Opinion ID: 6494786
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Use of Child Support Guidelines

Text: Father also contends the family court erred when it failed to use the Guidelines in determining his monthly child support obligation. The Hawai'i Child Support Guidelines are promulgated by the Family Courts of Hawai'i and are used by the family courts to determine monthly child support. See HRS § 576D-7(a) (2006). The Guidelines contain substantive rules and principles relating to calculation of support and include various appendices; Appendix A includes the “Child Support Guidelines Worksheet” (Guidelines Worksheet), which is used to determine the initial calculation of a parent’s monthly support obligation. Haw. State Judiciary, 2010 Hawai'i Child Support Guidelines app. A, http://www.courts.state.hi.us/docs/form/maui/ 2CE248.pdf (last visited Mar. 16,2017). There are several sources of authority that set forth a family court’s obligation to calculate monthly child support using the Guidelines. HRS chapter 671, entitled “Family Courts,” governs the family courts in general. HRS § 571-52.6 provides in relevant part as follows: When the court establishes or modifies the amount of child support required to be paid by a parent, the court shall use the guidelines established under section 576D-7, except when exceptional circumstances warrant departure. HRS § 571-52.5 (2006) (emphasis added). Therefore, the family courts are required to use the Guidelines when establishing or modifying child support unless exceptional circumstances warrant departure. Id. Relatedly, HRS chapter 576D provides that “[t]he family court ... shall establish guidelines to establish the amount of child support when an order for support is sought or being modified.” HRS § 576D-7(a). Additionally, HRS § 576D-7(b)(5) provides that “[t]he guidelines shall be ... considered by the [family court] judges in the establishment of each child support order.” 15 HRS § 576D-7(b)(5) (emphases added). Use of the Guidelines is also required by HRS chapter 584, the “Uniform Parentage Act.” Chapter 584 “is concerned specifically and exclusively with actions to establish the paternity of a child and to obtain child support, reimbursement and other relief.” Child Support Enf't Agency v. Doe, 98 Hawai'i 58, 63, 41 P.3d 720, 725 (App. 2001) (comparing HRS chapters 571 and 584). HRS § 58445(e) provides in relevant part: In determining the amount to be paid by a parent for support of the child and the period during which the duty of support is owed, a court enforcing the obligation of support shall use the guidelines established under section 576D-7. HRS § 584-15(e) (2006) (emphases added). Thus, the statutory framework relating to child support mandates that the family courts utilize the Guidelines in setting and modifying child support orders. Indeed, in its COL 6, the family court acknowledged that HRS § 58445(e) required it to administer the Guidelines whenever it “determin[es] the amount to be paid by a parent for support of [a] child.” However, there is no indication that the family court utilized the Guidelines in determining Father’s monthly support obligation in the Trial Order. The family court also made no mention of the Guidelines in its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, except to reference testimony that the Guidelines were not used in setting the support amount in the 2010 Stipulation. The Pretrial Order setting Father’s support obligation at $ 3,500 per month pending resolution of the case at trial also makes no reference to the Guidelines, Further, the family court made no findings with respect to key factors utilized by the Guidelines to calculate child support. For example, the court did not make findings regarding Mother’s income, Father’s earning capacity, 16 or the needs of Child. In fact, rather than using the Guidelines or its underlying factors, the family court in COL 7 appears to have justified its child support determination of $ 3,500 per month based on the parties’ 2011 Agreement and Father’s agreement to pay that sum pending resolution at mediation or trial. 17 Father’s Motion for Relief in this case specifically requested that the family court conduct a recalculation of child support based on the parties’ current incomes. The family court did not apply the Guidelines, and its failure to do so deprived Father of a calculation of his monthly support obligation using the “wisdom of ... the Guidelines.” Mack v. Mack, 7 Haw.App. 171, 172, 749 P.2d 478, 479 (1988) (determining that family court’s decision not to administer Guidelines in setting support amount because the children were partially self-sufficient adults was wrong). Additionally, the failure of the family court to apply the Guidelines rendered the child support award in essence unreviewable, as there is no meaningful way to evaluate how the amount was determined or whether it was correctly calculated. See Gordon v. Gordon, 135 Hawai'i 340, 350-51, 350 P.3d 1008, 1018-19 (2015) (family court’s failure to make adequate findings on the record did not permit meaningful appellate review of family court’s division of marital estate). Thus, the family court erred when it determined Father’s monthly support obligation without using the Guidelines as required by statute.