Opinion ID: 1529699
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: FL 12-202(b)

Text: The Domestic Relations Master found that there was a change in circumstances since the June 13, 1990 order by relying on FL 12-202(b) and determining that application of the child support guidelines would increase Earl's child support payments more than twenty-five percent above the June, 1990, court-ordered support. The circuit court judge and the Court of Special Appeals held that the Master erred and that FL 12-202(b) is not applicable to a child support order entered after April 10, 1990, which was the date when the legislature made the child support guidelines presumptively applicable. We agree. FL 12-202(b) is a transitional statute enacted as a bridge between pre-guidelines child support orders and post-guidelines child support determinations. The circuit court judge and the Court of Special Appeals also found that there was insufficient evidence upon which the Master could have found a material change of circumstances under FL 12-104. We disagree. In order to seek a modification of a prior child support order, a party must show a change in circumstances under either FL 12-104 or FL 12-202. This is a threshold requirement for any modification of any final order for child support. FL 12-104 requires a material change of circumstance. It provides the following: (a) Prerequisites.  The court may modify a child support award subsequent to the filing of a motion for modification and upon a showing of a material change of circumstance. Where use of the guidelines would increase a pre-guidelines award by twenty-five percent or more, FL 12-202 permits a finding of a change in circumstances. FL 12-202(b) provides:  Modification of orders.  (1) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (2) of this subsection, the adoption of the guidelines set forth in this subtitle may be grounds for requesting a modification of a child support award based on a material change in circumstances. (2) The adoption of the guidelines set forth in this subtitle may not be grounds for requesting a modification of a child support award based on a material change in circumstances unless the use of the guidelines would result in a change in the award of 25% or more. In 1989, the legislature adopted advisory child support guidelines by adding Subtitle 2 to Title 12 of the Family Law Article. See Chapter 2 of the Acts of 1989. Part of that legislation was FL 12-202(b). During the 1990 session, by emergency legislation effective April 10, 1990, FL 12-202(a) was amended to require, rather than merely permit, courts to use the child support guidelines. See Ch. 58 of the Acts of 1990. The statute created a rebuttable presumption that the guidelines are correct and applicable unless such application would be unjust or inappropriate in a particular case. Id.; FL 12-202(a). No change was made to FL 12-202(b). Elizabeth contends that there was a change in circumstances under FL 12-202(b) because she alleged, and the Master found, more than a twenty-five percent difference between the support order and the guidelines amount. Earl disagrees and contends that FL 12-202(b) does not apply because the section is only applicable to modifications of pre-guidelines support orders. He finds support in the legislature's use of the word adoption. FL 12-202(b)(2) provides the following: The adoption of the guidelines set forth in this subtitle may not be grounds for requesting a modification of a child support award based on a material change in circumstances unless the use of the guidelines would result in a change in the award of 25% percent or more. (Emphasis added). The circuit court agreed with Earl and held that the June, 1990 order was issued after the adoption of the guidelines. Therefore, FL 12-202(b) was not applicable. The Court of Special Appeals agreed and Judge Bloom, writing for the court, stated the following: The key words of § 12-202(b) are `... the adoption of the Guidelines ... may be grounds for requesting a modification of [a] child support award based on a material change in circumstances.' (Emphasis added). The adoption of the guidelines occurred in 1989. Their required use as establishing presumptively correct amounts to be awarded became effective 10 April 1990. Obviously, neither adoption of the guidelines for advisory purposes only nor requiring their use by the courts could affect support awards made thereafter in any unanticipated way. After the guidelines were adopted, and certainly after their use as establishing presumptively correct support standards was required, the courts and, presumably, the parties were aware of and familiar with the new guidelines and had an opportunity to rely on them in determining the proper amount of support to be awarded. Therefore, there should be no legitimate need to relitigate such awards unless and until one of the parties could show a material change in circumstances based on other factors. Moreover, the fact that the statute expressly made adoption of the guidelines the basis for a material change in circumstances claim clearly shows an intent to restrict application of the section to pre-guideline awards that were made without benefit of the new law. It is only with respect to support orders existing at the time the guidelines were adopted that the General Assembly would have deemed that there was a need for modification to obtain the benefits of the new guidelines. Walsh, 95 Md. App. at 716-17, 622 A.2d at 828-29. We agree with the Court of Special Appeals. FL 12-202(b) was intended as a transitional statute clarifying when the child support guidelines are applicable to pre-guidelines orders. It would be inequitable to Earl to construe the statute otherwise. Elizabeth, with full knowledge of the presumptive child support guidelines, agreed to child support below the guidelines. Her agreement was approved by the court and incorporated into its decree. She should not be permitted to freely repudiate her agreement and the decree incorporating that agreement and now have the child support recalculated based on the guidelines unless there is a material change of circumstance under FL 12-104 since the decree.