Opinion ID: 2123675
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: did the trial court abuse its discretion in setting william's child support obligation?

Text: This court's standard of review in child support cases is whether the trial court abused its discretion in setting the support. In this review, we do not determine whether we would have made an original like ruling, but whether a judicial mind, in view of the law and circumstances of the particular case, could reasonably have reached such a conclusion. Johnson v. Johnson, 468 N.W.2d 648, 650 (S.D.1991) (citations omitted). SDCL 25-7-6.2 sets forth mandatory guidelines which courts must follow in setting child support. See, Johnson v. Johnson, 451 N.W.2d 293 (S.D.1990). There may be no deviation from the guidelines unless there is an entry of specific findings concerning factors for deviation listed in SDCL 25-7-6.10. Id. The trial court's findings of fact in calculating a child support obligation will not be disturbed on appeal unless clearly erroneous. See, Nelson v. Nelson, 454 N.W.2d 533 (S.D.1990). The trial court found that the parties had a combined net monthly income of $2,554. Based upon the parties' combined net monthly income and the child support schedule at SDCL 25-7-6.2, the trial court set their mutual child support obligation for the two minor children at $700 per month. The trial court also found that William contributed sixty-six percent of the parties' combined net monthly income and Shirley thirty-four percent. Sixty-six percent of the $700 mutual child support obligation resulted in a child support obligation for William of $462 per month. The trial court also appropriately determined that William's monthly child support obligation must be credited with the $453 per month in social security disability benefits for the two minor children. See, Grunewaldt v. Bisson, 494 N.W.2d 193 (S.D.1992); Hawkins v. Peterson, 474 N.W.2d 90 (S.D.1991) (child support obligor is entitled to credit against monthly child support obligation for amount of social security disability benefits received by children because of obligor's disability). This would have left William with a monthly child support obligation of $9 (i.e., $462 - $453 = $9). However, the trial court added the entire monthly cost for health insurance for the two minor children (i.e., $131) to William's monthly child support obligation. This left him with a child support obligation of $140 per month. William argues that the trial court's addition of the monthly health insurance cost for the children to his monthly child support obligation violates the provisions of SDCL 25-7-6.16. He asserts that this error creates an abuse of discretion in the trial court's child support award. We agree. SDCL 25-7-6.16 provides: The court may enter an order for health and dental insurance coverage. Medical insurance shall be provided for the benefit of the minor child whenever practical. The cost of the insurance attributable to the child shall be determined by dividing the out-of-pocket cost of the insurance to the parent by the number of individuals insured thereunder and shall be apportioned between the parents on the basis of income or income imputed as provided in §§ 25-7-6.1 to 25-7-6.17, inclusive. If one parent pays the entire amount, he shall either be reimbursed by the other parent for the other parent's portion of the payment, or shall receive a credit against his support obligation, whichever is appropriate. Any costs not covered by insurance shall be apportioned between the parents in proportion to the support obligation of each parent. (emphasis added). The plain language of this statute makes clear that an award of health insurance coverage as part of a child support decree is not mandated unless the trial court finds the award to be practical. If the award is made, the statute does not require that the cost of the insurance be added to the monthly child support obligation of the obligor parent as was done in this case. Such a requirement would make no sense because the cost of health insurance coverage is not paid by one parent to the other parent but is paid to an insurance company for the benefit of the children. In this instance, William pays for the insurance through his former employer. The plain language of SDCL 25-7-6.16 does mandate that if health insurance is awarded as part of a child support decree the cost of the insurance for the children must be apportioned between the parties on the basis of their income. Here, the monthly cost for the health insurance for the two children is $131. Based upon the parties' income, William is responsible for sixty-six percent of this amount and Shirley for thirty-four percent or $86.46 and $44.54 respectively. Since William pays for the insurance through his former employer, he pays his $86.46 monthly share directly to the insurer for the benefit of the children. However, because William makes the entire payment, he also ends up paying Shirley's $44.54 monthly share. To make up for this situation, SDCL 25-7-6.16 requires that William either be reimbursed for Shirley's $44.54 monthly share or receive credit against his monthly child support obligation for that amount. Based upon the above analysis, the child support award in this case must be reversed and the child support issue remanded to the trial court to either require the appropriate reimbursement for the cost of the health insurance or the proper credit against William's monthly child support obligation. Given William's minimal monthly support obligation of $9, both a credit and partial reimbursement may be required to make up for Shirley's entire share of the cost of the health insurance.