Court Opinion

ID: 9649490
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 14:56:09.075124+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:53:27.568525
License: Public Domain

JOYCE, Judge,
concurring.
¶ 1 While both the majority and dissent have articulated thoughtful expressions of their respective positions, neither addresses the fact that the applicable statute was amended during the pendency of this litigation. Thus, as a threshold matter, it must first be determined whether the amendments apply and, if so, whether Appellant’s receipt of proceeds from his mother’s estate constitutes income within the meaning of 23 Pa.C.S.A. § 4302. I thus write separately to express my views on these matters.
¶ 2 The record reflects that Appellant received an inheritance from his mother’s estate on August 25, 1997. Several days later, Appellee filed a petition for modification of the existing support order. Hearings were held before a hearing officer and the trial court, culminating in the entry of a final appealable support order on May 20,1998.
¶ 3 Since its adoption in 1985, section 4302 was modified in 1988, 1993,1996,1997 and 1998.4 The instant action arose well after the 1996 alterations were promulgated. See Act of October 16, 1996, P.L. 706, No. 124, § 7 (providing that the act was effective in 60 days). However, the 1997 *782amendment was adopted and went into effect during the pendency of the proceedings in the trial court. See Act of December 16, 1997, P.L. 549, No. 58, § 28(3) (providing that the amendments to 23 Pa. C.S.A. § 4302 were effective as of January 1, 1998) (hereinafter Act 58). Consequently, there is no doubt that the 1996 modifications apply and that it is only the applicability of Act 58 that is in question.
¶4 Pursuant to the rules of statutory construction, no statute shall be construed to be retroactive unless clearly and manifestly so intended by the General Assembly. 1. Pa.C.S.A. § 1926. See also 1 Pa.C.S.A. § 1953 (providing that whenever a statute is amended, the new provisions shall be construed as being effective only from the date when the amendment became effective). The appellate courts have interpreted these provisions as creating a strong presumption of prospective statutory application only, absent clear language to the contrary. Nicholson v. Combs, 550 Pa. 23, 31-32, 703 A.2d 407, 411 (1997); Brangs v. Brangs, 407 Pa.Super. 43, 595 A.2d 115, 118 (1991).
The presumption against retroactive application of statutes and amendments thereto is particularly strong when application of the statute would interfere with existing contractual obligations. Where the application of a statute would make a substantive change in the rights and obligations of the parties, it is presumed that the legislature intended its provisions to have no application to contracts existing prior to the effective date of the law.
In contrast to statutes which affect substantive rights, such as existing contractual obligations, statutes which aptly can be characterized as remedial, curative or affecting procedural matters may operate retroactively. Thus, it is a basic precept of statutory construction that laws which create remedies, affect procedural avenues, or clarify existing rights, all may escape the presumption against retrospective application of legislation.
Finally, in order to invoke the presumption against retroactivity, it is necessary to determine whether the proposed application of the enactment at issue would actually be retroactive. A retroactive law is one which relates back to and gives a previous transaction a legal effect different from that which it had under the law in effect when it transpired. However, our courts have held that where no vested right or contractual obligation is involved, an act is not retroactively construed when applied to a condition existing on its effective date even though the condition results from events which occurred prior to that date.
Brangs, 595 A.2d at 118-119 (citations, quotation marks and emphasis omitted). Accord Nicholson, supra.
¶ 5 The instant action is one involving a petition for child support. No vested rights, existing contractual obligations or other substantive rights are at issue as, at all times, Appellant had a legal duty to support his minor child. See 23 Pa.C.S.A. § 4321(2) (providing that parents are liable for the support of their children who are unemancipated and 18 years of age or younger). Rather, the amendment merely clarified the definition of what constitutes “income” for purposes of determining a parent’s child support obligation. Because the amendment to section 4302 did not affect the parties’ substantive rights and were remedial in nature, its application in this case does not violate the presumption against retroactivity.
¶ 6 Having resolved this issue, my analysis begins with a review of the statute, as amended, which defines “income” as including:
(1) wages, salaries, bonuses, fees, compensation in kind, commissions and similar items;
(2) income derived from business;
(3) gains derived from dealings in property;
*783(4) interest;
(5) rents;
(6) royalties;
(7) dividends;
(8) annuities;
(9) income from life insurance and endowment contracts;
(10) all forms of retirement;
(11) pensions;
(12) income from discharge of indebtedness;
(13) distributive share of partnership gross income;
(14) income in respect of a decedent;
(15) income from an interest in an estate or trust;
(16) military retirement benefits;
(17) railroad employment benefits;
(18) social security benefits;
(19) temporary and permanent disability benefits;
(20) workers’ compensation;
(21) unemployment compensation;
(22) other entitlements to money or lump sum awards without regard to source, including lottery winnings;
(23) income tax refunds;
(24) insurance compensation or settlements;
(25) awards or verdicts; and
(26) any form of payment due to and collectible by an individual regardless of source.
23 Pa.C.S.A. § 4302.
¶ 7 The object of all statutory construction is to ascertain and effectuate the intention of the General Assembly. 1 Pa.C.S.A. § 1921(a). When the words of a statute are not explicit, the General Assembly’s intent may be ascertained by considering, inter alia: “(1) [t]he occasion and necessity for the statute; ... (4)[t]he object to be attained; (5)[t]he former law, if any, ... upon the same or similar subjects; ... [and] (7)[t]he contemporaneous legislative history.” 1 Pa.C.S.A. § 1921(c).
¶ 8 This Court has construed the pre-1996 version of section 4302 as providing examples of the types of income that are available for child support. Darby v. Darby, 455 Pa.Super. 63, 686 A.2d 1346, 1348 (1996). The list is not intended to be inclusive. Id. See also 23 Pa.C.S.A. § 4302 (specifically stating that the definition of income includes, but is not limited to, the enumerated items). This Court thus has found a receipt of money to constitute income even though it was not among the items specifically identified in section 4302. See Darby, 686 A.2d at 1348 (concluding that father’s receipt of a lump sum tort settlement was income under section 4302 even though it was not included therein).
¶ 9 Following Darby, the General Assembly essentially codified this Court’s decision by amending the statute to include lump sum awards and settlements. See Act 58 at § 1.1. It is thus evident that the General Assembly had the opportunity to overturn Darby if it disagreed with our interpretation of section 4302. The fact that it did not do so, but incorporated our holding, suggests that the General Assembly approved of this Court’s interpretation. See In the Matter of the Employees of Uniontown Hospital Association, 432 Pa. 146, 149-150, 247 A.2d 621, 623 (1968) (observing that the failure of the legislature, subsequent to a decision of the appellate court in construing a statute, to change by legislative action the law as interpreted by the court, creates a presumption that the court’s interpretation was in accord with the legislative intendment).
¶ 10 Review of the legislature’s comments with respect to the 1997 amendments further discloses that the General Assembly was concerned with the issue of parental failure to pay child support. Legislative Journal of the House, No. 64 at 2038-2047 (December 8, 1997). The 1997 amendments were thus aimed at improving child support collection efforts. Id. In furtherance of this goal, the legislature codified Darby and expanded the definition to include, inter alia, “any form of payment *784due to and collectible by an individual regardless of source.” Act 58, supra. With the above considerations in mind, I am persuaded that the entire amount of Appellant’s inheritance was properly regarded as income for purposes of determining his support allegation.
¶ 11 While I agree with the result reached by the majority, I do not believe that the proceeds constitute an “entitlement to money or lump sum awards.” In enacting this category, the legislature intended it to encompass items such as lottery, prize or similar winnings rather than proceeds resulting from the distribution of an estate. Rather, I find that the monies here fall within the last category, i.e., “any form of payment due to and collectible by an individual regardless of source.”
¶ 12 Appellant was the sole beneficiary of his mother’s estate. Upon settling the estate, the executor was required to pay Appellant the proceeds remaining after payment of the estate’s expenses. The distribution of the estate proceeds to the designated beneficiary thus constituted a payment which was due to and collectible by Appellant. Viewed in this manner, Appellant’s inheritance constituted income within the meaning of section 4302. I therefore would affirm the order entered by the trial court.5

. Only the 1996 and 1997 amendments are relevant; accordingly, the other enactments will not be further addressed. The 1996 amendment changed the definition of income by adding the phrase “or other entitlements to money or lump sum awards, without regard to source.” Act of October 16, P.L. 706, No. 124, § 3. The 1997 amendment further expanded the definition of income to include: bonuses; lottery winnings; income tax refunds; insurance compensation or settlements; awards or verdicts; and any form of payment due to and collectible by an individual regardless of source. Act of December 16, 1997, P.L. 549, No. 58, § 1.1.

. I agree with the majority that Appellant has waived his challenge to the attachment of his worker’s compensation benefits in excess of the amounts mandated by federal law. Consequently, I join in the majority’s disposition of Appellant's second issue.