Court Opinion

ID: 9790960
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 02:02:00.491499+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:37:32.847333
License: Public Domain

COMPTON, Justice,
dissenting.
I disagree with the trial court’s construction of paragraph (8) of the Decree of Dissolution. As this court does not, I dissent.
Paragraph 8 is as follows:
*700(8) Respondent shall pay to Petitioner $25.00 for each weekend without visitation, said payment to be for the benefit of a third person for child care expenses, unless that lack of visitation is by request of Petitioner; ...
Jasmer testified that Logghe had not paid for a number of weekends he had not visited Adam, and that his failure to visit was not at her request. On this proof alone Jasmer was awarded $5,632.90 in arrearag-es. No testimony was offered that Jasmer had incurred any expenses for weekend child care services, or that she owed anything to any third person for whose benefit she was recovering this amount.
On its face, paragraph (8) would seem to require proof: (a) that Logghe failed to visit Adam; (b) of the number of weekends Logghe failed to visit Adam; (c) that Logghe’s failure was not at Jasmer’s request; and (d) of the third person for whose benefit Jasmer was collecting the money, or that Jasmer had incurred weekend child care expenses for which she was seeking reimbursement, at the stipulated rate. The trial court did not require proof of the apparent fourth element of Jasmer’s claim, and in my view this failure constitutes error. This court brushes aside Logghe’s argument by concluding that these payments were “part of the child support obligation owed to Jasmer by Logghe.” 686 P.2d at 697. The parties’ election to treat child support separately in the consent judgment becomes conveniently irrelevant.
If resolution of this issue is not clear from the language of paragraph (8) itself, “ordinary principles of contract interpretation” (686 P.2d at 697) require that the parties’ understanding of the agreement be considered. Logghe testified that he understood that the $25 was not intended as child support, but was to pay for babysitting when neither he nor Jasmer was available to care for Adam on weekends. 686 P.2d at 698, n. 5. I fail to perceive why this testimony has been brushed aside. The trial court did not find Logghe to be unworthy of belief. Jasmer, though she testified in rebuttal, did not dispute Logghe’s understanding of the parties' intention regarding paragraph (8). She did not mention the issue at all. Thus Logghe’s testimony stands unrebutted, un-impeached and ignored. If it is considered, it is clear that the court’s interpretation of paragraph (8) is unsupported by the evidence. Indeed, the evidence plainly contradicts the interpretation.