Opinion ID: 1905789
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: did the chancellor err in granting mr. thurman's request for modification of child support?

Text: Mrs. Thurman also asserts that Mr. Thurman was not entitled to a modification of his child support obligations because he failed to show any material or substantial change in his financial situation since the original divorce. Divorces granted due to irreconcilable differences are subject to modification, Morris v. Morris, 541 So.2d 1040, 1042 (Miss. 1989), provided there has been a material or substantial change in the circumstances of the parties relative only to after-arising circumstances of the parties following the original decree. Id. at 1043. The Chancellor found that since Mr. Thurman's income allegedly decreased by $700 per month that there was a material change in Mr. Thurman's situation. The proof showed that Mr. Thurman had the same job he was holding at the time he entered the Property Settlement Agreement. He did testify that he had lost two of his better accounts; however, he had the same job, he received the same commission, he was performing the same duties and there is conflict as to whether or not his monthly receipts had been reduced. From the trial record, it is difficult to conclude that there was any reduction in his monthly commission receipts. It is without dispute that he had the same job and the same commission that he had twelve months earlier when he voluntarily entered the Property Settlement Agreement which is not at issue. There does not appear to be a substantial change in Mr. Thurman's financial situation or at least of the sort that would warrant a modification of the support of his children of his former marriage. However, the trier of the issue found material change and this Court will not reverse on this issue alone. The Chancellor relied on the federal guidelines to reduce the child support payments and to establish the new child support required. The Chancellor looked at Mr. Thurman's alleged average monthly salary, applied the federal guidelines for child support payments, and arrived at the new obligation of $841.00 per month. The record is clear that the Chancellor used the guidelines to determine the amount of child support to be paid. The guidelines for child support awards as now set out in Miss. Code Ann. § 43-19-101 (Supp. 1989) must not control the Chancellor's award of child support. The cold law suggested in Washington as a national guideline, however desirable, to lead the states toward uniformity in child support must not dictate the amount of food, the need of clothing, the requirement of education or the standard of living of the children. Rather, this shall be done by a chancellor who hears all the facts, views the witnesses, and is informed at trial of the circumstances of the parties and particularly the circumstances of the children. The guidelines adopted by the Legislature and codified under Chapter 19 as Child Support Award Guidelines, Miss. Code Ann. § 43-19-101 (Supp. 1989), dealing with public welfare, may be received and considered in all support matters as relevant. Indeed, the language of the cited section declares that the statute grants a rebuttable presumption in all judicial proceedings regarding the awarding or modifying of child support. Further the statute delineates the manner by which the presumption may be overcome. Miss. Code Ann. § 43-19-103 (Supp. 1989). Suffice it to say a judicial award making a written or a specific finding different from the guidelines defeats the presumption and leaves, as this Court believes the Legislature intended in the normal case, child support determination in the hands of the customary chancery court proceeding. Certainly the guidelines are relevant and may be considered by a chancellor as an aid, but the guidelines may not determine the specific need or the specific support required. This is to be done by a chancellor at a time real, on a scene certain, and with a knowledge special to the actual circumstances and to the individual child or children. The legislative enactment is remedial in nature and is initiated by a filing within the Public Welfare Department, alleging failure of support to the extent that the power and authority of the Welfare Department is necessary to protect the welfare of the child. There was no such State involvement in the case sub judice. The Chancellor's action below was improper because it assumed that the Chancellor is bound to follow the Child Support Award Guidelines when he is not so bound and further because it assumes a material change in circumstances related to the guideline amounts without sufficient proof of such a material change. Clark v. Myrick, 523 So.2d 79, 83 (Miss. 1988). Therefore, we reverse and render on this issue, and reinstate the $1,100.00 per month child support payment. REVERSED AND RENDERED ROY NOBLE LEE, C.J., HAWKINS, P.J., and PRATHER, ROBERTSON, SULLIVAN and ANDERSON, JJ., concur. DAN M. LEE, P.J., and BLASS, J., dissent.