Opinion ID: 1708123
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Effect of Agreement

Text: The mother asserts that the incorporation of the property settlement agreement into the decree prohibits the crediting of the Social Security benefits against that obligation, as it was intended as a full, final, and complete settlement of the father's child support obligation. However, other jurisdictions have ruled that the existence of a separation agreement is not determinative. See Hamilton v. Hamilton, 598 S.W.2d 767 (Ky.App. 1980) (evidence that child became entitled to Social Security benefits and that mother frequently had excess from such child support payments supported trial court's finding that it was appropriate that child support payments be terminated at father's death despite existence of separation agreement between father and mother, incorporated into divorce decree, providing for child support payments to minor child). In two cases similar to the one now before us, Bowden v. Bowden, 426 So.2d 448 (Ala. App.1983), and Board v. Board, 690 S.W.2d 380 (Ky.1985), the existence of separation agreements did not abrogate the noncustodial parent's right to credit Social Security payments. In Bowden, the parents of the minor child entered into an agreement which required the husband to pay the wife $300 for the support and maintenance of the minor child, and to purchase and maintain life insurance policies sufficient to insure that the monthly payments for the support of the child provided in the agreement would be paid in the event of the death of the husband. The husband died testate, and the child began receiving Social Security benefits exceeding the $300 per month child support specified in the agreement. At the time of his death, the husband did not have in effect the insurance policy as required in the agreement. Pointing out that the purpose of Social Security is the same as that of an insurance policy with a private carrier, wherein a parent insures against death or loss of physical ability to fulfill moral and legal obligations to dependent children, the court held that the death benefits paid to the minor child from the Social Security account of his deceased parent could be credited against the husband's monthly obligations. In Board, the husband agreed to pay the wife $200 a week for the support of their two minor children pursuant to a property settlement agreement. The husband died 3 months after the divorce, at which time the wife began receiving $370 per month per child from his Social Security benefits. In affirming the judgment of the trial court, the Court of Appeals had stressed that the wife would receive an unreasonable windfall if she were permitted to receive both child support and Social Security benefits. Affirming both the trial court and the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of Kentucky held that Social Security benefits could be credited directly without a motion for modification of the decree. The mother cites Cohen v. Cohen, 246 So.2d 581 (Fla.App.1971), writ discharged 255 So.2d 524 (Fla.), as support for her proposition that in the absence of a provision in the property settlement between her and the father, the estate is not entitled to a partial credit or discharge for death benefit payments made to the minor children by the Social Security Administration. In Cohen, a father executed a voluntary property settlement with his ex-wife which provided for payments for child support and education. Affirming a final summary judgment for the ex-wife as to her claim for child support payments without setoff for the Social Security payments, the Cohen court noted that Social Security death benefits were known to the father at the time he executed the property settlement agreement and at the time the agreement was incorporated into his final decree of divorce. It reasoned that had the father desired to receive credit against his support payments for any death benefits paid by Social Security, he should have made a provision for such credit in the agreement. Cohen is, however, different from the matter at hand; the purposes for which the voluntary support payments were made in Cohen are different. In this case, the father's will provided only for the court-ordered child support payments. In Cohen, the property settlement agreement was a voluntary agreement to provide $40 a week for each of two minor children and the tuition for normal Hebrew School training for each of the boys and, in addition, to pay the normal and usual expenses entailed in the Bar Mitzvah. Hence, the agreement provided payment for a specified item, tuition. In accord is Thompson v. Thompson, 254 Ark. 881, 496 S.W.2d 425 (1973), in which the court refused to offset child support payments with money given by the Veterans' Administration to a child of a disabled veteran while the child was enrolled in college. Noting that it had previously held that sums paid from Social Security payments and military allotments should be credited to child support awards, the court distinguished the Veterans' Administration education benefits as a specialty item available for use only under specified circumstances, unlike allotments and Social Security payments, which, the court said, are generally available for ordinary use. In agreement with Cohen is Williams v. Williams, 789 S.W.2d 781 (Ky.1990). In Williams, the court refused to reduce a husband's court-ordered maintenance to his former wife because of her receipt of Social Security benefits. The court relied in part on the existence of a property settlement agreement which clearly designated that the instrument was the final settlement of all the parties' property rights and made no provisions for the adjustment of maintenance due to subsequent Social Security benefits to which the wife became entitled. The Williams court contrasted the agreement before it with the one in Board v. Board, 690 S.W.2d 380 (Ky.1985), in which the existence of a separation agreement did not prevent the court from crediting Social Security benefits. The Williams court found that the property settlement agreement before it provided only for spousal maintenance, whereas, in Board, the agreement provided for payment of child support. Thus, the Williams court held that the Social Security payments made to the wife involved Social Security benefits the wife has earned a right to receive by virtue of her marital relationship and as a result of her participation in and contribution to the marriage.