Court Opinion

ID: 9762635
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 02:27:46.75086+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:36.085864
License: Public Domain

TAMILIA, Judge,
concurring and dissenting:
While I concur in the result reached by the majority, I respectfully dissent because of the heavy reliance the majority would place on the county guidelines pursuant to 23 Pa.C.S.A. § 4322, Support Guidelines. The majority introduces a conflicting view with that of Ryan v. DeLong, 371 Pa.Super. 248, 538 A.2d 1 (1987), which holds that guidelines may not be used in a presumptive fashion. In that Opinion, Cirillo, P.J., states:
Melzer adopted a flexible, individualized approach for support cases. Use of the formula forces trial judges to quantify the reasonable needs of the parties involved. It also enables courts to deal with each case in an individualized manner. At the same time, the strictures of the formula insure that similarly situated persons will be treated similarly. This approach is known as “cost sharing.” See Cassetty, The Parental Child-Support Obligation (1983).
If trial courts simply plug the parties’ situation into a support grid, they ignore the requirements of Melzer. To insure that an actual dollar figure is determined as to the reasonable needs and expenses of the parents and children the calculated Melzer formula must be in the record.
Failure to adhere to the flexible and individualized approach of Melzer is inconsistent with the policies statutorily mandated in § 4322. Individuals have a right to have their situation subjected to particularized scrutiny by a *264court. They should not be namelessly plugged into a chart based upon assumptions no one understands.
Id., 371 Pa.Superior Ct. at 253-254, 538 A.2d at 3-4.
Here, the majority would require the application of the guidelines despite a full justification of the support Order through the time honored standards of need and ability to pay and application of the formula suggested by Melzer v. Witsberger, 505 Pa. 462, 480 A.2d 991 (1984).
The history of adjudication in domestic relation support cases prohibited formulas or standardized Orders and in each case there was a requirement that the facts be thoroughly evaluated and a determination be made based upon the individual factors relating to that case. The purpose of a support Order is to determine and secure an allowance for a child which is reasonable and proper for his comfortable support and maintenance, having in view the property income and caring capacity or ability of the parents and the condition or station in life of the parties. Conway v. Dana, 456 Pa. 536, 318 A.2d 324 (1974). Guidelines became prevalent out of a perceived need to avoid wide disparity in similar cases where the relevant factors were virtually the same. They were not meant to be a substitute for individual evaluation; deviation from the historic standard by unthinking or automatic application of the guidelines at an intersecting point on the petitioner/respondent income grid is not permissible. The automatic imposition of the guidelines creates a presumptive Order and ignores precedent and the teachings of Melzer, supra. Melzer was a response to the need to bring order and organization as to how the traditional principles interact and how they should be applied to arrive at an appropriate support Order. If the Order appears well considered, fair and nonconfiscatory, it should stand, notwithstanding a failure of the trial court to refer to the guidelines on the record. Similarly, an Order that is clearly within the guidelines may be disapproved if it appears to be unfair and confiscatory. A careful interpretation of 23 Pa.C.S.A. § 4322, Support Guidelines, reveals as much. This statutory provision supplements but does not *265supplant the traditional legal basis upon which support is based. Conway, supra. While the Melzer formula covers all relevant ground, support guidelines do not.
The concern I have with the majority position, reversing in part for failure to consider the guidelines, is the reading which may be taken by the trial courts and Bar that the guidelines control. This will increase the tendency for automatic imposition of Orders thereby denying due process of law in reaching a fair and reasonable Order by considering all relevant factors necessary to imposition of a support Order. With the heavy volume of family cases, and the pressure to move them quickly, we must guard against procedures and concepts which will deny due process. The same problems were faced in the criminal justice system and resolved without denial of due process; no less is expected of family cases. In the context of a criminal case, the sentencing guidelines have been considered just guidelines, and we have been reluctant to reverse the trial court when the sentence fulfilled the requirement of the entire sentencing code, even though the guidelines were not adhered to.