2 9 7 Ga . 7 0

F INAL COP Y

S 1 5 A0 1 0 6 . MIMS v

. MIMS

.

THOMP S O N, Ch ie f Ju stic e

.

Ga ry Do n Mim s (h usb a n d ) a n d Ly n n Ba s s f o r d Mim s (wife ) m a rrie d in

1 9 8 6 a n d we re d i v o r c e d i n 2 0 0 8

. At th e tim e of th e ir d iv orc e , two o f th e

c o u p le ’s fo u r c h ild re n we re m in o rs. Th e fin a l d iv o rc e d e c re e in c o rp o ra te d a

se ttle m e n t a g re e m e n t e n te re d in to by th e pa rtie s in wh ic h h u sb a n d a gre e d to p a y

th e c o sts o f a

c olle g e e d u c a tio n fo r a ll o f th e c h ild re n

. In a p a ra g ra p h e n title d

“ Co lle g e Tu itio n ” th e a g re e m e n t p ro v id e d :

F o r so lo n g a s th e c h ild (c h ild re fe rs t o al l c h ild re n o f th e

p a rtie s) m a in ta in s p a ssin g g ra d e s a n d a tt e n d s sc h oo l fu ll tim e , th e Hu sb a n d a gre e s to p a y th e c o st o f a c o lle ge e d u c a tio n in a n a m o u n t

n o t to e x c e e d th e c o sts fo r tu itio n , b o o k s, stu d e n t a c tiv i t i e s fe e s, h o u sin g , fo o d

, e tc

., fo r a fu ll-tim e , in -sta te stu d e n t to o bta in a fo u ry e a r u n d e rg ra du a te d e g re e a t Va ld o sta S ta te Un iv e rsity o r a n o th e r

a c c re d ite d u n iv e rsity u po n wh ic h th e p a rtie s a g re e

.

In 2 0 1 0

, th e c o u p le ’s y o u n g e st d a u g h te r g ra du a te d fro m h ig h sc h o o l a n d

e n ro lle d in Va ld o sta S ta te U n iv e rsity (“ VS U” ) b e g in n in g F a ll S e m e ste r 2 0 1 0

.

In F e b ru a ry 2 0 1 2

, w ife file d a c o n te m p t a c tio n a g a in st h u sb a n d a lle g in g th a t h eh a d fa ile d to p a y c o lle g e e x p e n se s fo r th e ir d a u g h te r a s re q u ire d u nd e r th e te rm s

o f th e se ttle m e n t a g re e m e n t. F in d in g th a t d a u g h te r h a d b e e n a fu ll-tim e c o lle g e

stu de n t fro m Fa ll 2 0 1 0 th ro u g h a n d in c lu d in g F a ll 2 0 1 3 1 a n d ha d m a in ta in e d

p a ssin g g ra d e s 2 th e S u pe rio r C o u rt of Lo w n d e s Co u n ty e n te re d an o rd e r

d ire c tin g h u sb a n d to p a y d a u g h te r’s c olle ge e x p e n se s fo r a ll n in e se m e ste rs sh e

h a d a tte n d e d

, 3 m in us a m o u nts c re d ite d fo r d a u g h te r’s r e c e i p t o f th e Ho p e

S c h ola rsh ip a n d P e l l Gra nts. 4 Th e tria l c o u rt de c lin e d to fin d h u sb a n d in

c o n t e mp t

, h o we v e r, de te rm in in g th a t he ha d n o t re c e iv e d n o tific a tio n o f th e

1 According to evidence presented, d a u g hter attended V SU in F a ll 2010 and completed

fourteen semester hours. I n Spring 2011, she enrolled in fifteen semester hours, but only completed

eleven after she withdrew from four. I n F all 2 011, she similarly enrolled in fourteen semester hours,

but later withdrew from three and only completed eleven semester hours. Daug hter enrolled in and completed n i n e s e mester h ours in Spring 2012, but completed an additional four semester hours during Summer Semester 2 012. I n b oth Fa l l Semester 2012 a nd Spring Semester 2013, daug hter

enrolled in a n d c o m p l et e d thirteen credit hours. She attended summer school in 2013, and at the

time of the contempt hearing on September 2 4

, 2 0 1 3

, daug hter was e nrolled and attending F all

Semester 2013 classes.

2 The parties stipulated to the fact that daug hter had maintained passing g rades.

3 A lthoug h at the contempt hearing wife indicated she was n ot seeki n g p a y m e n t f r om husband

for Spring Semester 2012 in which daug hter enrolled in nine credit hour s , a p art-time status according to VSU, the trial court’s order included pay ment for this semester as well as for the two

summer semesters d aug hter attended based on the court’s d etermination that daug hter q ualified as

a f ull-time student under the p a rties’ ag reement because she had attended colleg e continuously during the normal school y ear without interruption. See B ullard v. Swafford, 2 79 Ga. 577, 580 ( 2) (619 SE2d 665) (2005).

4 Althoug h nothing in the parties’ ag reement addressed whether husband was to benefit from

any financial aid daug hter received, the trial court o ffset these sums from husband’s oblig ation citing Hopkinson v. Hopkinson, 265 Ga. 460 (458 SE2d 117) (1995).

2e x p e n se s in c u rre d b y d a u g h te r p rio r to wife ’s filin g h e r c om p la in t. Th is Co urt

g ra n te d hu sb a n d’s a

p p lic a tio n fo r disc re tio n a ry a p p e a l to de te rm in e wh e th e r th e

tria l c o u rt e rre d wh e n it o rd e re d h u sb a n d to pa y d a u g h te r’s e xp e n se s fo r e a c h o f

th e n in e se m e ste rs sh e h a d a tte n d e d c o lle g e

. F o r th e re a so n s th a t fo llo w, we

a ffirm th e d e c isio n b e lo w.

H u s b a n d a rg u e s th a t th e tria l c ou rt e rre d wh e n it ord e re d h im to p a y

d a u g h te r’s c o lle g e e x pe n se s in c urre d a fte r Fa ll S e m e ste r 20 10

. He a sse rts th a t

b e c a u se da u gh te r w ith dre w fro m a c la ss d u rin g S p rin g S e m e ste r 2 0 1 1 a n d o n ly

c o m p l e te d e le v e n o f th e fifte e n c re d it h ou rs fo r wh ic h sh e wa s re g iste re d

, sh e

h a d n o t a tte n d e d sc ho o l fu ll tim e d u r i n g t h a t se m e ste r a s c o n te m p la te d b y th e

se ttle m e n t a g re e m e n t a n d his o b lig a tio n to p ro v id e fo r h e r e d uc a tio n a l e x p e n se s

th e re a fte r c e a se d

. Hu sb a n d c o n te n d s th a t re g a rd le ss of th e sc h oo l’s d e fin itio n

o f fu ll-ti m e stu d e n t, 5 th e p la in la n g u a g e o f th e se ttle m e n t a g re e m e n t re q u ire d

d a u g h te r to su c c e ssfu lly c o m p le te a n d o b ta in a c a d e m i c c re d it fo r a fu ll-tim e

c o u rse lo a d e a c h se m e ste r o r h is o b lig a tio n t o p a y h e r c o lle g e e x p e n se s u n d e r

5 According to the evidence, when a student “ drops” a course and falls below 12 hours, VSU

no long er con s i d e r s the student to be “full-time.” However, when a student “withdraws” from a

course during the semester, that student is still officially r e g istered as a f u ll-time student with the

school.

3th e a gre e m e n t w o u ld te rm in a te

. Alte rn a tiv e ly

, hu sb a n d a rg u e s th a t th e tria l

c o u rt e rre d in fin din g h im o b lig a te d to p a y d a u g h te r’s c o lle g e e x p e n se s b e y o n d

S p rin g Se m e ste r 2 0 1 2 wh e n sh e o n ly en r o l l e d in a n d c o m p le te d n in e c re d it

h o u rs.

With o u t q u e stio n , h u sb a n d ’s o b lig a tio n to pa y c o lle g e e x p e n se s fo r h is

a d u lt d a u g h te r a ro se so le ly fro m th e pa rtie s’ se ttle me n t a g re e m e n t. S e e

Ma rsh a ll v

. Ma rsh a ll, 2 6 2 Ga

. 4 4 3 (4 2 1 S E2 d 7 1 ) (1 9 9 2 ) (“ Ne ith e r a ju d g e n o r

ju ry m a y re q u ire a pa re n t to p ro v id e c h ild su p p o rt b e y on d th e a g e of m a jo rity .” ).

Ho we ve r, o nc e th e p a rtie s’ se ttle m e n t a gre e m e n t w a s a p p ro v e d b y th e tria l c o urt

a n d in c o rp o ra te d in to th e fin a l d iv orc e d e c re e , hu sb an d ’s o b lig a tio n to p a y th e se

e x p e n se s b e c a m e a n e n fo rc e a b le o rd e r o f th e c o u rt. S e e Bu lla rd

, su p ra a t 5 7 9

.

P u rsu a n t to th e te rm s o f th e a g re e m e n t, h u s b a n d w a s ob lig a te d to pa y (with

so m e lim ita tio ns) th e c o st o f a c o lle g e e d u c a tio n f o r e a c h o f h is c h ild re n ,

in c lu din g d a

u g h te r, “ [f] o r so lo n g a s th e c h ild

. . . m a in ta in s p a ssin g g ra d e s a n d

a tte n d s sc h o o l fu ll tim e .” Th u s, in o rd e r fo r th e c o u rt to re q u ire h u sb an d to p a y

d a u g h te r’s c o lle g e e x p e nse s, th e se two c o nd itio n s m u st h a v e b e e n m e t.

As it wa s u n d isp u te d th a t d a u g h te r m a in ta in e d p a ssin g g ra de s, th e p rim a ry

issu e to b e d e c id e d by th e tria l c o u rt with re sp e c t to h usb a n d ’s o b lig a tio n to p a y

4c o lle g e e x pe n se s wa s wh e th e r d a u g h te r “ a tte n d [e d ] sc ho ol fu ll tim e .” Hu sb a n d

a sse rts th a t th e p a rtie s’ u se o f th e p h ra se “ fo r so l o n g a s ” co m b in e d with th e

re q u ire m e n t to “ a tte n d [ ] sc ho o l fu ll tim e ” m e an t d a u g h te r m u st b e c on tin u o u sly

e n ro lle d a s a fu l l

- t i m e s t u d e n t a n d m u st c o m p le te a n d re c e iv e c re d it h o u rs fo r

a fu ll c ou rse lo a d e a c h se m e ste r in o rd e r to q u a lify fo r h is a ssista nc e

. We fin d

th a t th e p la in l a n g u a g e o f th e p a rtie s’ a g re e m e n t d oe s no t de m a n d su c h a n

in te rp re ta tio n , 6 n o r is th e re a ny e vid e n c e th a t th e p a rtie s in te n d e d su c h

re q u ire m e n ts. T h is Co u rt h a s pre v io u sly c o n stru e d th e p h ra se “ fu ll tim e

stu de n t” to “ m e a n c o n tin u o u s a tte nd a n c e d u rin g th e n o rm a l sc h o o l y e a r.” S e e

Bu lla rd

, su p ra , 27 9 Ga

. a t 5 8 0 (2 ); Ha y wa rd v

. La wre n c e , 2 5 2 Ga

. 3 3 7

, 3 3 8 (3 1 2

S E2 d 6 0 9 ) (1 98 4 ). 7 Alth ou g h VS U de fin e s a f u l l

- tim e stu d e nt a s o n e wh o is

6 According to Webster’s Ninth N ew Colleg iate Dictionary

, “ e n r o l l ” means “to reg ister,”

whereas “attend” merely means “to be present a t.” See The American Heritag e D ictionary of the Eng lish L ang uag e (4 t h ed. Houg h ton Mifflin Co., 2000).

7 While B ullard involved a hig h school student and a parent’s oblig ation to continue child
support p ay

ments b ey ond the son’s majority while he was “enrolled in and attend i n g s e c ondary school on a full time basis,” this Court utiliz ed the same definition in Mattocks v. Matus, 266 Ga. 346, 3 4 6 (466 SE2d 840) (1996) in which a parent’s oblig ation to p ay for a child’s colleg e ex penses

was dependent on the child’ s being “enrolled in colleg e a s a full time student, seeking a four y ear colleg e deg ree.” I n Mattocks, this Court rejected the trial court’s use of course load and credit hours

to assess the son’s c olleg e attendance where there was no evidence that the parties intended such a standard in t h e i r a gr e e m e n t and relied instead on evidence that the son “ was not in continuous

attendance for the duration of the n ormal school y ear,” to h old that the son had “ceased to be a fulltime student within the meaning of the ag reement.” 266 Ga. at 346-347.

5re g iste r e d fo r twe lv e o r m o re se m e ste r h o u rs, th is d e fin itio n w a s n o t

in c o rp o ra te d in to th e p a rtie s’ a g re e m e n t. S e e Ma tto c k s, su p ra , 2 6 6 Ga

. a t 3 4 6

.

No r d id th e p a rtie s’ a g re e m e n t a d d re ss th e t re a tm e n t o f su m m e r sc h o o l

a tte n d a n c e

. S e e Drau g h n v

. Drau g hn

, 2 8 8 G a

. 7 3 4

, 7 3 6 (2 ) (7 0 7 S E2 d 5 2 )

(2 0 1 1 ); Bu lla rd

, su p ra a t 58 1

. F in d in g n o e v id e n c e th a t wh e n th e p a rtie s m a d e

th e ir a g re e m e n t th e y in te n d e d to a d o p t a diffe re n t m e a n in g o r a p p ly a d iffe re n t

sta n d a rd to th e te rm “fu ll tim e stu d e n t,” o th e r th a n th a t p re v io usly a d o p te d b y

th is C o u rt in Bu lla rd

, t h e tria l c o u rt de te rm in e d d a u g h te r h a d a tte n d e d sc h o o l

fu ll tim e a s c o n te m

p la te d b y th e a g re e m e n t.

A tria l c o u rt is n o t p e rm itte d to m o dify th e te rm s o f a d iv o rc e d e c re e in a

c o nte m p t pro c e e d in g , b u t is a

u th o riz e d to in te rp re t o r c la rify th e d e c r e e

. S e e

Ha m ilto n v. Ha m ilto n , 2 9 2 Ga

. 8 1

, 8 2 (1 ) (7 3 4 S E2 d 3 55 ) (2 0 1 2 ). Th e te st fo r

d istin g u ish in g w h e th e r a tria l c o u rt’s ru lin g c la rifie s, ra th e r th an im pe rm issib ly

m o d ifie s, a d iv o rc e de c re e , is “ wh e th e r th e c la rific a tio n is re a so na b le o r wh e th e r

it is so c o n tra ry to th e a

p p a re n t in te n tio n o f th e o rig in a l ord e r a s to a m o u n t to a

m o d ific a tio n.” (Cita tio n a n d p u n c tu a tio n o m itte d .) Ca so n v

. Ca so n , 2 8 1 Ga

.

2 9 6

, 2 9 7 (1 ) (6 3 7 S E2 d 7 1 6 ) (2 0 0 6 ).

He re , th e tria l c o u rt d e te rm in e d th a t th e p a rtie s’ u se o f th e p h ra se “a tte n d s

6sc h o o l fu ll tim e ” o n ly im p o se d a re q u ire m e n t o n d a u g hte r th a t sh e n o t in te rru p t

h e r c o lle g e c a re e r b y ta k in g tim e o ff d u rin g th e n o rm a l c o lle g e y e a r. Co m pa re

S till v

. S till, 19 9 Ga

. Ap p

. 7 2 3 (4 0 5 SE2 d 76 2) (1 9 9 1 ) (in t e r p r et i n g sp e c ific

la n g ua g e in a n a g re e m e nt p ro v id in g fa th e r’s tu itio n o b lig a tio n “ sh a ll c o n tin u e

a s lo ng a s th e c hild re m a in s c o n tin u o u sly e nro lle d ” to m e a n th a t th e fa th e r wa s

n o t o b lig a te d t o r e su m e pa y m e n ts a fte r th e c hild wa s no lo n g e r c on tin u o u sly

e n ro lle d ). A s th e re w a s n o e v id e n c e th a t th e p a rtie s in te n d e d t o a sse ss

d a u g h te r’s a tte nd a n c e a t sc h o o l i n t e rm s of c re d it h ou rs ta k e n a n d c o m p le te d

e a c h se m e ste r a s u rg e d b y h u sb a n d

, th e tria l c ou rt pro p e rly re fu se d to so m o d ify

th e a g re e m e n t. Se e Ma tto c k s, su p ra

. Be c a u se d a u g h te r wa s i n c o n t i n u a l

a tte n d a n c e a t c o lle g e du rin g th e n o rm a l sc h o o l y e a r fro m F al l Se m e ste r 2 0 1 0

th ro u g h a n d in c lu d in g F a ll S e m e ste r 2 0 1 3 a n d m a in ta i n e d p a ssin g g ra d e s, th e

tria l c o u rt fo u n d sh e h a d m e t b o th c o n d itio n s a n d th a t h u sb a n d wa s re q u ire d to

p a y h e r a c tu a l e x p e nse s a s p r o v i d e d u n d e r th e a g re e m e n t. Giv e n th a t th e

p a rtie s’ a g re e m e nt n e ith e r lim ite d d a u g h te r to a tte n din g c o lle g e two se m e ste rs

p e r y e a r, no r re qu ire d th a t sh e c o n tin u ou sly a tte n d c la sse s y e a r-ro u n d

, we

c o n c lu d e th a t th e tria l c o u rt’s o rd e r re q u irin g h u sb a n d to re im b u rse wife fo r a ll

d a u g h te r’s c o lle g e e x p e nse s in c u rre d a s o f th e d a te o f th e h e a rin g wa s b a se d o n

7a

re a so n a b le c la rific a tio n o f th e fin a l d iv orc e d e c re e

. 8

Hu sb a n d a lte rn a tiv e ly c o n te n d s th a t th e tria l c o urt e rre d in re q uirin g h im

to p a y d a u g h te r’s tu itio n fo r S p rin g Se m e ste r 2 0 1 2 a n d e a c h se m e ste r th e re a fte r

d u e to wife ’s a d m issio n a t th e c o n te m p t h e a rin g th a t d a

u gh te r w a s e n ro lle d a s

a p a rt-ti m e s t u d e n t a t VS U in S p rin g 20 12 a n d th a t wife wa s no t se e k in g

re im b urse m e n t fo r th e se e x pe n se s. De sp ite wife ’s te stim o n y a t th e h e a rin g , h e r

a p p lic a tio n fo r c o n te m

p t so u g h t a n o rd e r r e q u irin g h usb a n d to p a y a ll o f th e

c o lle g e e x p e n se s re qu ire d u n d e r th e p a rtie s’ d iv o rc e d e c re e

. In as mu ch a s th e

tria l c o u rt fo u n d th e p a rtie s did n o t in te n d to a d o p t VS U’s d e fin itio n o f fu ll-tim e

stu de n t, 9 wife ’s a d m issio n with re sp e c t to d a u g h te r’s sta tu s a s d e fin e d b y VS U

d u rin g S p r i n g S e m e ste r 2 0 1 2 h a d n o e ffe c t o n h u sb an d ’s o b lig a tio n to p a y

8 W e note that pursuant to V SU’s handbook, 90 credit hours are required for g raduation. The

trial court ordered h usband to pay da u gh ter’s colleg e ex penses for n ine semesters without considering w hether a studen t t a k i n g and completing a full course load of 12 credit hours per

semester c ould have obtained an underg raduate deg ree a t V S U i n eig ht semesters. To the ex tent daug hter’s actual colleg e ex penses ex ceeded those normally associated with the c ost of a four-y ear underg raduate deg ree at VSU either as the resu l t o f h e r summer school attendance or due to her

failure to t a k e a

n d complete sufficient credit hours per semester, husband would not be liable. However, this issue was not raised by husband below, and will not be considered in this appeal.

9 I ndeed, at the contempt heari n g i t w a s husband’s attorney who repeatedly u rg ed the trial court not to use VSU’s definition of full-time student, stating :

W e’re not working under a definition that say s [ daug hter] h as to be a full time

student. The definition we’re working under say s she must attend school full time and my position is that’s different.

8d a

u g h te r’s c o lle g e e x p e n se s. 1 0 Mo re o ve r, a lth o u g h wife te stifie d a t th e h e a rin g

th a t s h e w a s n o t se e kin g re im b u rse m e n t fo r da

u g h te r’s e x p e n se s fo r S p rin g

S e m e ste r 2 0 1 2

, b e c a

u se sh e a sk e d fo r th e m in h e r p e titio n a n d th e re wa s

e v id e n c e o f da

u g h te r’s S p rin g S e m e ste r 2 0 12 e x p e n se s in th e re c o rd

, th e tria l

c o u rt wa s a

u th o riz e d to a wa rd th e se e x p e n se s, a s we ll a s th ose in c urre d d u rin g

su b se q u e n t se m e ste rs.

Ju d g m e n t a ffirm e d . All th e Ju stic e s c o n c u r.

De c id e d Ma y 1 1 , 2 0 1 5

.

Do m e stic re la tio n s. Lo wn d e s S up e rio r Co u rt. Be fo re Ju d g e Ho rk a n

.

Do d d & Bu rn h a m , W ilb u rn B. Bu rn h a m II ; D u r a nt La w, M. Ka th e rin e

Du ra n t, fo r a

p p e lla n t.

Da v id A. We b ste r, fo r a

p p e lle e

.

1 0 A dmissions in judicio apply only to admissions of fact, and not to conclusions of law. See

I n re McCool, 267 Ga. App. 445, 448 (600 SE2d 403) (2004).

9