Opinion ID: 1316607
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: willful failure to pay support

Text: The family court found that appellant willfully failed to pay child support or materially contribute to the children's care for multiple six-month periods during the five years the children had been in foster care. See S.C.Code Ann. § 20-7-1572(4). Appellant argues she never received notice of the hearing at which she was required to pay support. Whether a parent's failure to visit or support a child is willful within the meaning of the statute is a question of intent to be determined in each case from all the facts and circumstances. The family court is given wide discretion in making this determination, which must be established by clear and convincing evidence. South Carolina Dep't of Social Services v. Broome, 307 S.C. 48, 413 S.E.2d 835 (1992). Conduct of the parent which evinces a settled purpose to forego parental duties may fairly be characterized as `willful' because it manifests a conscious indifference to the rights of the child to receive support and consortium from the parent. Id. at 53, 413 S.E.2d at 838. A family court judge ordered appellant in November 1993 to pay $174 per month in child support. The record shows appellant paid $583 in April 1994 after a judge issued a bench warrant for her arrest due to non-payment. She paid $4,475 in May 1996, one day before the hearing began on the termination of her parental rights. She made no other payments. The record refutes appellant's assertion that she never received notice of the support hearing. Although appellant initially testified she never received notice of the support hearing, she admitted on cross-examination she knew she was supposed to pay child support. While appellant needed counseling to address her mental health problems, she was capable of doing everyday tasks, psychologists testified. She had been employed in the past, including four years at a fast food restaurant and four years at a jewelry shop. Appellant testified she could not afford to pay child support because she did not have a job. She considered her effort to regain custody of her children a full-time job. We conclude that clear and convincing evidence supports the family court's decision to terminate appellant's parental rights on this ground. Appellant could have worked and paid child support. If she could not afford to pay $174 a month, she could have asked the court to reduce it or at least materially contributed in some way to her children's support. Instead, she did nothing.