Court Opinion

ID: 9569521
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:14:36.676452+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:03:22.812881
License: Public Domain

RANDALL, Judge
(concurring in part and dissenting in part).
I concur with the majority on issues 1, 2, and 3. Minnesota courts have subject matter jurisdiction, I find no violation of either the state or the federal constitution on these facts, and most certainly CHOF can reasonably be construed to be both payor of funds and an employer of Michael Rooney.
I dissent on that part of the opinion addressing the retroactive date to which arrearages for maintenance and child support can be calculated. I conclude the CSM had it correct when he calculated arrearages only back to 2002 when CHOF was finally made a formal party and there was an actual hearing, 11 years after this court had reversed and remanded the case for such a hearing. I also conclude that arrearages, if any, should only be assessed against CHOF. At no time in the course of this case did Michael Rooney ever receive enough disposable cash from CHOF that he personally could ever pay any part of the originally imposed child support and maintenance. All personal judgments *376against Michael Rooney should be vacated and the eventual arrearages and judgment calculated only against CHOF.
The 1988 dissolution judgment imputed income to Michael T. Rooney by subjectively assigning him a profession and then estimating his earning ability on this “estimated earning ability.” Rooney was ordered to pay both child support for four children in the amount of $600.52 per month and spousal maintenance to Patricia Rooney in the amount of $250.00 per month. At that time, Patricia Rooney was receiving welfare assistance from Ramsey County. She has not received public assistance for years; yet, Michael Rooney’s maintenance obligation has never had a meaningful review.
In February 2002, CHOF was finally joined as a party and finally got the evi-dentiary hearing granted them back in 1991! The evidentiary hearing took place on April 17, 2002. That hearing looked at the issue of whether CHOF was an employer for withholding purposes and did not calculate reasonable child support and spousal maintenance, even though the majority of Patricia Rooney’s minor children, on which the original 1988 order was based, were now emancipated adults! Nor was her spousal maintenance recalculated, even though the figure had been set when she was receiving county assistance and had never been changed, and even though for years, through the present, she has been gainfully employed, and earns far in excess of Michael Rooney.
The child support magistrate found that CHOF was an employer for withholding purposes and ordered judgment for ar-rearages against CHOF back to January of 2002, the point when CHOF was a party and had its evidentiary hearing. CHOF appealed this decision to the district court, not arguing that January of 2002 was an unfair starting date, but rather continued its argument that the religious freedom clauses of the federal and state constitutions deprived courts of jurisdiction over whether they are “an employer” for purposes of employer withholding.
The district court upheld the magistrate’s employment ruling, but then went on to reverse the magistrate’s determination that 2002 was an appropriate starting date to calculate arrearages against CHOF and found, rather, that CHOF was responsible for arrearages dating back to the original 1990 withholding order. The district court remanded the matter back to the magistrate (CSM) for a calculation of all arrearages. That resulted in an order finding CHOF, as an employer of Michael Rooney, responsible for $100,976.82 in child support arrearages and $38,955.00 in spousal maintenance arrearages. All ar-rearages on child support and maintenance were based on the amounts ordered in the 1988 dissolution without regard to, even in the face of, an explicit reference in the record, for the fact that the majority of Michael Rooney’s dependents had become emancipated years past. Patricia Rooney’s present financial circumstances and needs were again not taken into account.
At every step of this case, Michael Rooney is recognized by the courts as being in good faith. In the 1977 order, the court recognized Michael Rooney’s “good faith” in regards to his religious commitment.2 *377There is no argument that Michael Rooney’s beliefs are sincerely held.3
There is disagreement between the parties regarding whether this court’s 1991 reversal vacated the entire withholding order against CHOF or just the order for arrears or just turned on the need for an evidentiary hearing. CHOF contends that the 1991 district court decision was in error, and since they prevailed on appeal, CHOF argues no present withholding order is in place, and any sporadic payments that CHOF made on behalf of Michael Rooney were voluntary (CHOF argues it does understand the need for obligors to help with their dependent children who have moved outside of “the CHOF family,” and will help out while maintaining their stance that they are not required to).
CHOF is correct that they won on appeal in 1991. The case was reversed and remanded to the district court for answers that have been left unsaid for 11 years.
We remand for the trial court to clearly enunciate answers to the following questions: (1) Did appellant by its conduct waive its right to an evidentiary hearing? (2) If not, is appellant an employer? (3) If so, what is the amount of Rooney’s spousal maintenance and child support obligation?”
Rooney v. Rooney, 478 N.W.2d 545, 547 (Minn.App.1991).
This 1991 order specifically required that CHOF’s status as an employer and the amounts of Rooney’s spousal maintenance and child support obligation be defined. CHOF won the appeal. The impetus was not on CHOF to move forward on the remanded issues. The other parties and/or the district court, sua sponte, were responsible for calendaring, not CHOF. This case sat until January 10, 2002, over a decade later, when CHOF was joined as a party. On June 14, 2002 the order on remand was finally followed when an evi-dentiary hearing was held to determine CHOF’s status as an employer.
In the findings of fact, conclusions of law and order filed June 14, 2002, the child support magistrate found that CHOF’s withholding liability dated back to January 10, 2002, when it was joined as a party. Therefore, arrears would be assigned from that date. I find that conclusion of the CSM was a correct calculation of when arrearages, if any, should commence. I suggest CHOF is responsible for arrears dating back to January 10, 2002, the date at which it was joined as a party to these proceedings.
I would remand to the district court for a reasonable recalculation based on this date. The recalculation should take into account what dependent children, if any, Patricia Rooney had in her physical custody since that time. Patricia Rooney’s financial circumstances, resources, and needs, as of January 2002 should be taken into account. The standards to be applied are the standards applied in all dissolu-tions when one party claims they are entitled to child support and/or spousal maintenance. I conclude the amounts ordered for child support and spousal maintenance stated in the 1988 dissolution were reversed and vacated in 1991. They need *378now to be validly redetermined. This should happen based on Michael and Patricia Rooney’s 'present circumstances, including income as to both and the financial needs of both.
Arrearages for maintenance and child support against Michael Rooney and CHOF have accumulated while Michael Rooney’s children have reached adulthood, and during the years when Patricia Rooney was employed with income exceeding Michael Rooney’s income. Michael Rooney’s arrearages kept accruing on the original basis! Further, some time between 1988 and the present time, Patricia Rooney obtained gainful employment, and since that time her gross and net earnings have far out stripped that of Michael Rooney.
The CSM’s calculation of child support and spousal maintenance was based on the 1988 determination of support and facts associated with it. As stated, the circumstances for both parties have significantly changed since the original order. At the time of the calculation of spousal maintenance, Patricia Rooney was accepting Ramsey County assistance. The record indicates that recent income for Patricia Rooney of approximately $40,000 far exceeds Michael Rooney’s income. There has been an emancipation of all but one minor child, as noted by the CSM in a footnote to his decision: “In all likelihood, child support is now payable for only one child, D.R., born September 16,1986.”
Right today, and for the last few years, the record is fairly clear that between Michael Rooney’s K-l income and his biweekly stipend, he grosses less than $6,000 per year.
Another point that should be cleared up is Michael Rooney’s driving privileges, as he has in the past tried to supplement his meager income by delivering pizzas. At oral argument, CHOF’s attorney pointed out that Michael Rooney, in years past, had his driver’s license suspended upon the initiative of Ramsey County because of claimed child support arrearages. Counsel stated, and it was not refuted, that recently Michael Rooney did get his driver’s license back, but that to this day Ramsey County has refused to acknowledge the validity of Michael Rooney’s reinstatement. I would direct Ramsey County to acknowledge Michael Rooney’s reinstatement of his driving privileges and to cooperate, if its cooperation is needed, for him to maintain his driving privileges.
In brief, the entire problem with this case as to both child support and maintenance, and so-called arrearages against CHOF and arrearages against Michael Rooney is that following this court’s reversal in 1991, no one took the initiative to follow this court’s directive and have a judicial determination as to whether CHOF was an employer/payor of funds and what was a reasonable amount of child support and maintenance from Michael Rooney to have to pay. None of this happened until 2002, and, even then, no accurate determination of Michael Rooney’s reasonable needs and financial resources was made and no accurate determination of Patricia Rooney’s financial resources and reasonable needs was made. All calculated child support and maintenance obligations and arrearages go back 15 years to when Patricia Rooney had four dependent children living with her and was on public assistance. That has not been true for several years. Yet, Michael Rooney never had an honest recalculation. A reasonable recalculation has to happen now before any enforceable judgment can be ordered, and that should be against CHOF, not against Michael Rooney.
This is not a case where an obligor making a substantial income quit that job and became voluntarily underemployed be*379cause he knew a dissolution was coming. These facts are exactly the reverse. Michael Rooney and Patricia Rooney, with their children, entered into a voluntary association with CHOF for at least 16 years. Patricia Rooney knew exactly that the financial circumstances were, as an understatement, extremely modest. Working for a religious organization is something like marriage, “for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer.” She certainly had a right to leave CHOF, but neither she nor Ramsey County can now look backward and state that “Michael Rooney should have been making more and was worth more than that to CHOF,” and “since he was ‘worth more’ to CHOF, child support and maintenance should be based on some hypothetical figure.”
This situation is not that uncommon. Dedicated young physicians and lawyers, men and women, can shun the “big money” and dedicate part of their careers (or in some laudable instances, their entire careers) to working at extremely low wages for a various assortment of storefront clinics or law offices. For instance, there is the Indian Health Service, Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS), neighborhood justice center, Legal Aid clinics, etc. When that person and their spouse, voluntarily enter into that arrangement for a number of years and have their minor children during that arrangement, that is a mutual choice of the parents. The one getting divorced and leaving later cannot be heard to say that child support and maintenance should be based “on what the obligor could have gotten had he or she taken a job with a large law firm or private for-profit clinic.”
I concur in part, dissent in part, and would vacate any and all arrearages, whether for maintenance or for child support against Michael Rooney personally, and assess fairly calculated arrearages against CHOF going back only to 2002.

. In the May 1997 order the district court stated:
Respondent’s good faith pursuance of his religion is not a question. He is committed to and does follow the precepts of his beliefs. The assets which he owns are minimal and of only nominal value, ie. the family’s clothing, a few pieces of furniture, a TV, a microwave and other small appliances which respondent values at having a total, aggregate value of not more than $500.00. Respondent has no car, no savings, no *377checking, no investments, no retirement or pension. He is totally dependent upon the CHOF for his continued existence. Respondent does, however, have the ability to earn income but by reason of his religious commitment does not directly earn income.

. In the January 21, 2003 order, the magistrate acknowledged this sincerely held belief when he refused to grant an evidentiary hearing to re-determine the amount paid by CHOF stating such an examination would "require the close examination of details, mundane and sacred, of the relationship between a man and his church.”