Beal v. Outley

897 S.W.2d 638, 1995 Mo. App. LEXIS 844, 1995 WL 250791
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 2, 1995
DocketNo. WD 49502
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 897 S.W.2d 638 (Beal v. Outley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Beal v. Outley, 897 S.W.2d 638, 1995 Mo. App. LEXIS 844, 1995 WL 250791 (Mo. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

ULRICH, Judge.

Alesia Ann Beal appeals the trial court’s April 15, 1994, order modifying the March 6, 1992, judgment entered in the paternity action that declared her and Ollie Outley III the parents of two children and required Mr. Outley to pay to Ms. Beal $250 per month as his contribution for child support. Mr. Outley filed a motion for specific visitation of the two minor children born to the parties, and Ms. Beal counterclaimed for an increase in Mr. Outley’s child support contribution. The trial court ordered specific visitation, increased the amount of child support, and ordered that the younger of the two children bom to the parties cease attendance at his pre-school and that he be placed with Mr. Outley’s mother in lieu of day-care. The trial court subsequently modified its order pursuant to Ms. Beal’s motion to grant her discretion whether “to place the child in a day care program at her expense.”1 Ms. Beal appealed the trial court’s decision.

Ms. Beal asserts two points on appeal. She claims the trial court erred by awarding child support in an amount less than that calculated as provided by Rule 88.01 utilizing civil procedure Form 14 without first making a finding that the amount required under Rule 88.01 is unjust or inappropriate. Secondly, Ms. Beal asserts that the trial court erred in calculating the amount of child support due from Mr. Outley by (a) using “the column on Form 14 for three children rather than the column for two children”; and (b) in failing to include day-care costs in the presumed child support calculation as required by Rule 88.01 and civil procedure Form 14 in ordering that D. Outley cease attendance at pre-school and be placed with his paternal grandmother in lieu of day-care.

D. Outley was bom to Ms. Beal on December 25, 1990, and O. Outley was born to her on August 20, 1986. As a result of the paternity action, Ollie Outley, III, was declared to be the biological father of the two children and an order of paternity was entered. The trial court awarded Ms. Beal $250 per month for child support and granted Mr. Outley reasonable visitation rights.

In August 1993, Mr. Outley filed a motion for specific visitation. Ms. Beal countered by filing a motion to increase child support. Mr. Outley asked the trial court for visitation with the children on alternate weekends and holidays, for Ms. Beal to have visitation with the children every Mother’s Day and on her birthday anniversary, and for Mr. Outley to have visitation with the children every Father’s Day and on his birthday anniversary. Mr. Outley asked for temporary custody of the minor children one week after Christmas as well as each June and July and for Ms. Beal to have visitation with the children alternate weekends during that time. Additionally, Mr. Outley asked that the court abate his child support payments during the months of June and July when the children, per his request, would be in his temporary custody. Mr. Outley also asked the court to allow him an income tax deduction for one of the minor children.

When the original paternity order was entered, Ms. Beal was employed at Taco Bell as an Assistant Manager earning $9 per hour. When the hearing pursuant to Mr. Outley’s motion was conducted, Ms. Beal was not working at Taco Bell. New management had taken over the business, and she, and other managers, were discharged.

As Ms. Beal attempted to obtain other employment, she received unemployment compensation. Ultimately, she found employment through a temporary agency and worked for $5.75 per hour. The hours of her [640]*640employment varied from twenty-five to thirty-five hours per week.

Ms. Beal also experienced continuing daycare expenses for the care of her minor children. When the 1992 paternity order was entered, she had no day-care expenses. When the hearing on Ms. Beal’s motion to modify occurred, D. Outley was enrolled in pre-school as was the elder son of the parties.

In the past, Mr. Outley’s mother has cared for the children in a day-care capacity. She testified that she was .available to provide such care as the children needed on a daily basis. Mr. Outley was averse to his younger son attending the day-care center in which he was enrolled, but he was willing to pay the day-care costs if his mother provided the care.

Both parties presented income and expense statements, statements of assets, and Form 14 worksheets. Ms. Beal asserted that her gross monthly income was $900. She makes $5.75 per hour. Mr. Outley asserted his gross monthly income was $2,252. Ms. Beal claimed her monthly expenses totaled $1,400. Mr. Outley’s monthly expenses totaled $2,644, including expenses for a third child, four months old when the modification hearing occurred. Ms. Beal asked the trial court for child support in the amount of $677 per month, and Mr. Outley’s completed Form 14 set forth an amount of $302 as child support.

Following the trial, the court ordered specific visitation, increased the amount of child support, and ordered D. Outley’s attendance at the day-care center to cease and for him to be placed with his paternal grandmother in lieu of day-care. The court’s modification order was based on the Form 14 prepared by the trial court, and the court’s Form 14 calculation and the child support order did not include Ms. Beal’s claimed work related child care costs. Mr. Outley was ordered to pay $390 per month as child support.

1. Child Support Amount

Ms. Beal claims as point one that the trial court erred in awarding an amount of child support less than the amount calculated pursuant to Rule 88.01 utilizing civil procedure Form 14 by not first making a finding that the amount required under Rule 88.01 is unjust or inappropriate.

The court prepared its own version of Form 14 and relied upon it when determining the parties’ child support obligations. The court’s order of April 15, 1994, which modifies the original judgment, acknowledges that Mr. Outley asked the court to consider when calculating on Form 14 that he has fathered another child who is in his custody. The court’s order states “[t]he court will give Respondent the benefit of the doubt regarding consideration of other children and will deduct medical insurance.” The completed Form 14 reflects Ms. Beal’s gross monthly income of $900 per month and Mr. Outley’s gross monthly income of $2252. No adjustments are reflected in item 2 of the form, and line 3 states an adjusted gross income of $3152. A zero sum is reflected in item 4.b., custodial parent’s reasonable work-related child care costs, and the child support obligation from the schedule using the combined adjusted gross income reflects the sum of $611.32. Line 5, the combined child support costs, shows the sum of $551.32. The schedule of basic child support obligations effective commencing April 1, 1994, reflects that the child support required for two children whose parents have a combined adjusted gross monthly income of $3152 is $779. The court’s Form 14 reflects a confusing notation near line 6, the percentage of proportionate shares of combined income, which states “($66.00/mos medical).” This notation may reflect an attempt to credit Mr. Outley for medical expenses for his third child, or it may reflect payments for medical expense insurance payments for his children, or some other payment. The record is unclear. The transcript of Mr. Outley’s testimony discloses that his three children are covered by a medical insurance plan which provides medical treatment by an HMO. Eight-hundred dollars per month for the cost of such coverage is paid by a “flex” payment supplementing Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
897 S.W.2d 638, 1995 Mo. App. LEXIS 844, 1995 WL 250791, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/beal-v-outley-moctapp-1995.