Opinion ID: 1932754
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: award of support to stephen

Text: [¶ 8] Stephen first contends that the Superior Court abused its discretion when, in its order requiring Julie to pay him child support, it based the award on the child support guidelines, see 19-A M.R.S.A. §§ 2001-2009 (1998), and improperly refused to consider the increased cost of living in England to which Stephen and Allyson were subject. Stephen also contends that the court acted outside of the bounds of its discretion (1) when it refused to order that those payments by Julie be made retroactive to the date the motion for such payments was filed, and (2) when it refused to award him costs. [¶ 9] We review a child support award for an abuse of discretion. Such an order will be vacated only if it results in a plain and unmistakable injustice, so apparent that it is instantly visible without argument. Harvey v. Robinson, 665 A.2d 215, 217 (Me.1995). The support obligation derived from the guidelines is presumed to be the proper amount ordered to be paid. See 19-A M.R.S.A. § 2005. The party seeking to have the court deviate from the guidelines has the burden to overcome the presumption. See 19-A M.R.S.A. § 2007(1) (providing that the court may deviate from the guidelines if it finds that following them would be inequitable due to considerations found in section 2007(3)). Although the court considered Stephen's request that there be a deviation upward from the child support guidelines, [1] it concluded that any difference in the higher cost of living in England for Stephen was offset by the costs of visits between Maine and England, and used the guidelines to determine its $93.00 weekly support award. We cannot say that the court was compelled to deviate upward from the child support guidelines, or that Stephen rebutted, as a matter of law, the presumption that the guidelines reflect the proper amount of support. The court did make its child support award retroactive, but not fully retroactive to the date of the motion for child support. Retroactivity of a support award is within the broad discretion of the court. See Finn v. Finn, 517 A.2d 317, 319 (Me.1986). [¶ 10] A decision to award costs is similarly reviewed for an abuse of discretion. See Estate of Stowell, 636 A.2d 440, 442 (Me.1994). The determinations made by the court with respect to the effective date of the child support that Julie was ordered to pay, and with respect to costs, did not result in a plain and unmistakable injustice, so apparent that it is instantly visible without argument. The court acted within the range of its considerable discretion.