Court Opinion

ID: 9754628
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 20:08:14.767717+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:27:56.021945
License: Public Domain

CAVANAUGH, Judge,
concurring:
I concur in the result reached by the majority. The contractual provision in question is as follows:
Husband has agreed, or is about to agree, to a consent amount, based upon his net earnings being approximately $1200.00 per month and such arrangements are being made through the Domestic Relations Office of Washington County, Pennsylvania, for $350.00 per month for two (2) children, with payroll deductions being made in the amount of $175.00 from two (2) pays each month.
Clearly, by stating that the basis of the $350.00 per month figure was husband’s $1,200.00 per month income, the parties evidenced their intent that changes in economic status might precipitate changes in husband’s support obligation. To construe this provision otherwise would be to treat the $1,200.00 reference as mere surplusage. Since I feel the contract itself is modifiable, I see no need to decide whether it was made modifiable by the subsequent reference to it in the divorce decree.