order against Father. 

According to Mother, Father had started physically abusing her in January of 

2011 and began physically abusing the Child and her other son in May of 2011.

[5] On August 3, 2011, Father filed a Petition to Establish Paternity, and for 

Custody, Parenting Time, and Support in the Jefferson County Circuit Court. 

In his Petition, Father requested that he be awarded sole custody of the Child.

At an emergency hearing on August 12, 2011, the trial court determined that 

the Child should remain in Mother’s custody until a hearing could be held on 

all of the issues.

[6] After she moved out, Mother did not permit Father to see the Child for nearly 

five months. On December 19, 2011, the trial court adopted the parties’ agreed 

provisional order (Parenting Time Order), granting Father supervised parenting 

time once a week for no more than one and one-half hours. Father was also 

permitted to have a telephone conversation with the Child every Tuesday and 

Thursday evening. After several supervised visits, Father was gradually 

afforded increased and unsupervised parenting time.

[7] On March 7, 2012, Father filed an Affidavit in Support of Rule to Show Cause

(Contempt Petition), alleging Mother to be in contempt of the Parenting Time
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Order because she denied his right to have a telephone conversation with the 

Child on March 1, 2012. The next day, the parties submitted an agreed 

provisional order for child support. In accordance therewith, the trial court 

ordered Father to pay $40.00 per week during the pendency of the proceedings.

[8] On May 21 and June 19, 2012, the trial court conducted a hearing on custody, 

support, parenting time, and Father’s Contempt Petition. On August 24, 2012, 

the trial court issued its Order. Regarding Father’s petition to establish custody 

and parenting time, the trial court found that it would be in the Child’s “best 

interest to be in the custody of his [M]other, with his [F]ather exercising 

parenting time pursuant to the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines.” 

(Appellant’s App. p. 39). As to child support, the trial court found Father to be 

“underemployed” and increased his weekly support obligation from $40.00 to 

$60.00, retroactive to July 20, 2012. (Appellant’s App. p. 40). The Order did 

not address Father’s Contempt Petition. 

[9] On September 12, 2012, Father appealed the trial court’s Order, asserting that 

the trial court failed to rule on the issue of legal custody and on his Contempt 

Petition. Father also challenged the trial court’s determination of child support. 

During the pendency of that appeal, on November 14, 2012, Father filed a 

motion for a change of judge, a verified petition to modify physical and legal 

custody and child support, and a verified petition for contempt. Two days later, 

his motion for a change of judge was granted, and on November 30, 2012, the 

Ripley County Superior Court (Ripley Court) assumed jurisdiction. On 
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February 27, 2013, the Ripley Court dismissed the remainder of Father’s 

outstanding petitions, citing lack of jurisdiction due to the pending appeal.

[10] On May 10, 2013, our court issued a memorandum decision, partially affirming

the trial court’s Order and remanding with specific instructions. In re Paternity 

of V.A., No. 39A01-1209-JP-413 (Ind. Ct. App. May 10, 2013). First, finding

that “the issue of legal custody was placed squarely before the trial court,” we 

directed the trial court to make an express award of legal custody. Id. slip op. at 

9. Second, we instructed the court to specifically address Father’s Contempt 

Petition. Lastly, we asked the trial court to clarify its child support award “by 

showing either that the award complied with [Indiana’s] Child Support 

Guidelines or that the award deviated from the guidelines and explaining the 

deviation.” Id. slip op. at 10.

[11] Following our decision, a dispute arose regarding whether the trial court or the 

Ripley Court should rule on the remanded issues. Pursuant to Trial Rule 

63(A), the Ripley Court determined that the trial court was required to rule on 

the remanded matters. Father disagreed and appealed the issue to our court. 

On May 30, 2014, we affirmed the Ripley Court, finding that the trial court 

which heard the evidence should rule on the remanded issues. In re Paternity of 

V.A., 10 N.E.3d 61, 65 (Ind. Ct. App. 2014). 

[12] On July 21, 2014, the trial court issued its Order on Remand. In response to 

our instructions to expressly decide the Child’s legal custody, the trial court 

stated that its “position on that issue remains unchanged.” (Appellant’s App. p. 
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31). Additionally, the trial court found Mother in contempt for failing to abide 

by the Parenting Time Order but declined to impose any sanctions as it “would 

only cause unnecessary friction between the parties in their attempt to work 

together to be good parents to the Child.” (Appellant’s App. p. 32). Finally, 

the trial court recalculated Father’s child support obligation and ordered him to 

pay $95.00 per week, retroactive to July 20, 2012.

[13] Father now appeals. Additional facts will be provided as necessary.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

I. Standard of Review

[14] Where a trial court enters specific findings of fact and conclusions thereon, we 

apply a long-settled, two-tiered standard of review. See Ind. Trial Rule 52(A). 

First, we must consider whether the evidence supports the findings; second, we 

determine whether those findings support the judgment. Tompa v. Tompa, 867 

N.E.2d 158, 163 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007). We will not set aside the trial court’s 

findings or judgment unless clearly erroneous. Best v. Best, 941 N.E.2d 499, 502 

(Ind. 2011). Findings are clearly erroneous if there are no facts in the record to 

support them—either directly or by inference. Id. A judgment is clearly 

erroneous if the trial court relies on an incorrect legal standard. Dedek v. Dedek, 

851 N.E.2d 1048, 1050 (Ind. Ct. App. 2006). On appeal, we do not reweigh 

evidence or assess the credibility of witnesses; rather, we consider the evidence 

most favorable to the trial court’s determination, drawing all reasonable 

inferences in favor of the judgment. Best, 941 N.E.2d at 502. 
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[15] Our review is further guided by the longstanding principle that trial courts are 

entitled to a “particularly high degree of discretion” in the family law setting. 

MacLafferty v. MacLafferty, 829 N.E.2d 938, 940 (Ind. 2005). Thus, regardless of 

“[w]hether the standard of review is phrased as ‘abuse of discretion’ or ‘clear 

error,’” this deference is due because trial courts are generally “in the best 

position to judge the facts, to get a feel for the family dynamics, to get a sense of 

the parents and their relationship with their children—the kind of qualities that 

appellate courts would be in a difficult position to asses.” Id. We also 

recognize that “appeals that change the results below are especially disruptive in 

the family law setting.” Id.

II. Legal Custody

[16] In its Order, the trial court found that it would serve the Child’s “best interest to 

be in the custody of his [M]other.” (Appellant’s App. p. 39). Because the 

Child’s legal custody was a “substantive issue[] addressed by the parties at the 

hearing[,]” we remanded “for the trial court to expressly address the issue of 

legal custody.” In re Paternity of V.A., No. 39A01-1209-JP-413, slip op. at 8-9. 

In its Order on Remand, the trial court stated that its “position on that issue 

remains unchanged.” (Appellant’s App. p. 31). The trial court specifically

noted that it was “puzzled by the . . . remand” because the Order “contained 

three paragraphs setting forth reasons why the [trial] [c]ourt concluded that it is 

in the Child’s best interests to be in the custody of the [M]other.” (Appellant’s 

App. p. 31).
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[17] Father now claims that the trial court erred because it did not make a specific 

award of the Child’s legal custody. Mother concedes that the trial court 

erroneously failed to rule on this matter. Even though the parties agree that 

another remand is necessary for a determination of legal custody, we will briefly 

clarify our instructions in order to ensure that the trial court will not again be

“puzzled” by our remand. (Appellant’s App. p. 31).

[18] As our court has previously determined, “[p]hysical custody and legal custody 

are not equivalent.” Finnerty v. Clutter, 917 N.E.2d 154, 156 (Ind. Ct. App. 

2009). Physical custody concerns “the physical care and supervision of a 

child.” Id. at 156 n.1 (quoting Ind. Code § 31-21-2-16). Thus, the primary 

physical custodian provides the child’s primary residence and is “the person 

who cooks his meals, puts him to bed, and cares for him on a daily basis.” 

Lamb v. Wenning, 600 N.E.2d 96, 98 (Ind. 1992). On the other hand, legal 

custody entails the right to make important decisions about “the child’s 

upbringing, including the child’s education, health care, and religious training.” 

I.C. § 31-17-2-17(a); see Finnerty, 917 N.E.2d at 156 (noting that the “custodian” 

referenced in Indiana Code section 31-17-2-17 means “the legal custodian, not 

the physical custodian”). Although both require a consideration of the child’s 

best interest, physical custody and legal custody are separate determinations. See 

I.C. §§§ 31-17-2-8; -13; -15. An award of either joint or sole legal custody does 

not necessarily require a corresponding award of joint or primary physical 

custody and vice versa. See Gonzalez v. Gonzalez, 893 N.E.2d 333, 335 (Ind. Ct. 

App. 2008).
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[19] In our prior decision, we concluded that the trial court had only ruled on the 

Child’s physical custody. In large part, this is because the trial court 

immediately followed its decision to place the Child in Mother’s custody with 

an explanation of Father’s parenting time privileges—i.e., the time that the 

Child will physically spend in Father’s care. Furthermore, no findings were 

issued as to the parties’ rights to make decisions about the Child’s upbringing. 

In its Order on Remand, the trial court unequivocally stated that it did not alter 

its custody ruling, so we again remand this case with instructions to make 

explicit and distinct determinations of the Child’s legal and physical custody.

III. Sanctions for Contempt

[20] Next, Father claims that the trial court erred in several respects regarding its 

finding of contempt based on Mother’s failure “to abide by the letter and spirit 

of the [Parenting Time Order].” (Appellant’s #375 App. p. 33). A trial court 

may hold a party in contempt upon a finding that the party willfully disobeyed 

a court order. In re Paternity of P.B., 932 N.E.2d 712, 722 (Ind. Ct. App. 2010). 

A trial court’s determination of contempt will be reversed only for an abuse of 

discretion. Id. An abuse of discretion occurs if the trial court’s decision is 

contrary to the logic and effect of the facts and circumstances before it. Bessolo 

v. Rosario, 966 N.E.2d 725, 730 (Ind. Ct. App. 2012), trans. denied.

[21] Here, in its Order on Remand, the trial court specifically found that

there was a period of time between [the Parenting Time Order] of 

December 19, 2011 and the dates of the hearing when the matter of 

Father’s parenting time and communication with the Child was at 
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issue.

At the conclusion of the hearing[,] [the trial court] made the following 

observation on the record, “I’m pleased with the progress we have 

made so far in this case from where we started[.”] In view of that 

progress, the [c]ourt finds punishing Mother for contempt either then 

or at this time[] would only cause unnecessary friction between the 

parties in their attempt to work together to be good parents to the 

Child. It would not be in the Child’s best interest for the [c]ourt to so 

do.

(Appellant’s App. pp. 31-32).

[22] Father first posits that the trial court erroneously “discussed an entirely different 

issue than the interference with [his] telephone contact as per the [Parenting 

Time Order], and instead based its decision that Mother was in contempt on the 

fact that she denied Father parenting time and contact before the [Parenting 

Time Order] of December 19, 2011.” (Appellant’s Br. pp. 18-19). We disagree. 

The trial court specifically found that the interference with Father’s parenting 

time occurred between the December 29, 2011 Parenting Time Order and the 

hearing on May 21 and June 19, 2012. Although Father filed several contempt 

citations throughout this case, only his March 7, 2011 Contempt Petition was 

before the court at the hearing. In that Petition, Father cited a single denied 

phone call as ground for holding Mother in contempt. However, evidence 

elicited during the hearing also revealed that there were two or three additional 

missed phone calls during that period of time. Thus, it is evident that the trial 

court found Mother to be in contempt based upon her interference with
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parent/child communications between the time of the Parenting Time Order 

and the hearing. Thus, we find that Father has not presented a basis for error.

[23] Father next asserts that “it is unclear how the trial court could base a ruling as 

to the parties’ continued co-parenting efforts and progress ‘at this time,’ since it 

had not presided over the case” since November of 2012. (Appellant’s Br. p. 

19). Again, we find that Father’s argument reflects a misunderstanding of the 

Order on Remand. We do not find that the trial court’s reference to “at this 

time” is meant to suggest that the trial court has first-hand knowledge about the 

current state of the parties’ co-parenting relationship. Rather, the trial court 

acknowledged that, at the time of the hearing, the parties had made significant 

progress in their ability to cooperate. In fact, the evidence reveals that they had 

mutually agreed that Father could provide the Child with a cellular phone in 

order to resolve the communication issues. Because the trial court would not 

have disturbed the parties’ volatile relationship by imposing sanctions at that 

time, it had no reason to do so in its Order on Remand. We find no error.

[24] Finally, Father argues that because the trial court found Mother to be in 

contempt, it erred by “fail[ing] to issue any sanctions, despite that [the] same is 

required by statute upon a finding of a willful violation without just cause.” 

(Appellant’s Br. p. 20). He relies on the Parenting Time Statute, which 

provides, in part:

A court that finds an intentional violation without justifiable cause by 

a custodial parent of an injunction or a temporary restraining order 

issued under this chapter . . . :

(1) shall find the custodial parent in contempt of court;
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(2) shall order the exercise of parenting time that was not exercised due 

to the violation under this section at a time the court considers 

compatible with the schedules of the noncustodial parent and the 

child;

(3) may order payment by the custodial parent of reasonable 

attorney’s fees, costs, and expenses to the noncustodial parent; and

(4) may order the custodial parent to perform community restitution or 

service without compensation in a manner specified by the court.

I.C. § 31-17-4-8. Based on Mother’s undisputed violation of the Parenting Time 

Order, Father asserts that this statute mandates a finding of contempt and, at 

minimum, an order permitting him to exercise his missed parenting time. On 

the other hand, Mother claims that this provision is inapposite because there 

was no injunction or restraining order in place.1 We agree with Mother.

[25] Pursuant to the Parenting Time Statute, when a non-custodial parent is barred 

from exercising his parenting time, he may file “an application for an injunction 

against the custodial parent under” Indiana Trial Rule 65. I.C. § 31-17-4-4. 

After an injunction is sought, the trial court may grant a temporary restraining 

order to “restrain[] the custodial parent from further violation of the parenting 

 

1

 Mother also asserts that Father’s reliance on Indiana Code section 31-17-4-8 is misplaced because he 

alleged only a missed phone call, not face-to-face parenting time. We disagree with Mother’s implication 

that telephone communication is not a form of parenting time. To the contrary, the Parenting Time 

Guidelines emphasize that “[r]egular phone contact is an important tool in maintaining a parent/child 

relationship[,]” and it is a violation of the Guidelines to block these communications. Ind. Parenting Time 

Guideline § 1(A)(7).
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time order.” I.C. § 31-17-4-5(a). Thereafter, any violations will necessarily 

result in a finding of contempt and require an order permitting the noncustodial parent to exercise any missed parenting time. I.C. § 31-17-4-8(2).

[26] In this case, although Father argues that his Contempt Petition is equivalent to 

an injunction, it is clear that no injunction or restraining order was ever issued 

under Trial Rule 65. As such, the Parenting Time Statute does not govern the 

instant contempt action. Nevertheless, “[t]he remedies in [the Parenting Time 

Statute] are in addition to and do not limit other civil or criminal remedies

available to the noncustodial parent.” I.C. § 31-17-4-9. By filing the Contempt 

Petition rather than seeking an injunction, Father availed himself of one such 

“other civil” remedy. Thus, we will look to the general rules of civil contempt. 

See I.C. ch. 34-47-3. 

[27] In a civil contempt action, “[i]t lies within the inherent power of the trial court 

to fashion an appropriate punishment for the disobedience of its order.” 

MacIntosh v. MacIntosh, 749 N.E.2d 626, 631 (Ind. Ct. App. 2001), trans. denied. 

The trial court may craft sanctions designed to either coerce behavior or to 

compensate an aggrieved party, or both. Id. See I.C. § 34-47-3-6(c) (giving the 

trial court discretion to impose a fine, imprisonment, or both). Accordingly, 

where a trial court finds that a party’s “actions fall short of necessitating 

contempt sanctions[,]” it may exercise its discretion to withhold the same. Van 

Wieren v. Van Wieren, 858 N.E.2d 216, 223 (Ind. Ct. App. 2006). We therefore 

find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in declining to impose 
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sanctions for Mother’s contemptuous behavior in light of the improvement in 

the parties’ co-parenting relationship at the time of the hearing.

IV. Child Support Calculation

[28] Finally, Father claims that the trial court abused its discretion by ordering him 

to pay $95.00 per week in child support. Decisions relating to child support are 

reserved for the sound discretion of the trial court and are subject to reversal 

only for an abuse of that discretion, or if a determination is contrary to law. Id. 

Child support orders are governed by the Indiana Child Support Rules and 

Guidelines (Support Guidelines). Scott v. Scott, 668 N.E.2d 691, 695 (Ind. Ct. 

App. 1996). The purpose of the Support Guidelines is “to provide the children 

as closely as possible with the same standard of living they would have 

enjoyed” had the parents remained together. Payton v. Payton, 847 N.E.2d 251, 

253 (Ind. Ct. App. 2006). There is a rebuttable presumption that the amount of

child support calculated under the Support Guidelines is correct. Id. However, 

trial courts “are advised to avoid the pitfall of blind adherence to the 

computation of support without giving careful consideration to the variables 

that require changing the result in order to do justice.” Glover v. Torrence, 723 

N.E.2d 924, 936 (Ind. Ct. App. 2000).

[29] In its Order, the trial court ordered Father to pay $60.00 per week in child 

support. Except to say that Father “is underemployed[,]” the trial court did not 

include any findings to indicate how it contemplated the amount. (Appellant’s 

App. p. 40). On remand, we instructed the trial court to clarify its child support 

award “by showing either that the award complied with the Child Support 
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Guidelines or that the award deviated from the guidelines and explaining the 

deviation.” In re Paternity of V.A., No. 39A01-1209-JP-413, slip op. at 10. In its 

Order on Remand, the trial court utilized the Support Guidelines and

recalculated Father’s presumptive weekly obligation at $110. However, because 

the trial court found that Father provides all transportation for parenting time, it 

reduced the amount to $95.00 per week.

[30] Father contends that the trial court abused its discretion by increasing the 

amount of the support award. In particular, he argues that our remand 

instructions did not permit “the trial court to change or amend its 

determination, just to substantiate the factual basis it relied upon in arriving at 

the determination, either through a Child Support Worksheet or findings.” 

(Appellant’s Br. p. 24). He seeks a remand with specific instructions for the 

trial court to “issue findings to support its prior award of $60.00 per week.” 

(Appellant’s Br. pp. 25-26).

[31] Mother notes that the issue of whether a trial court may recalculate an initial 

support order on remand appears to be a matter of first impression. However, a 

review of the relevant case law reveals many instances in which the appellate 

court issued specific remand instructions for the trial court to recalculate an 

erroneous child support award. See Apter v. Ross, 781 N.E.2d 744, 766 (Ind. Ct. 

App. 2003), trans. denied. Accordingly, we are faced with the question of 

whether the trial court was permitted to recalculate Father’s support obligation

even though our remand instructions did not explicitly authorize it to do so. 

We hold that it was.
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[32] It is well established that “trial courts are required to make support orders in 

compliance with the guidelines and to spell out the reasons for any support

orders which deviate from the guideline results.” Cobb v. Cobb, 588 N.E.2d 571, 

574 (Ind. Ct. App. 1992). Contrary to the initial Order, from which we could 

discern no basis for the trial court’s support award, the Order on Remand 

includes a child support worksheet—completed by the trial court—to justify a 

$110 award, as well as an explanation that the final award should actually be 

reduced by $15.00 because Father provides all of the Child’s transportation for 

parenting time.

[33] Ultimately, our remand instructions were intended to elicit a basis from the trial 

court from which we could determine whether its support order was in 

accordance with the law. Although a recalculation was not explicitly part of 

our instructions, it effectuated the purpose of our remand and was therefore not 

improper. Moreover, we find that the trial court’s recalculation served the 

interests of judicial efficiency. If, on remand, a trial court determines that its 

initial figure does not comport with the Support Guidelines or that there is no 

justification for deviating, but nevertheless attempts to validate the award with 

findings that have no support in the record, the matter would inevitably be reappealed and subsequently re-remanded. Because we now have a support order 

that we are capable of reviewing, we decline to find that the trial court erred.

Nonetheless, Father insists that the trial court’s recalculation actually amounts 

to an impermissible sua sponte retroactive modification of support. In general, a 

trial court may modify a support order if there has been a substantial change in 
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circumstances or if—at least twelve months after the initial order was issued—

the amount differs by more than 20% from what would be presumed under the 

Support Guidelines. I.C. § 31-13-8-1(b). Father is correct that there was no 

petition to modify child support before the court, but we cannot agree that the 

trial court’s recalculation amounted to such a modification; it was simply a 

correction. Until the amount of an initial support order has been definitively 

established, there is nothing to modify. Here, the initial support order had been 

remanded and, as such, was still tentative.

[34] Lastly, Father disputes the trial court’s calculation of his weekly gross income 

at $962 per week and Mother’s at $356. In arriving at these figures, the trial 

court noted that neither party submitted a child support worksheet. The 

Support Guidelines stipulate that “[i]n all cases, a copy of the worksheet . . . 

shall be completed and filed with the court when the court is asked to order 

support. . . . Worksheets shall be signed by both parties, not their counsel, 

under penalties for perjury.” Ind. Child Support Guideline 3(B)(1). However, 

when a party fails to file a worksheet, he is precluded from challenging the
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income figures arrived at by the trial court. Dye v. Young, 655 N.E.2d 549, 550-

51 (Ind. Ct. App. 1995).2

[35] Without worksheets, the trial court instead relied on the evidence adduced at 

the hearing to calculate the parties’ income. See Child Supp. G. 3(A)(1)-(3). 

Not only did Father fail to remit a child support worksheet, he was less than 

forthcoming regarding his finances. He testified that his annual income for 

2011 was less than $8,000, and his pay stubs for the first four months of 2012 

revealed total earnings of $1,382. Yet, Father was making monthly mortgage 

payments of $2,600, and he estimated that at the time of the hearing, he was 

earning approximately $1,500 per week. He also testified that he has been 

living off of a $176,000 home equity loan, and that he received a $20,000 

inheritance and upwards of $75,000 in proceeds from selling investment 

properties, which he put “in Mason jars and buried . . . in [his] back yard.” 

(Transcript p. 80). Moreover, Father stated,

I can take care of [the Child] financially if I choose. I could work 

harder. I’ve got a property right now that I could sell . . . I got offered. 

 

2

 As we have previously cautioned, “we strongly discourage [calculating support without worksheets] and 

urge trial courts in the exercise of their discretion to require verified child support worksheets in every case. 

Failure to do so frustrates not only appellate review but also the goals of the child support guidelines.” 

Hedrick v. Gilbert, 17 N.E.3d 321, 327 (Ind. Ct. App. 2014).
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I can sell it. I’ve got thirty-five thousand (35,000) cash I could get out 

of that one. I’m trained. I’ve got license with insurance [sic].

(Tr. p. 67) (first alteration in original).

[36] During the hearing, the Child’s guardian ad litem testified that she analyzed 

Father’s financial information and, based on the information that he had

provided, determined that he pays at least $51,000 in annual expenses. Relying 

on this evidence, the trial court determined that Father must earn at least 

$50,000 to cover his annual expenses, which amounts to $962 per week. Father 

avers that he “discussed his living expenses at length on the record[,]” and they 

do not add up to $962 per week, but this is simply an invitation to reweigh the 

evidence, which we decline to do.

[37] Father also argues that the “payment of expenses does not equal income for 

child support purposes[,]” but our court has previously found otherwise. 

(Appellant’s Br. p. 29). In Glover v. Torrence, 723 N.E.2d at 930, the father 

submitted a financial declaration to the court indicating that he earned $400 a 

week, yet paid $1,065 in weekly household expenses. Based on the father’s 

“history of under[]representing his income and the large discrepancy between 

his reported income and his expenses,” our court found that it was within the 

trial court’s discretion to impute income to the father based on the amount of 

his reported expenses. Id. at 936-37. Similarly, based on Father’s ability to pay 

$962 in weekly expenses, we find that the evidence supports the trial court’s 

determination of Father’s gross weekly wage.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision | 39A04-1408-JP-375 | February 10. 2015 Page 20 of 22

[38] As to Father’s contention that the trial court erred in calculating Mother’s 

weekly income at $356, the record demonstrates that by the second day of the 

hearing, Mother had obtained a job making $8.90 per hour and was working 

forty hours per week, which equals $356 per week. We find little merit in 

Father’s claim that Mother’s weekly income should also take into account her 

expenses, or that she receives food stamps and other benefits, child support for 

her oldest son, and disability benefits on behalf of her daughter. The Support 

Guidelines specifically exclude food stamps and other public assistance benefits, 

and generally exclude benefits/support paid on behalf of other children, from 

the definition of weekly gross income. See Child Supp. G 3(A)(1). 

Additionally, Father offers no authority that would require the trial court to 

calculate Mother’s earnings based off of her expenses just because it did so for 

Father—especially considering that Mother’s testimony about her income was 

straightforward, unlike Father’s. Accordingly, the evidence supports the trial 

court’s findings regarding the parties’ weekly earnings, and we find no error in 

its determination that Father should pay $95.00 per week in child support based 

on a justified deviation from the Support Guidelines.

CONCLUSION

[39] Based on the foregoing, we conclude that the trial court erred by failing to make 

a specific and separate determination of the Child’s legal custody. We further

conclude that the trial court acted within its discretion in declining to sanction 

Mother for contempt and in recalculating Father’s child support obligation.

[40] Affirmed in part and remanded with instructions.
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[41] Vaidik, C. J. concurs

[42] Baker, J. concurs in part and dissents in part with separate opinion
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision | 39A04-1408-JP-375 | February 10. 2015 Page 22 of 22

I N T H E

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

In Re the Paternity of V.A., 

A Minor Child,

Robert Anderson (Father),

Appellant-Petitioner,

v.

Billy Jo Youngblood (Mother),

Appellee-Plaintiff

Court of Appeals Case No.

39A04-1408-JP-375

Baker, Judge, concurring in part and dissenting in part.

[43] I dissent from the majority’s decision to remand the case for a determination of 

legal custody. I believe that it is readily apparent from the trial court’s orders 

that it intends for Mother to have full physical and legal custody. In my 

opinion, a remand of this cause is an unnecessary use of our judicial resources

and the parties’ time and money. Consequently, I would affirm the trial court 

in full. In all other respects, I concur.