Opinion ID: 889887
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Whether the District Court erred by allowing insufficient travel expenses.

Text: ¶ 25 Perina's next assertion of error relates to the expenses he will incur while exercising his visitation rights. Perina again argues that the District Court erred by not taking into account the true situation of the parties and by allowing an amount which is unjust and/or inappropriate given the facts of the case. Perina sought a dollar-for-dollar offset for the amounts he would expend to exercise his visitation rights. The true cost of each visit, he testified, would amount to between $5,000 and $7,000, for an annual total of $10,000 to $14,000. Perina asserts that a situation such as his, where one parent lives on an entirely different continent, is not envisioned by the Guidelines and clearly demonstrates that allowance of transportation expenses alone would be unjust. He maintains he will not be able to visit S.P.-F. without a larger amount allowed as a travel offset and her needs will not be met if he is unable to exercise his parenting time. ¶ 26 Perina apparently seeks an increased long distance parenting adjustment under Admin. R.M. 37.62.130, or reduction of the amount of income available for child support through a variance as provided for in Admin. R.M. 37.62.102(2). Perina describes the remedy as a travel offset or travel variance. ¶ 27 Frick points out that Admin. R.M. 37.62.130(4) specifically limits the long distance parenting adjustment to costs of transportation, and does not include meals, lodging, or other costs. She argues that the District Court already accounted for these expenses in reducing Perina's imputed annual income. Frick contends Perina's claim that he will not be able to exercise his parenting time without a larger travel adjustment is not supported by the evidence. ¶ 28 We conclude that Perina has not demonstrated error in the District Court's long distance parenting adjustment. Conflicting evidence as to the necessity of a travel variance was placed before the District Court, and that court accounted for Perina's extra time away from work by imputing a reduced annual income. While Perina presented evidence that an adjustment in excess of that prescribed by the Guidelines was necessary to avoid an unjust result, his theory was disputed by Frick. We will not substitute our judgment for that of the trial court in the resolution of conflicting evidence. Haberkern, ¶ 34. A district court must follow the Guidelines absent clear and convincing evidence demonstrating that their application would be unjust or inappropriate. Albrecht, ¶ 11; Graham, ¶ 12. We cannot conclude that the District Court abused its discretion in failing to find clear and convincing evidence requiring a departure from the expenses prescribed by the Guidelines. The District Court's findings are supported by substantial evidence.