Court Opinion

ID: 9560301
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 17:46:58.290676+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:12:49.062209
License: Public Domain

DUBOFSKY, Justice,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent.
The Uniform Dissolution of Marriage Act (UDMA), §§ 14-10-101 to -133, 6 C.R.S. (1973 & 1986 Supp.), provides that the court may order support payments by either or both parents based on, among other factors,
DUBOFSKY, J., dissents.
(c) The standard of living a child would have enjoyed had the marriage not been dissolved;
(d) The physical and emotional condition of the child and his educational needs....
§ 14-10-115(1)(c) and (d), 6 C.R.S. (1973) (emphasis added). This court held in Koltay v. Koltay, 667 P.2d 1374 (Colo.1983), that the general assembly has recognized the propriety of a claim for post-minority support in a dissolution of marriage action *168and that courts in dissolution actions are empowered to order post-minority support for a child. In Koltay we noted that “no motion to continue child support had been filed before Karla [Koltay] reached twenty-one.” Id. at 1376. Therefore, I would conclude that neither the UDMA nor Kol-tay prevents a court from considering the educational needs of a child who has attained the age of majority, even in the absence of a request for court-ordered support before the child reaches twenty-one.
As the majority notes, we described emancipation as a question of law in In re Marriage of Robinson, 629 P.2d 1069, 1072 (Colo.1981). But Robinson continued, “Whether emancipation has been established must be determined in light of all the relevant facts and circumstances of the case.” Id. at 1072-1073. The district court in this case found that Karen Plummer was not emancipated because she remained dependent upon her parents for support while attending college. The court also found that Karen had a reasonable expectation that she would attend college and that her parents would support her until she obtained her undergraduate degree. In the Plummer family, according to the court’s findings, there was an atmosphere in which it was anticipated and expected that the children would go to college and would be supported while they did so. The court then ordered the father to pay support of $200 per month for Karen Plummer until she either received her undergraduate degree or was emancipated due to other circumstances.
The general rule is that a child support award is within the sound discretion of the trial court and will not be disturbed on appellate review absent an abuse of discretion. Carlson v. Carlson, 178 Colo. 283, 288, 497 P.2d 1006, 1009 (1972). As the court of appeals determined, there is abundant evidence in the record supporting the district court’s order, and I would affirm the judgment of the court of appeals and the district court.