Opinion ID: 2079506
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Cross-Appeal: Retroactive Child Support Due Upon Entry of Judgment.

Text: The State asserts on cross-appeal that the district court erred in ordering Risinger to pay the retroactive child support in monthly installments rather than entering judgment for the full amount due with interest to accrue from the date of judgment. We agree that the court should have entered judgment for the full amount due with interest to accrue from the date of judgment rather than ordering Risinger to pay in monthly installments, and we therefore modify the decree of paternity and support to so provide. In Bowers v. Lens, 264 Neb. 465, 648 N.W.2d 294 (2002), we faced a similar issue with regard to an order of retroactive alimony. In Bowers, the district court, in a March 13, 2001, order, determined that a certain amount of alimony was due from the husband to the wife retroactive from April 1997 through March 2001. The court ordered the husband to pay the judgment in monthly installments of $500 starting April 1, 2001, and continuing until the judgment was paid in full. On appeal, we concluded that the court erred in limiting the wife's ability to collect the alimony to a periodic basis. We noted that a decree or judgment for the payment of money is one which is immediately due and collectible where its nonpayment is a breach of duty by the judgment debtor. Id. at 470, 648 N.W.2d at 299. We further noted that alimony payments ordinarily vest as they accrue, and we concluded that a judgment for retroactive alimony, i.e., alimony that should have vested and accrued in prior months, is one which is immediately due and collectible by the judgment debtor. Id. at 471, 648 N.W.2d at 300. We therefore modified the decree in Bowers to allow the wife to collect the entire alimony judgment in such manner as allowed by law. Similarly, in the present case, we conclude that the district court erred in ordering the retroactive child support of $60,119 to be paid in future monthly installments. Like alimony payments, child support payments ordinarily vest as they accrue. See, Gress v. Gress, 257 Neb. 112, 596 N.W.2d 8 (1999); Maddux v. Maddux, 239 Neb. 239, 475 N.W.2d 524 (1991). We conclude that the judgment in this case for child support that should have vested and accrued in prior months is a judgment which was immediately due and collectible upon entry of the decree of paternity and support. We determine that the district court abused its discretion in ordering the retroactive child support to be paid in future monthly installments. Thus, we conclude that the order should be modified and judgment entered for the full amount due, with interest to accrue on the full amount from the date of judgment.