Opinion ID: 1646734
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether Kern's conduct provided Shelnut a legal excuse for failing to pay child support.

Text: ¶ 19. Shelnut argues that Cole v. Hood, 371 So.2d 861 (Miss.1979), provides a legal excuse for him to avoid paying child support. In Cole, the mother took the children and actively hid them from their father by moving around the country and not informing the father of their addresses. Despite the father's efforts, he was unable to find the children for eight years. Once he did find them, the mother then attempted to enforce a child-support order against him for the accrued support for those eight years. See id. at 863. This Court affirmed the trial court's dismissal of the mother's claim. The trial court had held that she did not come to equity with clean hands. Her actions had made it impossible for the father to comply with the child-support order. See id. at 864. ¶ 20. The facts in this case are more like those of Cunliffe v. Swartzfager, 437 So.2d 43 (Miss.1983). In Cunliffe, the wife took the child to a foreign country and the father did not see his child for several years. See id. at 44. This Court reversed the trial court (in part), which had followed Cole in relieving the father of the requirement to pay. See id. at 45-46. This Court reasoned that it was not impossible for the father to pay. See id. at 45-46. He knew generally where the child was and could have paid the support through his former wife's relatives, who knew her address. See id. at 45-46. ¶ 21. The chancellor made a finding of fact that Shelnut knew all along where his daughter was and Kern did not hide his daughter from him. The chancellor found the following testimony persuasive: (1) When asked how his daughter had survived, Shelnut stated that Kern had a wealthy family. [4] (2) Shelnut's parents went several times to visit Margaret-Anne. This included one trip to North Dakota in which Shelnut's parents took Margaret-Anne's Mississippi cousins to visit with her. Even though Shelnut was aware of these visits, he never showed any interest in joining his parents on any of these trips. (3) When asked why he did not seek a modification of the Canadian orders, Shelnut replied that he could not afford it. The court gave little credence to this response, observing that Shelnut has been able to hire several lawyers to help him avoid his responsibilities over the last two decades. (4) Shelnut had Margaret-Anne's address during this time, as he showed by mailing letters, cards, and gifts to Margaret-Anne over a ten-year period. (5) In addition, Kern sent cards, pictures and letters, including return addresses, to Shelnut's family. ¶ 22. We conclude that Kern's conduct, coupled with Shelnut's inaction in the Canadian courts, does not provide a legal excuse for failing to pay child support. Shelnut knew generally where Margaret-Anne was and could have paid the support through the Maintenance Support Office, as ordered. We find no error in the chancellor's analysis and ruling.