Budai v. Budai

1 Pa. D. & C.4th 44, 1988 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 46
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lawrence County
DecidedOctober 11, 1988
Docketno. 180 of 1983
StatusPublished

This text of 1 Pa. D. & C.4th 44 (Budai v. Budai) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lawrence County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Budai v. Budai, 1 Pa. D. & C.4th 44, 1988 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 46 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1988).

Opinion

CAIAZZA, J.,

We have before us for consideration plaintiffs petition for rule to show cause why the Great American Insurance Company should not be held in contempt of court.

Plaintiff, Nadine Budai, filed an action for child support against John Budai Sr. at no. 180 of 1983, Domestic Relations Division. On September 14, 1987, this court entered an order whereby Budai was to pay child support at a rate of $200 per month for the support of plaintiffs children.1 On October 1, 1987, the court entered a modified order of attachment of workmen’s compensation benefits whereby Budai’s workmen’s compensation benefits were to be attached to the extent of $200 per month. A copy of the attachment’order was forwarded to the Great American Insurance Company by certified mail, return receipt requested, on October 14, 1987. Great American received the order on October 16, 1987.

At the time of the attachment order, Budai was received $735 per month in workmen’s compensation benefits from Great American.2 Pursuant to the attachment order, Great American withheld $46.15 per week from Budai’s benefits and paid the amount [46]*46to the Lawrence County Domestic Relations Office. The amount the plaintiff received comprised 27 percent of the monthly workmen’s compensation benefits received by Budai.

On or about February 1, 1988, Great American paid Budai the sum of $25,000 in commutation of his workmen’s compensation claim. Great American did not attach and pay over to the Domestic Relations Office any of the foregoing sum in accordance with the attachment order.

Plaintiff subsequently filed the instant petition. Plaintiff has taken the position that the attachment order was applicable to the $25,000 sum paid to Budai and that she would be entitled to 27 percent of that amount, which computes to be $6,750. Plaintiff avers that Great American’s failure to make that payment constituted a willful breach of the attachment order issued by this court and requests that Great American therefore be held liable to' plaintiff for that amount.

We are now called upon to determine whether the attachment order applied to the amount Budai received in commutation of his workmen’s compensation claim. We would note at the outset that this appears to be a case of first impression for the courts of this commonwealth. Therefore, an examination of the relevants rules and statutes governing the attachment of wages, salary and commissions in support actions is necessary.

Rule 1910.22(a) of the Pa.R.C.P. specifically grants the court the power to order such an attachment. Subsection (e) provides, inter alia, that the employer shall pay to the domestic relations section the full amounts determined by the court. That subsection further provides that upon failure to pay, the employer may be held in contempt. Subsection [47]*47(f) provides that the attachment shall continue until dissolved by the court. '

23 Pa.C.S §4348 also sets forth guidelines for the attachment of income in support actions.3 Subsection (i) sets out the requirements for notice of the attachment to the employer of an obligor.4 Those requirements include notice that the attachment payment must be sent to the domestic relations section of the court and that the attachment order is binding upon the employer until further notice. The notice also requires that the employer be informed of the effect of non-compliance by the employer, which is specifically dealt with in subsection (k). Subsection (k)(l) provides that an employer who willfully fails to comply with an order of attachment under this chapter may be adjudged in contempt. Subsection (k)(2) provides that the employer shall be liable for any amount the employer willfully fails to withhold from income due an employee under an order of attachment of income and any amount which is withheld from such income but not forwarded to the domestic relations office.

The rationale underlying these provisions is clear. In many cases, the parties responsible for paying child support either do not make regular payments or fail altogether to honor their support obligation. In such cases, the attachment provisions provide a procedure whereby the parties entitled to support can assure themselves of receiving part or all of the support payments due them each month. Under [48]*48this procedure, the obligor’s employer is given the responsibility of withholding a defined sum from the obligor’s income and paying it directly to the domestic relations office for plaintiff.

If, pursuant to the attachment order, Great American had failed to withhold benefits that Budai received monthly prior to the communication of benefits, Great American clearly would have been liable to plaintiff for that amount pursuant to the provisions of 23 Pa.C.S. §4348. The question we must decide proceeds further, that is, whether the attachment provisions under discussion here should also apply to the $25,000 sum Budai received in the commutation of his workmen’s compensation benefits.

In its answer to plaintiffs petition, Great American has taken the position that the attachment order did not apply to the $25,000 sum paid to Budai.

We disagree. Subsection (a) and (b) of 23 Pa.C.S. §4348 provide for the attachment of an obligor’s income. “Income” is defined in 23 Pa.C.S. §4302 to include “workmen’s compensation ...” The definition draws no distinction between, amounts of workmen’s compensation received on a monthly basis due to disability and amounts received in commutation of a workmen’s compensation claim. We would conclude therefore that the attachment provisions apply to any and all amounts received pursuant to a workmen’s compensation claim.

Through its new matter, Great American asserts several other grounds to deny plaintiffs requested relief. We are not persuaded by any of the reasons advanced by Great American.

First, Great American asserts that had it pursued its original petition before the worker’s compensation referee, it is entirely possible that Budai’s workmen’s compensation benefits would have either [49]*49ceased or terminated or been suspended. To the extent that this trilogy existed, Great American avers that any future benefits that Budai might have been entitled to were speculative.

We disagree. It is true that Budai’s benefits may ultimately have been terminated had Great American pursued its petition. The fact of the matter, however, is that the termination petition was not pursued. Rather, Great American and Budai reached an agreement whereby Budai’s workmen’s compensation benefits would be commutated to the certain amount of $25,000. When the commutation agreement was approved by the Workmen’s Compensation Board, Budai was legally entitled to that amount. In so far as the amount of his future benefits is concerned, they cannot be considered speculative; to the contrary, they are real and specific.

Second, Great American avers that Budai was primarily responsible for seeing that plaintiff would be paid any monies that she may be entitled to under the commutation of benefits and that Budai did, in fact, agree to do so at the hearing before the Workmen’s Compensation Appeal'Board.

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Related

§ 4302
Pennsylvania § 4302
§ 4348
Pennsylvania § 4348

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Bluebook (online)
1 Pa. D. & C.4th 44, 1988 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 46, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/budai-v-budai-pactcompllawren-1988.