Court Opinion

ID: 7776799
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-07-30 21:04:03.047973+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:40:49.564393
License: Public Domain

I believe the juvenile court erred as a matter of law in determining that § 26-17-8(a), Ala. Code 1975, operated as a limitation upon the amount of past-due support recoverable by the mother under the parties' 1995 child-support agreement, which comports with the requirements of § 26-17-16, Ala. Code 1975. In my judgment, § 26-17-8(a) applies only when there has been no agreement between the parents pursuant to § 26-17-16. Had the juvenile court not determined that § 26-17-8(a) limited the mother's rights under § 26-17-16, and had the mother sufficiently proved her claim to support extending back further than two years, the juvenile court might have awarded the mother a larger child-support arrearage. Nevertheless, because the mother's proof was deficient, the trial court's legal error was harmless, see
Rule 45, Ala. R.App. P., and I therefore concur in the result.