Court Opinion

ID: 9720499
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 08:33:11.295457+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:18.783600
License: Public Domain

FRIEDLANDER, Judge,
dissenting
I respectfully dissent from the majority’s conclusions regarding Issues I, III, and IV, and write briefly to explain the bases of my disagreement.
In addressing the question of child support under Issue I, the majority indicates that the termination of the child support obligation with regard to Son was not proper because Son was between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one and had not been emancipated. This conclusion is based upon Ind.Code Ann. § 31-16-6-6 (West 1998). In my view, the majority’s narrow focus upon the black-letter law in that provision ignores a central tenet of the child support calculation process; namely, that the trial court enjoys wide discretion in fashioning a child support award because of the need to tailor an award in view of the particularized circumstances of each case. Indeed, the Commentary to Guideline 1 of the Indiana Child Support Guidelines states:
Although application of the Guidelines yields a figure that becomes a rebuttable presumption, there is room for flexibility. Guidelines are not immutable, black letter law. A strict and totally inflexible application of the Guidelines to all cases can easily lead to a harsh and unreasonable result. If a judge believes that in a particular case application of the Guideline amount would be unreasonable, unjust, or inappropriate, a finding must be made that sets forth the reason for deviating from the Guideline amount.
In short, a trial court must avoid blind adherence to the rules in determining support, and instead give careful consideration to the variables that require flexible application of the guidelines. In re the Marriage of Pond, 676 N.E.2d 401 (Ind.Ct.App.1997), aff'd in this respect, vacated on other grounds, 700 N.E.2d 1130 (Ind.1998). If the evidence in a particular ease indicates that the amount of an award reached through application of the guidelines would be unjust or unreasonable, the court may deviate from the guideline amount. Id. In so doing, the court must enter written findings articulating the particular circumstances that support its conclusion. Such findings need not be especially formal. Id.
In the instant case, Son has been away from home attending college since 1996, except during the summer. There is evidence indicating the following. During the summer, Son is employed full-time at a decent wage. While home from college he goes back and forth freely between both parents’ homes. Moreover, he spends little time with either of his parents while he is home in the summer. Lori’s living expenses are fixed and do not increase as result of Son being home in the summer. Finally, the system in place at the time of the hearing was that Son asked for financial help for clothing and necessities from each parent when it was needed, and it appears that system was successful. Upon these facts, I believe that the trial court’s order abating support was not an abuse of discretion.
The majority concludes that the trial court erred in fashioning an order that required the children to exhaust their own resources, including loans, before the parents were required to contribute to the children’s college expenses. As the majority notes in footnote 9, Op. at 1110, as a result of disabilities, both children receive financial assistance in the *1112forms of scholarships and grants. In fact, the grants and scholarships have been so substantial that, as of the date of the final hearing, i.e., April 16,1998, they have provided for the entire cost of the children’s tuition, room, board, and additional incidental expenses thus far.
Daughter began her education at Purdue University in the fall of 1995, and Son enrolled at Purdue in the fall of 1996. This means that at the time of the hearing, Daughter had completed three years of college and Son had completed two. There is no indication in the record that the grants and scholarships theretofore available to the children would not also be available in the future. It is certainly reasonable to assume that, at the very least, such financial assistance had already been arranged and was forthcoming for the 1998-99 school year, because there is no indication otherwise. Therefore, Daughter had completed three years, and likely would complete four, of what in most cases is a four-year college education without incurring any expenses. In Son’s case, he had completed two years, and likely , could be expected to complete at least a third year, also without incurring any expenses. Under these facts, I believe that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in ordering that the children exhaust all means of financial assistance available to them, including loans, before their parents were required to contribute. Even in the unlikely event that the previously available grants and scholarships would not be available to the children after the 1998-99 school year, Daughter’s education was probably complete and Son had only one year left to complete. With only a small portion, if any, of their college careers yet to be completed after the child support order was entered, and in view of the fact that the children had not yet incurred any expense to that point, I cannot agree it was error to require the children to exhaust their own means of financial assistance before the parents were required to contribute.
Finally, I disagree that the trial court erred in ordering Lori to pay Glenn’s attorney fees. The majority concludes that the award of attorney fees was improper in part because the delays caused by Mother’s attorneys were not attributable to her. Ind.Code Ann. § 31-16-11-1 (West 1998) authorizes the award of attorney fees in child support modification proceedings. That statute does not require a finding of misconduct in order to justify an award of attorney fees. Rather, a trial court enjoys broad discretion in determining whether an award of attorney fees would be appropriate in this context. Bower v. Bower, 697 N.E.2d 110 (Ind.Ct.App.1998). The considerable deference accorded a trial court’s determination in this respect is reflected in the fact that the trial court need not even state its reasons for awarding attorney fees. Id. We reverse an award of attorney fees on appeal only when the award is clearly against the logic and effect of the facts and circumstances before the court. Id. Among the factors that a trial court may consider in making its determination is the conduct of the parties and extent to which their actions have caused the other party to generate unnecessáry, additional fees. See McCallister v. McCallister, 488 N.E.2d 1147 (Ind.Ct.App.1986).
In the instant case, Glenn incurred considerable expense as a result of last-minute continuances granted at the request of Lori’s counsel. Both continuances were requested for personal reasons by Lori’s counsel. The majority holds that because the delays were attributable to Lori’s counsel, and not Lori herself, they cannot provide the basis for an award of attorney fees. I doubt this distinction is of much solace to Glenn, who incurred considerable expense as a result of the delays. For purposes of attorney fees, I do not share the majority’s view that parties cannot be charged with responsibility for their counsel’s conduct during the course of litigation. I believe that the trial court should have the discretion to allocate the financial burden for such conduct to the party represented by said counsel. As with other matters in the area of attorney fees, the trial court should be accorded broad discretion in determining when it is appropriate to do so. In any event, Lori was not without some culpability in forcing Glenn to incur unnecessary legal *1113fees. The record supports the inference that Lori did not at all times negotiate in good faith to settle the matter without need for a contested hearing. In view of the considerable discretion enjoyed by trial courts in making this determination, I would affirm the award of attorney fees.