Case Name: Kenneth M. FLETCHER and Joann Thomas, Appellants, v. Leon FLETCHER, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1991-01-15
Citations: 573 So. 2d 941
Docket Number: No. 90-797
Parties: Kenneth M. FLETCHER and Joann Thomas, Appellants, v. Leon FLETCHER, Appellee.
Judges: SHIVERS, C.J., and JOANOS, J., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 573
Pages: 941–945

Head Matter:
Kenneth M. FLETCHER and Joann Thomas, Appellants, v. Leon FLETCHER, Appellee.
No. 90-797.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.
Jan. 15, 1991.
Rehearing Denied Feb. 18, 1991.
William D. Anderson, Maureen C. Proctor, and Ralph A. Demeo of Huey, Guilday, Kuersteiner & Tucker, Tallahassee, for appellants.
Fred H. Flowers, Tallahassee, for appel-lee.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
Joann Thomas and her son, Kenneth Fletcher, have appealed a non-final order modifying the amount for which appellee Leon Fletcher is obligated for Kenneth's support. As a 100-percent disabled veteran, Fletcher receives Veterans Administration (VA) disability benefits. The trial court increased his support payments from $50.00 to $60.00 monthly, the latter amount reflecting the VA benefits allotted by the federal government for veterans' dependent children. We find that the court erred in excluding the remainder of Fletcher's VA disability benefits from his income in calculating his child support obligation under section 61.30, Florida Statutes (1989), and reverse.
The order herein appealed was based on the trial court's ruling that section 61.-046(4), Florida Statutes (1987), "specifically excludes Veterans Administration disability benefits from the definition of income for purposes of determining child support" under section 61.30. The court concluded that "[sjince [Fletcher] has no source of income or assets other than Veterans Administration disability benefits, [he] has a zero net income" for purposes of calculating his section 61.30 child support obligation.
Section 61.046(4), enacted in 1986, excludes Veterans Administration disability benefits from the definition of "income" as the term is generally used in chapter 61. Section 61.30(2)(a)4, enacted in 1987, includes "disability benefits" among the items to be included in gross income for the specific purpose of calculating the income of a child support obligor; VA disability benefits are not excepted. It is well established that, where there is in the same statute a specific provision, and also a general one that in its most comprehensive sense would include matters embraced in the former, the particular provision will nevertheless prevail; the general provision must be taken to affect only such cases as are not within the terms of the particular provision. 49 Fla.Jur.2d Statutes, § 182. Therefore, the exclusion of VA disability benefits by the general definition of "income" in section 61.046(4) has been overridden by the later-enacted, and more specific, section 61.30(2)(a)4.
This holding is supported by the first sentence of section 61.30, which reads: "The child support guideline amount as determined by this section presumptively es tablishes the amount the trier of fact shall order as child support in an initial proceeding for such support or in a proceeding for modification of an existing order for such support, whether the proceeding arises under this or another chapter" (emphasis supplied). This is a clear indication that the support formula is to be used without reference to some other section of chapter 61.
Finally, where legislative language is susceptible to more than one interpretation, the interpretation which avoids an unreasonable result should be preferred. Agrico Chemical Co. v. State Department of Environmental Regulation, 365 So.2d 759, 766 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978), cert. denied, 376 So.2d 74 (Fla.1979). See also Department of Professional Regulation, Board of Medical Examiners v. Durrani, 455 So.2d 515 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984). We find that the holding herein results in the more reasonable interpretation of chapter 61.
The order of the trial court excluding Fletcher's VA disability benefits from his income for purposes of calculating his child support obligation is therefore reversed, and the case remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
SHIVERS, C.J., and JOANOS, J., concur.
ZEHMER, J., dissents with opinion.