Case Name: Teresa BALL, Appellant, v. Thomas MINNICK
Court: Superior Court of Pennsylvania
Jurisdiction: Pennsylvania
Decision Date: 1992-04-08
Citations: 414 Pa. Super. 242
Docket Number: No. 00569
Parties: Teresa BALL, Appellant, v. Thomas MINNICK.
Judges: Before WIEAND, McEWEN, OLSZEWSKI, DEL SOLE, BECK, TAMILIA, POPOVICH, JOHNSON and HUDOCK, JJ.
Reporter: Pennsylvania Superior Court Reports
Volume: 414
Pages: 242–281

Head Matter:
606 A.2d 1181
Teresa BALL, Appellant, v. Thomas MINNICK.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania.
Argued Sept. 12, 1991.
Filed April 8, 1992.
Donald R. Shroyer, Greensburg, for appellant.
William D. Garvin, McKeesport, for appellee.
Before WIEAND, McEWEN, OLSZEWSKI, DEL SOLE, BECK, TAMILIA, POPOVICH, JOHNSON and HUDOCK, JJ.

Opinion:
TAMILIA, Judge:
Appellant, Teresa Ball, takes this appéal from the March 9, 1990 Order directing appellee, Thomas Minnick, to pay, inter alia, total support in the amount of $400 per month for his two children. This Order followed a de novo hear ing before the Honorable John E. Blahovec of the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County. The relevant facts of this case, as stated by the trial court, are as follows.
Plaintiff resides with her husband, their child and the two children of the parties who are the subject of the current support order. Plaintiff has been employed as a waitress, and has a minimum wage earning capacity. She is currently off work after having surgery, but plans to return to work in the near future. Her present husband is not employed and no explanation of his status was presented at trial. It is axiomatic that he has a duty to contribute to the support of his wife and child. The total monthly budget of Plaintiffs household is $850.00 per month. The parties children constitute forty per cent of that household, and the sum of $340.00 per month reflects their reasonable needs. The Court has concluded that the reasonable needs of the children are about $400.00 per month.
Defendant earns $1,705.00 per month. He resides with his wife and her two children from a prior union. Application of the support, guidelines at $1,705.00 per month for defendant and $400.00 per month earning capacity for plaintiff suggests an Order of $513.00 per month.
(Slip Op., Blahovec, J., 3/27/90, p. 1.)
On appeal, appellant argues the trial court erred in determining appellee's child support obligation. Appellant also argues more broadly that the Melzer formula and the mandatory uniform support guidelines are inconsistent with each other, and that, by their very nature, the support guidelines supersede the Melzer formula for calculating support payments.
This Court's standard of review for support awards is a narrow one based upon abuse of discretion. Abuse of discretion in these matters requires more than mere error of judgment, rather it requires an overriding or misapplica tion of the law or a manifestly unreasonable exercise of judgment. Caplan v. Caplan, 400 Pa.Super. 352, 583 A.2d 823 (1990).
The issue as stated by appellant is whether the court failed to correctly determine the father's child support obligation.
In this case the Court en banc is called upon to determine whether the guidelines are applicable in the face of evidence establishing that the needs of the children are less than the amount provided by the guidelines and the excess would benefit other members of the household for whom the husband has no legal responsibility.
We must determine whether the presumption established by the guidelines is absolute or subject to judicial discretion based on evidence that permits application of the Melzer formula or other rationale established through case-law over the years.
Our consideration of this matter is aided by recently decided cases which have considered the issue of the binding effect of the guidelines and whether they have superseded totally Melzer and the exercise of judicial discretion.
At the outset, it is clear that no case since the inception of the guidelines has overruled Melzer and several cases directly or by implication have held that the Melzer formula remains a viable concept in determining the apportionment of support obligation for children. It goes without saying that as an intermediate appellate court, we have neither the authority nor inclination to overrule a decision of the Supreme Court.
Secondly, no majority decision in this Court or the Supreme Court has held the guidelines supersede all previous case law or the discretion of the trial court in establishing a reasonable support Order. Historically, guidelines and formulas were repudiated specifically by appellate decisions on the theory each case was unique and only a trial judge, upon review of all of the evidence concerning the needs of the spouse and/or child and the ability of the legally respon sible party to pay, could determine the amount of the Order which had to be fair and reasonable and not confiscatory.
A brief historical review of the caselaw and statutory law in Pennsylvania may help in understanding why trial judges have such broad discretion and short of a total rejection of the historical evolution of support law, we may not attribute to the rules committee such a dramatic and fundamental change.
It has always been a fundamental rule of common law that the husband owes a duty to make reasonable provisions for the support óf his wife in conformity with his means and the station in life of the parties. Commonwealth v. Berfield, 160 Pa.Super. 438, 51 A.2d 523 (1947). The law was changed as a result of the Support Law of 1937, as amended, 62 P.S. § 1971 et seq. (repealed as to procedure and governed by Pa.R.C.P. 1910.1 et seq.), providing that "[t]he husband, wife, child ., father and mother of every indigent person . shall . assist such indigent person . as the court . shall order or direct." The equal rights amendment and a finding by the Supreme Court that spouses had an equal obligation for support of each other when in need even as to in rem proceedings pursuant to the Act of 1907, 48 P.S. § 131 et seq., made this duty equal to both spouses. See Commonwealth ex rel. Stein v. Stein, 487 Pa. 1, 406 A.2d 1381 (1979). A father at common law also has the primary duty to support his dependent children. In re Harlands Account, 5 Rawles 323; In re Schwabs Account, 355 Pa. 534, 50 A.2d 504 (1947); Commonwealth ex rel. Bortz v. Norris, 184 Pa.Super. 594, 135 A.2d 771 (1957). The duty remained un changed until the Supreme Court determined because of the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in Pennsylvania in 1971, Pennsylvania Constitution, Article I, § 28, the Constitution required that the duty to support must be shared equally by both parents. See Conway v. Dana, 456 Pa. 536, 318 A.2d 324 (1974).
Procedurally there were civil, summary, quasi criminal and criminal procedures to enforce the duties. The civil remedies began with the Act of 1907, 48 P.S. § 131-141 (repealed, now contained in 23 Pa.C.S. § 4321), which provided for the civil enforcement of support, 48 P.S. 132 (now 23 Pa.C.S. § 3703), 48 P.S. 136 (now 23 Pa.C.S. § 4348), 48 P.S. 137 (now 23 Pa.C.S. § 4361), 48 P.S. 138 (now 23 Pa.C.S. § 4362), 48 P.S. 139 (now 23 Pa.C.S. § 4363), 48 P.S. 140 (now 23 Pa.C.S. § 4364), 48 P.S. 141 (now 23 Pa.C.S. § 4365). 23 Pa.C.S. § 4366, Other enforcement remedies preserved, provides that other existing remedies to enforce support orders, including but not limited to the right of plaintiff to institute proceedings against real or personal property of the defendant, are preserved. It is significant that these acts were only repealed for reenactment in the Domestic Relations Code, as is the case with all relevant support and property laws relating to spouse and children. It is important to note these early provisions for enforcement were limited to courts of competent jurisdiction, which meant that in Pennsylvania jurisdiction was vested in the Courts of Common Pleas pursuant to standard civil procedure practice. Historically, support proceedings as a separate aspect of court jurisdiction began with the creation of statutory provisions for summary/quasi criminal proceedings pursuant to the Act of 1939 as amended by the Act of 1956, P.L. 1494; 18 P.S. § 4322 (repealed, remnants of which are retained in 23 Pa.C.S. § 4354) and Willful Failure to Support Act of 1939 (misdemeanor), 18 P.S. § 4324 (now covered within 23 Pa.C.S. § 4354). Failure to support a bastard was also a misdemeanor (as well as fornication and bastardy by which paternity was established) pursuant to the Act of 1939, 18 P.S. § 4323 (repealed in 1985, now contained in the Domestic Relations Code, 23 Pa.C.S. § 4343, entirely as a civil action).
It is significant that until 1953 with the enactment of the Civil Procedural Support Law, 62 P.S. § 2043-43 (repealed and reenacted in 42 Pa.C.S. § 6701 in 1978, now codified in 23 Pa.C.S. in various sections under Part V, Support, Property and Contracts and under the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure, 1910.1-1910-49), the primary means of obtaining a support Order was to initiate a summary proceeding before a magistrate or domestic relations office, or to proceed by indictment on the misdemeanor charge with trial before the Court of Quarter Sessions. Jurisdiction in these matters in all of the courts in Pennsylvania except in Allegheny County and Philadelphia County was conferred on the Court of Quarter Sessions by the Act of 1939, 18 P.S. § 4733. In Philadelphia County, exclusive jurisdiction in such cases had been conferred on the Municipal Court of Philadelphia County, Act of 1913, 17 P.S. § 694. In Allegheny County, jurisdiction was conferred on the Allegheny County Court by the Act of 1911, 18 P.S. § 625. Those statutes also provided for probation departments to assist in the work of the courts in these matters (now covered by 42 Pa.C.S. § 961 Domestic Relations Sections). The late 1950's and 1960's saw a substantial movement to remove support matters from criminal proceedings to civil proceedings pursuant to the Civil Procedural Support Act. As criminal proceedings, authority could not be delegated to domestic relations personnel and the court was ultimately responsible for the adjudication and sentence to pay support. With the movement adopting civil procedures, innovative techniques to provide for agreement Orders, conciliation, wage verification, wage attachment and collection procedures wére developed internally under local rules or by administrative action and by virtue of these informal procedures much of what is now incorporated into the support rules and Domestic Relations Code were tried, tested and proven to be desired alternatives to full hearings in every case. At no time, however, was the discretion of the court compromised or the informality of the proceedings a substitute for judicial action.
In 1968, the Constitutional Convention recognized the critical nature of family cases and in the implementation schedule to Article V, the Judiciary, provided at section 16, Courts and Judges (as to Philadelphia):
(q) The Court of Common Pleas through the family court division of the Court of Common Pleas shall exercise jurisdiction in the following matters:
i. Domestic Relations: desertion or nonsupport of wife and children and indigent parents, including children born out of wedlock; _
As to Allegheny County, at section 17 Courts, it provided:
(b) Until otherwise provided by rule of court of common pleas, the court of common pleas shall exercise jurisdiction in the following matters through the family court division:
i. Domestic Relations: Desertion or nonsupport of wives, children and indigent parents, including children born out of wedlock; _
As to all other courts in Pennsylvania, section 4, the Courts of Common Pleas provided:
Until otherwise provided by law, the several courts of common pleas shall exercise the jurisdiction now vested in the present courts of common pleas. The courts of oyer and terminer and general jail delivery, quarter sessions of the peace and orphans courts are abolished and the several courts of common pleas shall also exercise the jurisdiction of those courts____
These sections have all been superseded by the Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. § 951, 952, which retains the essence of the above provisions. Thus in the evolution of the handling of support 'matters, while we have moved entirely to a civil proceeding and informal rules and procedures have been formalized by the rules and legislation, in no respect has the authority of the court and perforce, the discretion of the trial judge been diminished. If we were to hold the guidelines are mandatory and the court does not have a vital role in exercising discretion, we would be ignoring almost a century of evolving statutory and case law. It can be documented by a more thorough historical analysis than has been presented here, that the contents of the Domestic Relations Code and the Rules of Civil Procedure concerning support have continued in an unbroken chain of progression with little rejection of prior law or precedent, except as to the period between 1939 and 1953, when criminal proceedings were mandated. Thereafter, primarily by leadership within the trial courts, there occurred a gradual shift to civil procedures made available through the Civil Procedural Support Law. Those techniques developed within the domestic relations courts and offices were gradually adopted and refined by the Civil Rules Committee after its creation, beginning in about 1981. See Pa.R.C.P. 1910 Actions for Support, Explanatory Comment — 1981. The application of the body of case law as to duty to support and ability to pay, however, has never changed.
In recent times, because of the ever increasing case load and the need to expedite actions, the requirement that all support matters are to be determined judicially in the first instance, and neither formulas nor guidelines could be applied, has undergone modification. Legislation has provided for alternative means of hearing cases, pursuant to 23 Pa.C.S. § 4342, Expedited procedure, which requires the Supreme Court by general rule to provide for expedited procedures for determination and enforcement of support including an office conference. In response thereto, the Supreme Court promulgated Rule 1910.11, Office Conference. Subsequent Proceedings. Order, utilizing a hearing officer with summary to the court and right to de novo hearing before the court; and Rule 1910.12, Office Conference. Hearing. Record. Exceptions, Order, utilizing a permanent hearing officer who is a lawyer, with a stenographic record and recommendations to which exceptions may be filed, from which an appropriate Order will be made by the court. The court, as justice requires, still retains the power to hear cases in the first instance where they are complex or likely to be protracted. See Rule 1910.11(j).
The requirement for imposition of statewide guidelines was established by statute, 23 Pa.C.S. § 4322, Support guideline, to be established by general rule by the Supreme Court. See Pa.R.C.P. 1910.16-1 — 1910.16-5.
Section 4322(a) provides in pertinent part:
The guideline shall be based upon the reasonable needs of the child or spouse seeking support and the ability of the obligor to provide support. In determining the reasonable needs of the child or spouse seeking support and the ability of the obligor to provide support, the guideline shall place primary emphasis on the net incomes and earning capacities of the parties, with allowable deviations for unusual needs, extraordinary expenses and other factors, such as the parties' assets, as warrant special attention.
The statute goes further and in subsection (b) provides:
(b) Rebuttable presumption. — There shall be a rebut-table presumption, in any judicial or expedited process, that the amount of the award which would result from the application of such guideline is the correct amount of support to be awarded. A written finding or specific finding on the record that the application of the guideline would be unjust or inappropriate in a particular case shall be sufficient to rebut the presumption in that case, provided that the finding is based upon criteria established by the Supreme Court by general rule____
Id. This case narrows down to the single issue of whether the trial court is compelled to apply the guideline amount when in his discretion that amount is unreasonable under the facts of the case.
Unless we find the legislature intended the guidelines to be mandatory and the discretion of the court limited to application of the guidelines without considerations expounded in Melzer, supra, and a century of judicial interpretation of support law, we must hold that they are not mandatory. Reading from the statute implementing the guidelines, it is clear that the guidelines must be based upon the "reasonable needs of the child or spouse seeking support and the ability of the obligor to provide support." 23 Pa.C.S. § 4322(a) (emphasis added). The entire statement, including the requirement that the guidelines shall place primary emphasis on the net income and earning capacities of the parties, with allowable deviations for unusual needs, extraordinary expenses and other factors, such as the parties' assets, as warrant special attention, contains provisions which are identical to those standards which trial judges have been applying to establish support Orders from time immemorial. Like the Melzer formula, which pursued the same end, that is, "so persons similarly situated shall be treated similarly," the interrelationship of the parties, needs and ability to pay are to be incorporated in any guideline figure. Melzer establishes an individualized, detailed calculation of those factors to establish the appropriate support Order. The guidelines provide a starting point from which the court can, if necessary, individualize the support Order. What has caused confusion in the application of the guidelines is section 4322(b), Rebuttable presumption, that the amount of the award which would result from the guideline is the correct amount of the support to be awarded. While some would convert this to a mandatory presumption, that section itself provides it is rebuttable by a written finding or specific finding on the record that the guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate in a particular case.
In adopting the guidelines, the Supreme Court provided in Pa.R.C.P. 1910.16-5, Support Guidelines. Operation, as follows:
RULE 1910.16-5 SUPPORT GUIDELINES. OPERATION
(a) Applicability of the Support Guidelines. The support guidelines set forth the amount of support which a spouse or parent should pay on the basis of both parties' monthly incomes and the number of persons being supported. The support of a spouse or child is a priority obligation, so that a party is expected to meet this obligation by adjusting his or her other expenditures.
A hearing officer or permanent hearing officer may make a recommendation, and the court may enter an order, without explanation if it falls within the specified deviations from the guideline figure. But, if a recommendation or an order departs from the guideline by more than the standard deviation, the hearing officer, permanent hearing officer or court is required to make findings of fact and give an explanation for the recommendation.
The support guidelines are a starting point only. They must be applied taking into consideration the special needs and obligations of the parties. The hearing officer, permanent hearing officer or the court must consider all relevant factors, including the following:
(1) unusual needs and unusual fixed obligations;
(2) other support obligations of the parties;
(3) other income in the household;
(4) ages of the children;
(5) assets of the parties;
(6) medical expenses not covered by insurance;
(7) standard of living of the parties and their children; and
(8) other relevant and appropriate factors.
Id. (emphasis supplied).
If the guidelines are a starting point and their application is a rebuttable presumption, allowing numerous considerations and broad use of judicial discretion in deviating from the guidelines, no reasonable interpretation of the legislative intent allows room to find the guidelines are mandatory.
A consideration which confuses the issue and would have some persons find the guidelines must be applied in all instances, thereby repudiating Melzer, is the adoption by the Rules Committee, in the Explanatory Comment to Rule 1910.16- 1, of an Income Shares Model, developed by the Child Support Guidelines Project of the National Center for State Courts, which leaves no room for a Melzer application. The Income Shares Model is predicated on the concept that the child should receive the same proportion of parental income that he or she would have received if the parents lived together. This is an ideal which is difficult of achievement and support based on this model is derived from economic studies and averages and not by determination of specific need as related to ability to pay. See Pa.R.C.P. 1910.16- 1, A. Income Shares, Explanatory Comment — 1989. To make the assumption that Melzer, which complies with the mandate of section 4322(a), "The guideline shall be based upon the reasonable needs of the child or spouse seeking support and the ability of the obligor to provide supportf,]" is superseded by the application of the Income Shares Model, based on economic studies and averages, is unwarranted and untenable.
Thus we conclude the guidelines are not mandatory, but a starting point and by implication they cannot and do not supersede Melzer or deny the trial judge or hearing officer of the discretion to mold support Orders to meet the specific conditions of the parties.
This does not, however, mean the guidelines are not relevant in most cases or that an Order must be rejected if Melzer is not applied in addition to or in lieu of the guidelines. We have struggled for several years over the application of the guidelines vis a vis Melzer and in some cases the results have been confusing if not conflicting. The line of cases propounding various views may be divided into three categories, the first being those that hold Melzer is controlling and the guidelines in all instances must be rejected unless Melzer has been applied. Racciato v. Racciato, 393 Pa.Super. 307, 574 A.2d 625 (1990); Marshall v. Ross, 373 Pa.Super. 235, 540 A.2d 954 (1988); Ryan v. DeLong, 371 Pa.Super. 248, 538 A.2d 1 (1987); and DeWalt v. DeWalt, 365 Pa.Super. 280, 529 A.2d 508 (1987). A second line of cases holds that Melzer must be applied in conjunction with the guidelines. Blaisure v. Blaisure, 395 Pa.Super. 473, 577 A.2d 640 (1990); Olson v. Olson, 384 Pa.Super. 224, 558 A.2d 93 (1989); Szillery v. Wheaton, 382 Pa.Super. 394, 555 A.2d 237 (1989); and Shutter v. Reilly, 372 Pa.Super. 251, 539 A.2d 424 (1988); see Racciato, supra, which appears to go both ways. Finally, there is a more recently developing line of cases which holds that if either Melzer or the guidelines are properly applied and they either have been harmonized or application of one or the other has been waived, the court is not guilty of an abuse of discretion. Horst v. Horst, 406 Pa.Super. 188, 593 A.2d 1299 (1991); Seawalt v. Muldoon, 406 Pa.Super. 94, 593 A.2d 886 (1991); Marshall v. Marshall, 404 Pa.Super. 628, 591 A.2d 1060 (1991); Coffey v. Coffey, 394 Pa.Super. 194, 575 A.2d 587 (1990); and Lampa v. Lampa, 371 Pa.Super. 1, 537 A.2d 350 (1988). This latter view is the only tenable approach the courts may take in balancing the great body of caselaw and statutory law with the legislative and Supreme Court mandate that guidelines are to be utilized.
The legislative directive which resulted in the creation of the guidelines emanated from two federal legislations which required statewide guidelines. See Child Support Enforce- merit Amendments of 1984, P.L. 98-378 and 45 C.F.R. 202.56. This legislation was deemed necessary because of the haphazard and inconsistent fashion in which support Orders were formulated nationwide. The guidelines and Melzer address this issue and if one or the other are utilized in every case, in an appropriate fashion, the legislative intent, both federal and state, will have been achieved. The single drawback to the use of guidelines is they are mechanistic and may substitute one injustice for another, unless judges and hearing officers apply discretion in proper cases to meet individual circumstances. Without allowance for discretion, guidelines will in many cases be the refuge for the exercise of arbitrary and unwarranted Orders which result in greater enforcement problems. It goes without saying that large segments of our poor are women and children who are suffering from financial abandonment by legally obligated husbands or fathers. At least one-half of the problem lies with the collection process rather than the Order of support itself. A confiscatory or overly burdensome Order entered without full consideration of ability to pay and needs of both obligor and obligee simply results in inability to comply. The best Order in all cases is the one which is unassailable because it was properly constructed in the first instance and this can only be accomplished by well considered factors thoughtfully and legally applied.
Support Orders are created in an adversarial process, even when entered as a result of agreement by the parties. It is abundantly clear what the responsibility of both parties is with respect to providing the basic figures necessary to establish need and ability to pay. Both the guidelines and Melzer require establishing a monthly net income figure (Rule 1910.16-5), consideration of divided or split income child care expenses and income of another non-liable adult in the household. Rule 1910.26 provides for a comprehensive income and expense statement and Rule 1910.27 provides for an Order to obtain wage information. If the parties wish to have a unique and explicitly detailed support Order concerning their private circumstances, the wherewithal is there to provide one within the Melzer formula. Even if Melzer did not exist, the same formulation could be derived from precedent going back 50 years. Horst, supra. If the parties wish to have the guidelines apply with certain qualifiers, that is equally available to them. Should the parties wish to do nothing and accept the guidelines as a straightforward resolution of their support matters, this is also available. It is not for us to determine across the board that any of these methods is prohibited or that one has been superseded or has precedence over the other.
Our analysis in Marshall, supra, is appropriate to cite here:
The guidelines acknowledge that in some instances they do not apply, particularly where the joint spousal income amount is more than $8,000 (Pa.R.C.P.1910.16-5(d)). These cases require the support to be calculated by the formula provided by Rule 1910.16-3, Support Guidelines. Formula. Either the formula or the guidelines provided by the rules may be used to calculate support. Since the guidelines have provided alternate means of establishing a support Order, does this mean that no other method is available? As discussed above, the guidelines draw their validity from long-established principles of support law. The guidelines are a starting point and do not negate the discretion of the trial judge in their interpretation and application of the guidelines. Neither the trial court nor this Court can ignore the guidelines. However, if a trial judge or hearing officer, with full knowledge of the guidelines, applies case law and properly weighs the applicable considerations to determine the needs of the child and/or spouse, the ability of the obligor to pay considering calculation of net income and related variables which allowably reduce net income or increase need, then failure to use the guidelines or guideline formula will not be a basis for reversal.
Secondly, if a reasonable support Order is decreed using the Melzer formula as opposed to the guidelines, it will be affirmed. The mandatory application of Melzer is no more required than the application of the guidelines but both must meet the test of reasonableness----
We cannot nullify the line of cases which have held that the Melzer formula is the underlying basis upon which a court Order must be founded, DeWalt v. DeWalt, 365 Pa.Super. 280, 529 A.2d 508 (1987), and that the calculation of that formula must appear of record. Ryan v. DeLong, 371 Pa.Super. 248, 538 A.2d 1 (1987); Marshall v. Ross, 373 Pa.Super. 235, 540 A.2d 954 (1988). These cases focus on the fact that guidelines, whether the ones adopted here or the ones based on a cost sharing approach, do not rely on a precise specification of the minimal amount necessary to support the child, but instead, set an idealized figure based on the income of the parents. See O'Donnell, Smith and Smith: "No Magic Formula for Determining Child Support Payments of the Non-Custodial Parent," 18 Will.L.Rev. 356.67 (1982).
Since this Court, as seen above, takes divergent approaches in this matter, it is necessary to view the matter so as to accommodate both views. This is accomplished by finding that neither Melzer nor the guidelines can be ignored. When the guidelines are utilized, objection is made and it is factually established they fail to produce a result which is within reasonable range of what Melzer would have produced, then the guidelines will not prevail. If Melzer is properly utilized, it is unlikely that the guidelines could be of greater validity as being less specific and detailed. If the guidelines are used and no attempt is made to weigh the result against Melzer at trial or upon review, then it is presumed the issue is waived and the guideline amount will be tested against the internal standard or the formula approved by the guidelines____ This does not mean that the court must run a Melzer formula and a guideline application in every case. Rather, it means the court may apply the guidelines, but if one of the parties proposes a Melzer calculation that seriously conflicts with the guidelines, the court must be able to explain the difference. Melzer and the guidelines remain viable. See [Lesko v. ] Lesko, supra [392 Pa.Super. 240, 572 A.2d 780] [ (1990) ]. It also means that if the court utilized neither the guidelines nor the Melzer formula, and the resulting support Order does not come within a reasonable degree of conformity with a Melzer calculation, it will be reversed and remanded.
Id., 404 Pa.Superior Ct. at 637-40, 591 A.2d at 1065-66.
In summation, we hold the guidelines are not mandatory but may be the basis for a support Order when properly applied in accordance with the qualifying provisions. The court has reasonable discretion to deviate from the guidelines if it appears to be necessary and is supported by the record. Failure to validate the guideline determination by a Melzer analysis is not error or grounds for reversal., Application of a Melzer analysis in lieu of the guidelines, once the guideline figure has been ascertained, will not be a basis for reversal if Melzer has been properly applied. Failure to propose a Melzer formulation by a party will result in waiver of consideration of that manner of deriving a support Order on appeal. As we stressed above, the traditional broad discretion in the trial court to determine these matters remains unrestricted.
Directing ourselves to the facts of this case, we hold the trial court had the discretion to ignore the guidelines when they appeared to be inapplicable to the facts of this case. As we stated above, the parties must bring to the court the necessary data upon which the court establishes the support Order, whether by the guideline method, Melzer or direct computation based on the traditional standards.
Here, the court determined the total needs of the family as computed from the information supplied would result in the guideline figure providing 60 per cent of the entire support to the mother's family, consisting of the two children of appellee/husband as well as the appellant's spouse and their child. The appellant's family also receives public assistance, food stamps and energy assistance which underwrites their support. The appellant estimated the family's expenses at $850, thus the finding by the court that $513, the guideline grid amount, would comprise 60 per cent of the basic family budget. In attributing minimum wage income to the appellant ($400 per month) and ignoring income earned by appellee's wife and making no allowance for potential earnings of the appellee's unemployed husband, the court side-stepped many of the considerations that would have weighed in a Melzer formulation. We cannot say that it was an abuse of discretion in failing to apply the guidelines, but it is evident a simple division of the needs of the appellant's family into four parts to arrive at the needs of the two children satisfies neither Melzer nor the guidelines nor any other method of establishing child support.
What is absolutely clear from the history of support laws, the Melzer formula and the guidelines is that the needs of the children must be ascertained. Seawall, supra; Beegle v. Rosler, 395 Pa.Super. 174, 576 A.2d 1100 (1990). This must then be related to the net income of the responsible parents and their own living expenses to establish a fair, reasonable and nonconfiscatory Order. It should not be a monumental task to establish on the record what those needs are and to relate them to the income of the parents and their ability to pay. Since the court itself questioned the amount put forth by the appellant as representing the true expenses of the family, it is likely that a detailed account of the needs of the children will put this doubt to rest. We leave to the discretion of the trial judge the manner in which he will incorporate the findings on the needs of the two children in the final computation of the support Order, consistent with this Opinion.
The Order of the trial court is reversed and the case remanded for further hearing consistent with this Opinion.
Jurisdiction relinquished.
Concurring opinion by DEL SOLE, J., joined by BECK, J.
Concurring opinion by BECK, J., joined by DEL SOLE, J., McEWEN, J., concurring in the result.
Dissenting opinion by WIEAND, J., joined by JOHNSON and HUDOCK, JJ.
Dissenting opinion by JOHNSON, J.
. Melzer v. Witsberger, 505 Pa. 462, 480 A.2d 991 (1984).
. In the 1750s, Blackstone said:
The duty of parents to provide for the maintenance of then-children, is a principle of natural law____by begetting them, therefore, they have entered into a voluntary obligation, to endeavour, as far as in them lies, that the life which they have bestowed shall be supported and preserved. And thus the children will have a perfect right of receiving maintenance from their parents.
And the manner, in which this obligation shall be performed, is thus pointed out. The father, and mother, grandfather, and grandmother of poor impotent persons shall maintain them at their own charges, if of sufficient ability, . and if a parent runs away, and leaves his children, the churchwardens and overseers of the parish shall seize his rents, goods, and chattels, and dispose of them toward their relief.
I.W. Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, 447-448 (1965).
. See Tamiíia, The New Pittsburgh Family Court, Pa.Bar Association Quarterly, Vol. XL, March, 1969, No. 3.
. See Report of the Domestic Relations Task Force to the Court Administrator of Pennsylvania, May 23, 1980; the Task Force, with approval of the Chief Justice, was created June 4, 1978 by Judge Alexander F. Barbieri, Court Administrator of Pennsylvania. This Task Force committee was the forerunner of the subcommittee on Domestic Relations, now part of the Civil Rules Committee.
. A secondary issue to be discussed infra is whether the trial court properly established the needs of the children aside from the incorporated needs with that of the family. See Beegle v. Rasler, 395 Pa.Super. 174, 576 A.2d 1100 (1990).
. The 1984 amendments require states to establish discretionary guidelines for child support awards. Toward that end, the amendments provide:
(a) Each State, as a condition for having its State plan approved under this part, must establish guidelines for child support award amounts within the State. The guidelines may be established by law or by judicial or administrative action.
(b) The guidelines established pursuant to subsection (a) shall be made available to all judges and other officials who have the power to determine child support awards within such State, but need not be binding upon such judges or other officials.
(c) The Secretary shall furnish technical assistance to the States for establishing the guidelines, and each State shall furnish the Secretary with copies of its guidelines.
(d) The amendment made by subsection (a) shall become effective on October 1, 1987.
. 1984 Amendments, . § 18, 98 Stat. 1305, 1321-22 (codified as amended at 42 U.S.C.A. § 667 (West Supp.1989)).
Child Support Enforcement Amendments of 1984, P.L. 98-378 and 45 C.F.R. 202.56 (emphasis added).
. Pa.R.C.P. 1910.16-1, Support Guidelines, Explanatory Comment-1989 Conclusion, states:
The Domestic Relations Committee recognizes that the support guidelines may not be "ideal." However, it is believed that they represent an improvement over present methods of awarding support. The new guidelines are a beginning in fulfilling the statutory mandates which must be implemented.
. To ascertain the children's needs, the court took appellant's monthly family budget ($850) divided by the number of persons in the family (5) and obtained an individual pro rata amount of $170 ($850 5 = $170). The needs of the two children were set at 2 x 170 = 340 and then rounded up to $400.