Opinion ID: 1735276
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: whether the trial court erred in failing to give sumrall a credit for overpayment of child support retroactive to bradley's enrollment in college.

Text: ¶ 26. Sumrall argues that the trial court erred when it failed to make the reduction in child support retroactive to the time Bradley entered college. Sumrall cites our unpublished decision in Strub v. Strub, 691 So.2d 1024 (Miss.1997), as authority for his position that [c]hancellors who sit in courts of equity have discretionary authority as to the effective date of both original orders and modifications. Not only is Strub inapplicable to this case, Strub is not precedent from this Court. Strub v. Strub, handed down by this Court on February 13, 1997, was not designated for publication and may not be cited pursuant to M.R.A.P. 35-A. ¶ 27. Sumrall also cites Nichols v. Tedder, 547 So.2d 766 (Miss.1989), for the proposition that he be allowed credit for excess child support paid since Bradley entered college in August, 1997. In Nichols, a father was in arrears in paying his child support. Eventually his daughter became emancipated and his son moved into the father's home. The father filed a petition for modification of child support. The chancellor ruled that the father no longer owed child support to the mother and gave the father credit against the arrearage for the child support paid during the time period between the daughter's emancipation and the son's relocation and the time the chancellor's order was entered. Nichols, 547 So.2d at 781. This Court stated that the father should be allowed to prove he should receive credit for payments made from the point in time where the changes occurred and that filing a petition to modify child support allows the father the opportunity. Id. ¶ 28. Based upon Nichols, the trial court erred in not allowing Sumrall a credit for the child support paid since Bradley entered college in August, 1997. This Court orders that the modification of child support be retroactive to August, 1997, giving Sumrall credit for child support paid in September, October, and November, 1997, as well as credit for child support paid in February, March and April, 1998.