Source: http://masscases.com/cases/sjc/428/428mass182.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 20:06:00+00:00

Document:
PHILIP N. ROSENBERG vs. CINDY M. MERIDA.
In a proceeding in the Probate and Family Court for modification of a child support order, where the judge made no findings relating to the amount of the support obligation  or relating to his award of sole legal custody of the minor child to the mother [190-191], the matter was remanded for further proceedings.
noncustodial spouse who is receiving disability income benefits from the Social Security Administration should receive a credit against his child support obligation for the benefits paid by the Social Security Administration to his minor children as a result of his disability. We conclude that the noncustodial spouse should receive such a credit. However, because there are insufficient findings relating to the amount of the noncustodial spouse's support obligation, we vacate the judgment and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. This appeal also raises two other issues, which we discuss in due course.
The judge would have been warranted in finding the following facts. [Note 1] The plaintiff and the defendant were married on August 31, 1975. A daughter was born of the marriage in 1977, and a son was born of the marriage in 1984. The parties separated in 1986, and a judgment of divorce nisi was entered in the Probate and Family Court on August 17, 1990. The plaintiff and the defendant have each remarried. At the time the judgment issued, the plaintiff was living in Texas, the daughter was a full-time student at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, and the son was enrolled at a public school in the town in which the defendant lived.
When the parties were divorced in 1990, the plaintiff was unemployed, and his income consisted solely of interest and dividends from a family trust (trust). In December, 1992, the Social Security Administration determined that the plaintiff was disabled, and he began to receive Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) benefits. At the same time, the defendant, as representative payee for the minor children, also began to receive SSDI benefits (SSDI dependency benefits) because of the plaintiffs disability. At the time the judgment issued, the plaintiff was receiving SSDI benefits of $266 per week, and the defendant was receiving SSDI dependency benefits of $138.83 per week.
The judgment, which issued on August 21, 1996, increased the plaintiffs child support obligation to $130 per week, but relieved him of any responsibility for the children's uninsured medical and dental expenses. [Note 2] The judgment also reduced the amount of the plaintiffs assets that were subject to attachment to $60,000 and awarded sole legal custody of the parties' son to the defendant. The plaintiff's motions for a stay of judgment and for relief from the judgment were denied. His appeal followed, and we transferred the case on our own motion.
c. 208, s. 28, provides that orders for support of minor children shall be modified if there is an inconsistency between the amount of the existing order and the amount that would result from application of the Massachusetts child support guidelines (guidelines). [Note 3] Under Guideline III, the judge has discretion to increase or decrease the support amount by as much two percent as determined from applying the guidelines. There is otherwise "a rebuttable presumption that the amount . . . which would result from the application of the guidelines is the appropriate amount of child support to be ordered." G. L. c. 208, s. 28. The judge may determine that one party has overcome the presumption, but only upon making specific written findings "that the guidelines amount would be unjust or inappropriate under the circumstances" and that departure from the guidelines "is consistent with the best interests of the child." Id.
children." Pontbriand v. Pontbriand, 622 A.2d 482, 484 (R.I. 1993). More than thirty States have allowed a credit to the noncustodial parent for SSDI dependency benefits or for Social Security retirement benefits paid to the minor children of the noncustodial parent. See Annot., 34 A.L.R.5th 447, 469-487, 498-503 (1996). By contrast, New York appears to be the only State that refuses to allow such a credit as a per se rule. See Graby v. Graby, 87 N.Y.2d 605, 613 (1996). In other cases where a credit has been disallowed, courts have generally done so not as a matter of law, but for other reasons based on the facts and circumstances of the particular case. See Wilson v. Stenwall, 868 P.2d 1317, 1319 (Okla. Ct. App. 1992), and cases cited.
as the payments are actually made. [Note 5] See Miller, supra at 577 quoting Davis v. Davis, 141 Vt. 398, 401 (1982); Children Youth Servs. v. Chorgo, 341 Pa. Super. Ct. 512, 518 (1985).
The final consideration here is how to apply the credit. The noncustodial parent may apply the credit against a child support obligation only after seeking modification and receiving an appropriate modification judgment. This is a minority position among those States that allow a credit for the SSDI dependency benefits to the noncustodial parent. See Weaks v. Weaks, 821 S.W.2d 503, 506 (Mo. 1991) (en banc). However, we believe that G. L. c. 208, s. 28, does not permit any other method for the noncustodial parent to alter the amount of the support payments.
Because there are no findings concerning the support amount, we cannot determine if the judge followed the approach that we have prescribed here. [Note 9] We therefore vacate the judgment insofar as it relates to the support amount and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
that the judge correspondingly exceeded his authority under G. L. c. 208, s. 36. We disagree.
plaintiff of shared legal custody with the defendant of their minor child and awarded sole legal custody to the defendant. General Laws c. 208, s. 28, provides that a Probate and Family Court judge may modify an earlier divorce judgment concerning the custody of a minor child upon finding "that a material and substantial change in the circumstances of the parties has occurred and the judgment of modification is necessary in the best interests of the child." The determination of which parent will promote a child's best interests rests within the discretion of the judge. See Kendall v. Kendall, 426 Mass. 238 , 251 (1997), cert. denied, 118 S. Ct. 2369 (1998), citing Vilakazi v. Maxie, 371 Mass. 406 , 409 (1976). A judge's findings in a custody case "must stand unless they are plainly wrong." Prindle v. Fisk, 2 Mass. App. Ct. 843 (1974), citing Guardianship of a Minor, 1 Mass. App. Ct. 392 , 398 (1973). See King v. King, 373 Mass. 37 , 40 (1977). However, we will not sustain an award of custody "unless all relevant factors in determining the best interests of the child have been weighed." Bouchard v. Bouchard, 12 Mass. App. Ct. 899 (1981), citing Haas v. Puchalski, 9 Mass. App. Ct. 555 , 556 n.5 (1980). See King, supra, and cases cited.
custody to the defendant, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
[Note 1] The only finding that the judge made was that "the parties are unable to communicate with one another."
[Note 2] The defendant contends in her brief that the plaintiff's share of the uninsured medical and dental expenses averages about $17.30 per week, which is essentially equal to the amount of the increase in the plaintiff's child support obligation. As such, the defendant contends that the judgment does not substantially change the plaintiff's total obligation, but simply shifts the manner of payment to eliminate any need for the parties to communicate with respect to sharing the uninsured expenses.
[Note 3] The Massachusetts child support guidelines (guidelines) were promulgated by the Chief Administrative Justice of the Trial Court pursuant to G. L. c. 211B, s. 15. See Canning v. Juskalian, 33 Mass. App. Ct. 202 , 204 n.2 (1992), citing Department of Revenue v. Roe, 29 Mass. App. Ct. 967 , 968 (1990). The current version of the guidelines became effective January 1, 1998.
[Note 4] At issue in Miller v. Miller, 890 P.2d 574, 576 (Alaska 1995), were Social Security retirement benefits, rather than Social Security disability income (SSDI) benefits, as in the instant case. However, the court there concluded, that, in this regard, there was "no reason to treat retirement benefits any differently than disability benefits." Id. at 577. We agree.
[Note 5] Allowing a credit is also consistent with our case law. In the factually similar case of Cohen v. Murphy, 368 Mass. 144 , 146 (1975), the noncustodial parent had become disabled subsequent to the original support order, and the SSDI dependency benefits paid to his children exceeded his support obligation under that order. He unilaterally stopped his ongoing support payments, and the Probate Court issued a contempt decree against him. Id. at 145-146. We reversed and held that he was allowed a credit for the amount of the SSDI dependency benefits. Id. at 145. However, Cohen is not dispositive here. Our decision in Cohen was based largely on the fact that it was not clear from the original support order whether the noncustodial parent was entitled to the credit. Id. at 147. We then concluded that, because the noncustodial parent was an alleged contemnor, any ambiguities should be resolved in his favor. Id. There is no issue of contempt in the instant case. We note also that Cohen predates the guidelines. Nonetheless, the rationale of Cohen is illustrative of, and consistent with, our conclusion in the instant case, in that we noted in Cohen that the SSDI dependency benefits "were earned in part by the [noncustodial spouse] himself and not altogether a gift from the Federal Government." Id. at 148, quoting Cash v. Cash, 234 Ark. 603, 607 (1962).
[Note 6] The defendant contended at oral argument that the guidelines require us to include the SSDI dependency benefits in the income of the defendant here (or, presumably as a more general rule, in the income of the custodial parent), because the dependency benefits were income that came into the defendant's household. We see nothing in the guidelines that supports the defendant's contention.
[Note 7] There would be an exception if the amount of the support obligation as calculated by this approach (or as adjusted by the judge) is less than the amount of the SSDI dependency benefits. in such case, the total support obligation is simply equal to the amount of the SSDI dependency benefits, and the noncustodial parent would not owe any additional amount.
[Note 8] In a tentative draft, dated April 8, 1998, the American Law Institute proposed treating SSDI dependency benefits as "independent sources of income" of the child. Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution: Analysis and Recommendations, s. 3.10 comment d (Tent. Draft No. 3, 1998). Under the tentative draft, such income would "not ordinarily diminish a parent's child support obligation." Id. However, the tentative draft would allow a credit if "the child support obligor . . . would otherwise suffer hardship," unless allowing the credit would impose even greater hardship on the child. Id. The amount of the credit, if any, would be subject to the judge's discretion. Id.
[Note 9] In Buckley v. Buckley, 42 Mass. App. Ct. 716 , 723 (1997), the Appeals Court held that the judge in the Probate and Family Court had made an implicit finding that application of the guidelines had yielded an unjust or inappropriate result, even without an explicit statement to that effect. However, in that case, the Appeals Court concluded that the judge's thought process was implicit in his other findings. Here, there are no findings concerning the amount of the support obligation from which we could begin to identify such an implicit finding.
[Note 10] The daughter's college expenses are being paid by a separate trust fund (of which the son is not a beneficiary) and thus are not at issue in this appeal.
[Note 11] At the modification hearing, the defendant alleged that the plaintiff was then in arrears on his child support obligations. The alleged arrearage appears to have amounted to less than $500 and was not addressed in the judgment.
[Note 12] A logical extension of the plaintiffs argument would be that the judge also exceeded his authority under G. L. c. 208, s. 36, by attaching assets to secure the plaintiffs child support obligations, because, under the terms of the agreement, such payments can terminate upon the occurrence of a number of events (for example, the death of the child). Similar to the potential college expenses, each of the weekly child support payments would thus be a future contingency and would not explicitly have been subject to a judgment. Such an argument (which the plaintiff did not make) would clearly be contrary to the plain language and intent of G. L. c. 208, s. 36, and to our cases.
[Note 13] The plaintiff does not argue here that the amount of the attachment was incorrect or inequitable, but rather that the judge did not have authority to attach any assets at all. We believe that the amount of the attachment was not beyond the judge's discretion, given the amount of the plaintiff's support obligation, the age of the minor child, and the potential amount of college expenses. We note, in addition, that the plaintiff is allowed to keep the income from the attached assets, and that he has indicated that he does not intend to use the other principal from the trust for his own support.

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