Court Opinion

ID: 9884005
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-06 02:30:48.403501+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:48:34.324697
License: Public Domain

*695RANDALL, Judge
(concurring specially).
I concur with the majority in the affirmance of the trial court’s order, since I believe the statutory and case law dictate that result. For cases like this one, however, I believe the supreme court should formulate a narrow exception to Minn.Stat. § 518.64 governing modifications of child support orders, to be applied when there has been a stipulation in which child support and expected income changes have been used as bargaining chips in a property settlement.
The rule I would propose is that when an anticipated increase or decrease in earnings materializes within a year or so after a marriage dissolution, it may not be used as the basis for an increase or decrease in child support if the amount of child support was stipulated at the time of the dissolution and the anticipated increase or decrease in earnings was taken into account in negotiating the child support figure.
Such a rule would lead to a fairer result here. In this case, the stipulation the parties entered into at the time of the dissolution was obviously the product of extensive negotiations involving two parties who were in command of all the facts, and knew what they wanted. The stipulation reveals that the parties even took into account appellant’s projected salary after leaving school; yet, with full knowledge appellant would be earning approximately $20,000 per year within one year from the dissolution, respondent agreed to no direct payments for child support in return for other concessions in the property settlement. Respondent was awarded all rights to the parties’ homestead and its thirty-year 6% contract for deed. It is not disputed that the thirty-year fixed contract at well below market interest rates was a gift to appellant and respondent in consideration of their marriage from appellant’s side of the family, yet appellant, through negotiations, allowed respondent all right, title and interest in the contract. As a result of appellant agreeing to give respondent the housing in that contract, her housing cost is $392 per month, and that is fixed for the life of the contract. Respondent’s attorney agrees that, absent this favorable mortgage, a realistic figure for comparable housing costs would be in the $800-1,000 per month range.
It is clear that appellant gave up all interest in the homestead and its favorable financing in exchange for something. That “something” included not being required to pay child support based on the salary the parties projected he would be earning. The amount of respondent’s income that would have gone toward paying market value for housing is freed up to provide extra support for the child. Requiring appellant to pay child support and allowing respondent to keep the imputed income from the favorable contract for deed is taxing the appellant doubly. The result here allows the respondent to keep the beneficial housing contract, something unlikely if child support payments had been negotiated or ordered at the outset, and still seek higher child support after a short lapse of time.