Opinion ID: 1335351
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: Appellant Douglas D. Cottrill and Appellee Patricia A. Cottrill were married on October 29, 1966. During their marriage, the couple had three children: Kim, born February 14, 1967; Kevin, born September 15, 1972; and Jessica, born October 10, 1976. After 14 years of marriage, the Cottrills were divorced in September, 1980. At the time of the divorce, the children were ages 13, 8 and 3, respectively. Mrs. Cottrill was granted custody of the children, and Mr. Cottrill was ordered to pay child support in the amount of sixty dollars per child, per month. On July 12, 1988, the circuit court entered an Order adopting the recommendation of the then-Family Law Master that Mr. Cottrill's income be subject to withholding for child support arrearage. At that time, the children were ages 21, 15, and 11, respectively. It was found that an arrearage in the amount of $11,100.00 had accumulated. Because one of the Cottrill's three children had reached the age of majority, only $120 per month was ordered to be withheld for monthly child support. [1] Another 10% of Mr. Cottrill's monthly disposable income was withheld to be applied to the arrearage. On January 29, 2004, over nine years after the Cottrill's last child had reached the age of majority, the Family Court of Harrison County entered an Order to Show Cause in response to the Bureau of Child Support Enforcement's (hereinafter, the BCSE) petition alleging Mr. Cottrill's contempt for failure to pay child support. That petition alleged that an arrearage of $40,349.09 had accumulated. A hearing on the matter was originally scheduled for April 21, 2004, but was rescheduled to October 27, 2004. Mr. Cottrill, appearing pro se, maintained that he paid child support directly to Mrs. Cottrill and/or the couple's children. Mrs. Cottrill, however, asserted that she was not paid by Mr. Cottrill and that she had no knowledge of whether he ever paid the children. [2] Mr. Cottrill could not produce any documentation of payment, but explained at the April 21, 2004, hearing: This many years, I'd never be able to keep anything this long. Where I did have some papers, all my military stuff and everything else burned down about four or five years ago; six years ago. I have no way to prove anything. And I couldn't afford to have a lawyer come up here with me, and I wouldn't have anything to give him to back me up anyway. I don't have anything. Mr. Cottrill maintained, though, that he generally paid his child support payments. He also asserted that $1200 in child support had been intercepted from money due to him. In its Order of November 3, 2004, the family court determined that because the Child Support Advocate Office was not created until late 1986, January 1, 1987, would be a reasonable starting date for the purpose of calculating any arrearage. The family court's order further stated, The defense of the Statute of Limitations has not been raised by Douglas D. Cottrill, and the court does not do so now. Based on the calculations of the BCSE for the period of January 1, 1987, through September 30, 2004, the family court ordered Mr. Cottrill to pay principal child support arrears of $7,190 with interest in the amount of $2314.25, for a total of $9,504.25. The court found no contempt. Mr. Cottrill, again acting pro se, filed an appeal before the circuit court on November 16, 2004. In that appeal, Mr. Cottrill, seizing on language contained in the family court's Order, raised the issue of the statute of limitations, arguing that such a defense was not known to him until the family court mentioned it in its order. He also argued that the family court's Order created an undue financial burden on him. Neither Mrs. Cottrill nor the BCSE filed a response to the petition. After examining the record, the circuit court refused the petition for appeal. Specifically, the circuit court determined that the Statute of Limitations is an affirmative defense which must affirmatively be raised either prior to the hearing in the party's pleadings or at the hearing by way of amendment of the pleadings. The circuit court concluded that because Mr. Cottrill did not raise the defense prior to or during the hearing before the family court, it could not now consider the defense on appeal. The circuit court further found that the family court had not otherwise erred or abused its discretion. Mr. Cottrill now appeals.