Borichewski, J. v. Borichewski, M.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 10, 2022
Docket2383 EDA 2021
StatusUnpublished

This text of Borichewski, J. v. Borichewski, M. (Borichewski, J. v. Borichewski, M.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Borichewski, J. v. Borichewski, M., (Pa. Ct. App. 2022).

Opinion

J-A16034-22

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

JENNIFER BORICHEWSKI : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA Appellant : : : v. : : : MICHAEL C. BORICHEWSKI : No. 2383 EDA 2021

Appeal from the Order Entered October 11, 2021 In the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County Civil Division at No(s): 2007-25066, PACSES 403109566

MICHAEL C. BORICHEWSKI : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : JENNIFER BORICHEWSKI : : Appellant : No. 2384 EDA 2021

Appeal from the Order Entered October 11, 2021 In the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County Civil Division at No(s): 2007-25066, PACSES 243114794

BEFORE: McLAUGHLIN, J., McCAFFERY, J., and PELLEGRINI, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY PELLEGRINI, J.: FILED AUGUST 10, 2022

Jennifer Borichewski (Mother) appeals from the October 11, 2021 order

of the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County (trial court) denying her

exceptions to the hearing officer’s recommendation that she pay child support

____________________________________________

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court. J-A16034-22

to her former husband, Michael C. Borichewski (Father). On appeal, she

challenges the trial court’s determinations of: (1) Father’s earning capacity;

(2) deviation from support guidelines; (3) proof of health insurance; and (4)

overpayment of support. After review, we reverse the trial court’s health

insurance determination but affirm in all other respects.

I.

This child support dispute is in its fifth year after several remands from

the trial court to the hearing officer, as each successive remand led to both

parents filing exceptions to the hearing officer’s recommendations until only

Mother filed exceptions. In total, there were five rounds of exceptions.1

A. First Round of Exceptions

Father and Mother married in 2001 and divorced in 2009. Their

marriage produced two children: M.B. (born February 2004), who is autistic

1 The trial court conducted the proceedings under Pa.R.C.P. 1910.12, which governs the procedure of officer conferences and hearings for support matters. Under the procedure, a hearing officer “shall receive evidence, hear argument and ... file with the court a report containing a recommendation with respect to the entry of an order of support.” Pa.R.C.P. 1910.12(d). “The court, without hearing the parties, shall enter an interim order consistent with the proposed order of the hearing officer.” Id. at 1910.12(e). Following the entry of an interim order, Rule 1910.12 provides that at any party may file exceptions within twenty days and explains “matters not covered by exceptions are deemed waived[.]” Id. at 1910.12(f). If a party fails to request a hearing de novo or file exceptions, an interim support order is a final order. Vignola v. Vignola, 39 A.3d 390, 394 (Pa. Super. 2012). See also Pa.R.C.P. 1910.12(g) (“If no exceptions are filed within the twenty-day period, the interim order shall constitute a final order.”).

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and requires constant supervision; and T.B. (born September 2005). After

the divorce, the parents split custody in a 50/50 arrangement and Father paid

Mother $868.00 a month for support.

On December 29, 2017, Father petitioned to modify support after he

was involuntarily terminated by his long-time employer, Merck. The hearing

officer denied his petition as premature because he received severance that

effectively continued his salary for a year. After both parties filed exceptions,

Father filed a second petition to modify on June 8, 2018, claiming he had

taken over full custody of the younger son on March 25, 2018.2 On July 20,

2018, the trial court held that (1) the hearing officer correctly concluded that

the first petition was premature, (2) remand was proper to determine whether

Father’s payments should be increased, and (3) Father’s second petition would

be heard at the remand hearing.

B. Second Round of Exceptions

After the remand hearing, on January 17, 2019, the hearing officer

issued two recommendations for the different custodial periods. The first

addressed Father’s first petition (Mother v. Father, PACSES #403109566),

which covered when the parents split custody of both sons (December 29,

2017, to March 24, 2018). After calculating the parents’ incomes, the hearing

2Mother later stipulated to this fact but only for purposes of the support matter because there is a pending custody dispute. See N.T., 12/6/18, at 5.

-3- J-A16034-22

officer directed Father to pay support for both sons in the amount of $1,217.10

for the period, which included an upward ten percent deviation in Mother’s

favor because of Father’s assets, which included a sizable inheritance that he

received from his father.

For the second case (Father v. Mother, PACSES #243114794), which

covered the period after Father took full custody of the younger son, the

hearing officer directed Mother to pay support in the amount of $694.00 per

month,3 again applying a downward ten percent deviation in her favor. As for

the period beginning January 1, 2019, because Father had yet to find new

employment, the hearing officer assessed him with an earning capacity of

$85,000.00. After applying another deviation in Mother’s favor, the hearing

officer directed her to pay $802.60 per month.

After both parties filed exceptions, the trial court remanded the matter

a second time on May 29, 2019, directing the hearing officer to: (1) determine

the parties’ relative assets; (2) explain her justification for the ten percent

deviation; (3) determine Father’s inheritance from his father; (4) explain her

assessment of Father’s earning capacity; (5) set forth any interest or

3 The hearing officer stated that this amount covered the period from June 8, 2018, to December 18, 2018. The trial court later directed the hearing officer to correct the period so that the support obligation was effective March 25, 2018, the date Father took full custody of the younger son.

-4- J-A16034-22

dividends Father receives; and (6) recalculate the support under Pa.R.C.P.

1910.16-4(d), assuming the parties agreed the rule applied.4

C. Third Round of Exceptions

On February 4, 2020, the hearing officer issued her recommendation

addressing the issues. First, recognizing that Father had a much higher net

worth than Mother, the hearing officer reevaluated her initial calculation and

increased the deviation in Mother’s favor to 20 percent. Second, addressing

Father’s earning capacity, the hearing officer explained her assessment by

reviewing the factors under Pa.R.C.P. 1910.16-2(d)(4)(ii), particularly

4 Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 1910.16-4(d) provides as follows:

(1) Divided or Split Physical Custody. When Each Party Owes Child Support to the Other Party. When calculating a child support obligation and each party owes child support to the other party as a result of the custodial arrangement, the court shall offset the parties’ respective child support obligations and award the net difference to the obligee as child support.

***

(2) Varied Partial or Shared Custodial Schedules.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Borichewski, J. v. Borichewski, M., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/borichewski-j-v-borichewski-m-pasuperct-2022.