Case Name: Patricia G. BOYLAN, formerly Patricia G. Cooper, Appellant, v. Thomas R. COOPER, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1986-02-06
Citations: 482 So. 2d 584
Docket Number: No. 85-245
Parties: Patricia G. BOYLAN, formerly Patricia G. Cooper, Appellant, v. Thomas R. COOPER, Appellee.
Judges: UPCHURCH, J., concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 482
Pages: 584–586

Head Matter:
Patricia G. BOYLAN, formerly Patricia G. Cooper, Appellant, v. Thomas R. COOPER, Appellee.
No. 85-245.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.
Feb. 6, 1986.
Frank A. Taylor, Orlando, for appellant.
James M. Campbell, Orlando, for appel-lee.

Opinion:
COBB, Chief Judge.
In this case the wife unsuccessfully sought modification of a support agreement providing for $50.00 per week support for two children. At the time of the original judgment the wife was unemployed; she has since remarried and is employed with earnings in excess of the income of her former husband, who has received only cost-of-living salary increases.
The matter of increase in child support payments is one largely within the discretion of the lower court judge. The test for modification requires a showing of a substantial change of circumstances, either in the ability of the paying spouse and/or the need of the receiving spouse. Deatherage v. Deatherage, 395 So.2d 1169 (Fla. 5th DCA), review denied, 402 So.2d 609 (Fla.1981). In the opinion of the trial judge here, the movant showed neither, and we cannot find that no reasonable man would agree with that determination. See Canakaris v. Canakaris, 382 So.2d 1197 (Fla.1980).
The appellant's argument in regard to changed circumstances is based solely on inflation and the aging of the children, factors common in all cases. The cases relied upon by the dissent are easily distinguishable. In Wanstall v. Wanstall, 427 So.2d 353 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983), the income of the father was substantially greater than that of the mother. In Brooks v. Brooks, 423 So.2d 995 (Fla.3d DCA 1982), unlike the instant case, the mother's income had decreased, whereas the husband's had increased from approximately $26,000 to $35,000 per year. Cannon v. Morris, 407 So.2d 372 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981), and Kozelski v. Kozelski, 448 So.2d 1228 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984), also cited by the dissent, were not modification cases. Finally, the disparate burden of support referred to in the dissent is based upon a patently inflated expense affidavit submitted by the wife, and obviously rejected by the trial court, wherein the twelve- and thirteen-year-old children are debited with mortgage, utility, credit and car payments aggregating some $600 per month exclusive of their food, clothing, medical care and transportation.
AFFIRMED.
UPCHURCH, J., concurs.
SHARP, J., dissents with opinion.