Court Opinion

ID: 9763037
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 02:35:48.220394+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:39.020436
License: Public Domain

WIEAND, Judge,
dissenting:
I agree with both the lead and concurring opinions (both of which articulately state the views of their authors) that neither the support guidelines nor the formula propounded in Melzer v. Witsberger, 505 Pa. 462, 480 A.2d 991 (1984), are guaranteed to achieve a fair and just child support order in all cases. Therefore, a certain amount of discretion must necessarily remain in the trial judge whose responsibility it is to enter an order which is fair and reasonable under the circumstances. Any suggested formula or grid must, of necessity, be applied with a certain amount of common sense if, as I believe, justice among the children and their parents is our goal.
On appeal, therefore, a reviewing court must continue to apply an abuse of discretion standard. A support order entered by a trial court will not be reversed unless the court entering the order has in some way abused its discretion. See: Melzer v. Witsberger, supra, 505 Pa. at 475 n. 8, 480 A.2d at 997 n. 8; Szillery v. Wheaton, 382 Pa.Super. 394, 397, 555 A.2d 237, 238-239 (1989), quoting Shutter v. Reilly, 372 Pa.Super. 251, 256, 539 A.2d 424, 426 (1988). An abuse of discretion has been defined as follows:
“An abuse of discretion is not merely an error of judgment, but if in reaching a conclusion the law is overridden *279or misapplied, or the judgment exercised is manifestly unreasonable, or the result of partiality, prejudice, bias or ill will, as shown by the evidence or the record, discretion is abused.”
Melzer v. Witsberger, supra 505 Pa. at 475 n. 8, 480 A.2d at 997 n. 8. See also: Caplan v. Caplan, 400 Pa.Super. 352, 355, 583 A.2d 823, 824 (1990); Pharoah v. Lapes, 391 Pa.Super. 585, 589-590, 571 A.2d 1070, 1072-1073 (1990).
More recently, in Commonwealth v. Powell, 527 Pa. 288, 590 A.2d 1240 (1991), the Supreme Court adopted a definition for “abuse of discretion” as follows:
“Abuse of discretion” is synonymous with a failure to exercise a sound, reasonable, and legal discretion. It is a strict legal term indicating that [an] appellate court is of [the] opinion that there was commission of an error of law by the trial court. It does not imply intentional wrong or bad faith, or misconduct, nor any reflection on the judge but means the clearly erroneous conclusion and judgment — one [that is] clearly against logic and effect of such facts as are presented in support of the application or against the reasonable and probable deductions to be drawn from the facts disclosed upon the hearing; an improvident exercise of discretion; an error of law.
Id., 527 Pa. at 297 n. 8, 590 A.2d at 1244 n. 8, quoting Black’s Law Dictionary, 5th ed. (1979). In my judgment this is a more meaningful approach to determining whether an abuse of discretion has been committed.
In determining whether there has been a judicial abuse of discretion, it must be remembered that support claims are presented, heard and decided in adverse proceedings. This means that, by and large, the facts upon which a court’s decision must be based are those presented by the parties. On those facts, with the assistance of support guidelines adopted by the Supreme Court, a decision must be made.
The support guidelines are presumptively correct, see: Pa.R.C.P. 1910.16-l(b), and when applied will, in many cases, produce a fair result. However, they are a starting point only, and a trial court must have discretion to deviate *280from the guidelines when the facts warrant it. See: Pa. R.C.P. 1910.16-5. In the instant case, I am unable to agree that the order entered by the trial court, based as it was on the facts presented by the parties, constituted an abuse of judicial discretion. Therefore, I would affirm the order of the trial court.