Crawford v. Crawford

633 A.2d 155, 429 Pa. Super. 540, 1993 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3359
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedOctober 14, 1993
Docket01692 and 01776
StatusPublished
Cited by57 cases

This text of 633 A.2d 155 (Crawford v. Crawford) 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
Crawford v. Crawford, 633 A.2d 155, 429 Pa. Super. 540, 1993 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3359 (Pa. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

*545 OLSZEWSKI, Judge.

Ernest Crawford [“husband”] appeals the propriety of a support order entered September 12, 1991, and an order modifying support entered October 13, 1992. We affirm in part and reverse and remand in part.

On May 17, 1988, Laura A. Crawford [“wife”] filed for spousal support and support for the parties’ dependent adult child, Patricia Crawford [“Patty”]. Because the parties waived proceeding pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. 1910.11, the complaint was heard on August 30 and 31, 1988, without first being considered by a hearing officer of the Domestic Relations Section of the Court of Common Pleas of Lawrence County. The evidence presented at the hearing revealed that the parties were married on December 4, 1952, and separated on February 29, 1988. Of the four children born of this marriage, only Patty was still residing with wife. Husband is a retired police officer and currently employed as a District Justice for the Commonwealth. At the time of the hearing, he was 58 years old and was earning net wages of $1,894.04, a net pension of $988.96, and a gross rental income of $100.00 per month. Wife worked at a library approximately 30 hours weekly and earned $6.85 per hour. Her monthly income was approximately $1,235.00, which included $314.00 in monthly Supplemental Security Income [“SSI”] benefits for Patty. Patty was 35 years old at the time and worked at a sheltered workshop, earning approximately $60.00 per month.

More than three years elapsed from the time of the hearings until the trial court finally entered a support order dated September 12,1991. In the interim, husband continued to pay the monthly mortgage on the marital residence and provided health care coverage for wife and Patty. 1 Purporting to account for these payments, the order provided in part as follows:

2. [Husband] shall pay [wife] as spousal and child support the sum of $950.00 per month, unallocated, effective the date *546 of the filing of the complaint, May 17, 1988. If [husband], however, continues to timely pay the outstanding mortgage loan on the marital residence, [husband] shall pay the sum of $405.00 as spousal and child support, unallocated, effective May 17, 1988.
3. If [husband] is obligated to pay spousal and child support in the amount of $950.00 per month as provided in paragraph 2 above, which depends upon whether [“wife”] or [“husband”] pays the mortgage loan on the marital residence, then [husband] shall also pay the sum of $500.00 per month for all outstanding support arrearages, effective immediately.
If [husband] is obligated to pay spousal and child support in the amount of $405.00 per month as provided in paragraph 2 above, then [husband] shall also pay the sum of $250.00 per month for all outstanding support arrearages, effective immediately.

The effective date of the order was May 17, 1988, the date the complaint was filed. Husband was therefore three years in arrears.

Husband lodged his first appeal from the above support order on October 1, 1991. In his brief, husband claimed that: (1) the trial court abused its discretion in failing to issue the order of support for more than three years after the hearings; (2) it was an abuse of discretion to award retroactive support; (3) the trial court should have held additional hearings to ensure that the support order was based upon the parties’ needs and provide credit for voluntary support payments; (4) the trial court abused its discretion in entering an order which exceeded the guideline ranges without providing adequate reasons on the record for doing so; (5) wife is not entitled to support; and (6) husband is not required to provide support for his adult child. 2 These issues were never resolved, howev *547 er, since the appeal languished for almost a year while the trial court prepared an opinion in response to husband’s concise statement of matters complained of on appeal. The opinion was finally issued on August 19,1992, and transmitted to this Court.

While the first appeal was pending, a number of events occurred. Wife filed a motion for attachment of wages, salary, and commissions and husband filed a motion to modify support. 3 Husband also filed a motion for supersedeas of arrearages and for removal of the wage attachment relating to arrearages on the basis that the trial court had failed to offset amounts contributed to support in the interim between the filing of the complaint and the entry of the order. The motion for supersedeas was granted on January 15, 1992. On January 21, 1992, wife filed a petition for contempt and reconsideration of supersedeas. The contempt charge was withdrawn and the reconsideration of supersedeas was continued generally upon agreement by the parties. 4 Finally, on March 2,1992, the Honorable Judge Ralph D. Pratt recused himself from the case.

Following Judge Pratt’s recusal, on June 12, 1992, wife filed a petition to modify support on the basis that Patty’s SSI benefits had been terminated. The Honorable James B. Dwyer entered a new order on June 23, 1992, which reduced, inter alia, husband’s unallocated support obligation to $310.00 per month and set arrearage payments at $250.00 per month. *548 The order also directed wife to request a review of Patty’s SSI benefits. Husband and wife filed demands for a hearing de novo on July 15 and 16, 1992, respectively. Counsel for Patty filed a motion for modification of Patty’s support on July 27, 1992, and a motion to intervene as counsel on October 5, 1992.

Judge Dwyer held a hearing de novo on October 13,1992, at which time the parties stipulated to the following facts: wife earns $950.00 per month, Patty receives $314.00 per month in SSI benefits and $56.00 per month at Lark Workshop for a total of $1,254.00 per month for wife and Patty, and husband’s net income is $3,000.00. N.T. 10/13/92 at 3-5. As a result, Judge Dwyer entered a new order, replacing the June 23, 1992, order, which directed husband to pay wife “the sum of $834 a month, less the montly [sic] mortgage payment on the house, in addition the $250.00 a month arrearages shall continue.” It is clear from the record that the substance of the order was reached by agreement of the parties. While the parties’ incomes remained approximately the same, the net result of these proceedings was a downward modification of husband’s support obligation.

Husband lodged the second appeal from the October 13, 1992, order. In his brief, husband incorporates by reference all of the arguments previously raised in the first appeal which remained unresolved. We will initially address the issues raised in the first appeal. Insofar as the first order has been replaced by the second, our discussion of these claims shall relate to arrearages.

In support proceedings, the role of this Court is limited to a determination of whether an abuse of discretion, as shown by clear and convincing evidence, has occurred. McAuliffe v. McAuliffe, 418 Pa.Super.

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Bluebook (online)
633 A.2d 155, 429 Pa. Super. 540, 1993 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3359, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crawford-v-crawford-pasuperct-1993.