Opinion ID: 1182243
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: First issue of each party, and second issue of appellant.)

Text: The parties have three children. The oldest, Ginger, was 13 years old at the time of the Agreement. She entered college in September 1991, about a month after reaching the age of 18. She received an athletic scholarship, which paid her room, board and tuition. The Agreement, in Section 2, provided in part: b) The husband shall pay child support in the amount of $1,100.00 per month per child until each child reaches the age of majority, is emancipated, or until further order of the Court. Said support shall continue at a reduction of 75% (i.e. a reduction to the sum of $275.00 per month per child) beyond the age of majority and until the child attains the age of twenty-three (23) years, contingent upon the child pursuing a higher education and/or living at least part-time with the mother. A record of such child support payment shall be kept by each of the parties and a receipt mailed to the Court by the wife. Payment of the child support shall commence on the 10th day of April 1987, and be due and payable in a like manner each and every month thereafter until said minor children reach the age of twenty-three (23), are emancipated or until further order of the Court.       f) The husband shall provide room and board, tuition and books for the education of the parties' children at either a vocational, technical, or public institution of higher learning of the child's choice for each child through the equivalent of an undergraduate (bachelor's level) degree. However, this provision is not to be interpreted or construed to make the husband responsible for the cost of a preparatory or pre-college private school. In its order, the district court recited in part: The parties at the time of entering into the Agreement did not contemplate the affect of paragraph 2b in the situation such as exists here when Ginger Kidd is attending college living in the dormitory but is under the age of 19 years. That provision of the Decree is hereby modified to provide that when a child is under the age of 19 and attending school residing somewhere other than with the plaintiff, that for nine (9) months a year, i.e., September through May, the amount of child support payable for that child shall be $550.00 per month. During the three months summer break, i.e., June through August, if the child resides with the plaintiff, the child support shall be at the rate of $1,100.00 per month. Once the child reaches the age of 19 years, then child support shall be payable at the rate of $275.00 per month under the terms and conditions set forth in paragraph 2b of the Agreement. The district court's effort to reach a fair result through its order reducing the amount of child support payments overlooked two aspects of this case which make successful a contest of the order on this issue: (1) the existence of the detailed and comprehensive Agreement, the contents of which rebut the alleged reason for decrease in the amount of the payments, and (2) the lack of a substantial change in circumstances not contemplated at the time of the Agreement and divorce. The modification of child support provisions contained in a divorce decree is within the sound discretion of the trial court if there has been a substantial change of circumstances since the decree was entered. The district court ordered a modification in this case on the basis of what it believed the parties intended in the Agreement, rather than on a change in circumstances. The Agreement in this case is specific and plain in reflecting the contemplation of the parties to have been exactly contrary to that which the district court found. As indicated in the above quoted portion of the Agreement, the $1,100 per month payment per child was agreed to continue until the child reaches the age of majority, is emancipated, or until further order of the Courtno exceptions. The next sentence reflects the recognition by the parties that the determining factor for reduction in child support would be the reaching of the age of majority (Ginger will reach that age on August 21, 1992), with appellee continuing the reduced support payments thereafter to age 23 as long as the child was either pursuing a higher education or was living at least part-time with the mother. The fact that the support payments were not to be in lieu of room and board, tuition and books is evidenced by the later provision in the Agreement in which appellee agreed to pay such costs through the equivalent of an undergraduate (bachelor's level) degree all without any reference to child support payments. The Agreement provided that appellee be entitled to a minimum of thirty-six (36) days of visitation with the children in each calendar year. There was no provision for waiver of child support payments during these 36 days or during other times of his visitation. Ginger's receipt of the scholarship is an advantage to appellee since he would otherwise have to pay that provided by the scholarship in addition to the child support. Under the Agreement, the child support obligation is separate and apart from the obligation to provide room and board, tuition and books. Events which change one obligation do not necessarily change the other. The separation of the two obligations also is a recognition by the parties that child support includes more than room, board and school expenses, such as clothes, transportation, recreation, etc. The Agreement is not ambiguous. A contract is ambiguous if it is obscure in its meaning because of indefiniteness of expression or because of a double meaning being present. Cliff & Co., Ltd. v. Anderson, 777 P.2d 595, 599 (Wyo.1989). The terms of the Agreement are definite and clear. There is no room for construction. We will not rewrite contracts under guise of interpretation and, so long as there is no ambiguity, we are bound to apply contracts as they were written. Arnold v. Mountain West Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company, Inc., 707 P.2d 161, 166 (Wyo.1985); McCartney v. Malm, 627 P.2d 1014, 1020 (Wyo.1981). Beyond that, in order for a modification of divorce decree to be warranted, it must be established that there has been a material or substantial change of circumstances which outweighs society's interest in applying the doctrine of res judicata. Mentock v. Mentock, 638 P.2d 156, 158 (Wyo.1981); See also Manners v. Manners, 706 P.2d 671 (Wyo. 1985). In this case, the modification is requested on the basis of an alleged contemplation of the parties contrary to the terms of the Agreement and not on a change in circumstances. The present circumstances are those which existed at the time of the Agreement and of the divorce. The ages of the children were then known. The ages they would be when they entered college in the normal course of events were known. College expenses, such as board, room and tuition were anticipated with provision that appellee would pay for them, without any arrangement for offset in support payments. Since we find error in modifying the divorce decree contrary to the specific child support provisions of the Agreement, which was made part of the decree, and absent a substantial change in circumstances not anticipated at the time of the Agreement, it is unnecessary to consider whether or not the modification order was also violative of the child support guidelines in Wyo. Stat. § 20-6-304 (1991 Supp.) (appellant's second issue). [1]