Opinion ID: 1253035
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: retroactivity of child support award

Text: The next issue is whether the trial court imposed the wrong effective date for the increased support award. [8] The December 30, 1992, order indicates that November 7, 1991, was the effective date for the increase in child support payments from $720 to $1,136. The November 7, 1991, date was presumably chosen by the trial court since it was the first time the trial court conducted an evidentiary hearing on the child support issue following the court-ordered remand of this case. See Wood, 184 W.Va. at 744, 403 S.E.2d at 761. The Appellant argues that as a matter of law, upon a reversal and remand from a child support order, the proper support award should be made effective as of the date of the original award from which the appeal was taken. The Appellee argues that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in deciding the effective date of the child support award. In determining whether the trial court has decided the proper effective date of child support awards, this Court has generally relied upon the following standard of review set forth in the syllabus of Nichols v. Nichols, 160 W.Va. 514, 236 S.E.2d 36 (1977): Questions relating to alimony and to the maintenance and custody of the children are within the sound discretion of the court and its action with respect to such matters will not be disturbed on appeal unless it clearly appears that such discretion has been abused. We recently applied this standard of review to determine the appropriateness of effective dates of child support awards in Downey v. Kamka, 189 W.Va. 141, 428 S.E.2d 769 (1993) and Marsh v. Marsh, 183 W.Va. 279, 395 S.E.2d 523 (1990). In the Downey decision, the parties entered into an agreed temporary order concerning custody, child support and exclusive use and possession of certain marital assets. In the recommended decision of the family law master entered on March 25, 1991, an increase in child support from $800 to $1148.50 per month was ordered based upon the child support formula. 189 W.Va. at 142, 428 S.E.2d at 770. The circuit court affirmed the family law master's recommended decision on October 1, 1991, and that date became the effective date of the increase in child support. Id. On appeal, the appellant sought a change in the effective date of the increase in child support from October 1, 1991, the date of the final order, to March 25, 1991, the date of the recommended decision. Id. In deciding whether the trial court abused its discretion in setting the effective date of the support award, we indicated that although there was an unexplained delay between when the recommended decision was rendered and when the circuit court reviewed and affirmed the family law master's recommended decision, [9] the record lacked any evidence which demonstrated that the effective date set by the circuit court was an abuse of discretion. Id. at 142-43, 428 S.E.2d at 770-71. Similarly, in the Marsh decision, this Court was asked to determine whether the trial court abused its discretion in setting the effective date for a reduction in child support. The appellant filed a petition for reduction of child support on June 3, 1987. On December 10, 1987, the last hearing on the matter was conducted by the family law master. The family law master then recommended on September 19, 1988, that the appellant's child support payments be reduced from $1,000 per month to $510 per month, beginning October 1, 1988. The circuit court adopted the recommendations of the family law master. 183 W.Va. at 281, 395 S.E.2d at 525. Upon appeal, this Court upheld the October 1, 1988, effective date set by the circuit court, stating There is no statute or rule which specifies the time in which a reduction or increase in child support should commence. Although the authority of the circuit court to modify child support awards is prospective only and does not apply to arrearages, the determination as to the time in which the reduction in payments should take effect is otherwise within the sound discretion of the court.... Id. at 282, 395 S.E.2d at 526. Several factors distinguish Marsh and Downey from the present case. In Marsh, the trial court was presented with a support obligor who had repeatedly been through periods of employment and unemployment resulting ultimately in a decrease in income. Facts such as this involve greater subjectivity and discretion by the trial court in trying to ascertain the facts and determine retroactivity of a child support award. This is quite different from the present case where the trial court was faced with a factually clearcut situation in that the court had all the financial information before it and simply had to apply the child support guidelines. In Downey, the trial court properly had greater discretion in determining the retroactivity of the award because the parties had entered into an agreed temporary order involving child support as well as the exclusive use and possession of certain marital assets. 189 W.Va. at 142, 428 S.E.2d at 770. Moreover, there was a substantial dispute between the parties as to whose actions occasioned the delay in the proceedings. Id. at 143, 428 S.E.2d at 771. In contrast, in the present case, when the trial court initially determined the child support award, the court failed to utilize the child support guidelines. See Wood, 184 W.Va. at 749, 403 S.E.2d at 766. Furthermore, the new Rules of Practice and Procedure for Family Law (effective October 1, 1993) give some guidance by way of analogy. Rule 19 provides that the court in granting temporary relief in the form of child support or alimony should make the award retroactive to the date the motion for temporary relief was served upon the opposing party. Thus, in cases such as this, where a court fails to properly apply the child support guidelines to a straightforward factual scenario without providing specific reasoning for such failure as required in Gardner, the child support shall be retroactive to the date the pleading seeking child support was initially filed. See 184 W.Va. at 261-62, 400 S.E.2d at 269-70, Syl. Pt. 3. Such support becomes an entitlement and the right to receive the child support as properly calculated under the formula vests. Consequently, the trial court erred in determining the retroactivity of the child support award.