Court Opinion

ID: 9853410
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 05:48:12.193497+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:22:47.012135
License: Public Domain

Barrow, J.,
dissenting
I agree with the majority’s opinion that the 1978 decree did not abrogate the separation agreement, but I believe the trial court was correct when it denied the petition to eliminate spousal support.
Admittedly, the trial judge was in error when he said, at a hearing prior to the entry of the decree, that the “agreement was abrogated in 1978 by the entry of this order. ...” The 1978 decree increased the defendant’s payment by $550 per month, all of which was “solely for support of minor children.” It did not change the parties’ agreement concerning spousal support.
Even though the trial judge’s comment from the bench was incorrect, the decree he entered later was correct since it did not modify the parties’ agreement on spousal support. The 1984 decree again increased the defendant’s payment, but “solely for support of the minor children.” It also denied the petitions to eliminate spousal support and to increase spousal support, but it did not change the agreed upon spousal support.
The majority, while not disturbing the child support provisions of the decree, reverses the trial court’s denial of the petitions concerning spousal support, requiring that they be dismissed rather than denied. In my opinion the statutory prohibition against modifying spousal support contemplates no difference between a denial or a dismissal of a petition seeking such a modification. Therefore, I would affirm the trial court.