Eldridge v. Eldridge

732 S.E.2d 411, 291 Ga. 762, 2012 Fulton County D. Rep. 3139, 2012 WL 4856986, 2012 Ga. LEXIS 772
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedOctober 15, 2012
DocketS12F1078
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 732 S.E.2d 411 (Eldridge v. Eldridge) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Eldridge v. Eldridge, 732 S.E.2d 411, 291 Ga. 762, 2012 Fulton County D. Rep. 3139, 2012 WL 4856986, 2012 Ga. LEXIS 772 (Ga. 2012).

Opinion

Hunstein, Chief Justice.

Appellant Jill E. Eldridge (Wife) filed for divorce from appellee Joshua R. C. Eldridge (Husband) after more than seven years of marriage. Following a bench trial, the trial court issued a final judgment and decree of divorce (the “decree”), in which it granted joint legal custody of the couple’s two children to both parents and primary physical custody to Wife; ordered Husband to pay $1,379 per month in child support; assigned to Wife responsibility for her student loans; and adopted its own parenting plan. We granted Wife’s application for discretionary review pursuant to this Court’s Rule 34 (4). We conclude that the trial court erred (1) in its determination of child support by failing to make mandatory written findings in granting a deviation and in applying an incorrect conversion factor in calculating Wife’s monthly child care costs and (2) in adopting a parenting plan that fails to specify when Husband’s weekend visitation begins and ends. Accordingly, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand with direction.

1. Wife argues that the trial court improperly attributed to Husband a gross monthly income of $5,491.04 in determining his child support obligations. “In the appellate review of a bench trial, [763]*763this Court will not set aside the trial court’s factual findings unless they are clearly erroneous,” and “[s]ince the clearly erroneous test is the same as the any evidence rule, we will not disturb factfindings of the trial court if there is any evidence to sustain them.” (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Patel v. Patel, 285 Ga. 391, 391-392 (1) (677 SE2d 114) (2009).

Husband testified at trial that he was employed by the United States Navy, and his Leave and Earnings Statement for January 2011 was admitted into evidence reflecting gross monthly compensation of $5,816.04, which included $325 in career sea pay. On cross-examination, Husband stated that his compensation had not changed since January but that he would not receive sea pay after a planned transfer to Groton, Connecticut. He further testified that he might lose his housing allowance following his transfer if he were housed in the barracks because he was now single. At the conclusion of the trial, the trial court agreed to hold the evidence open so that Husband could submit documentation, to the extent available, regarding his expected housing allowance in Connecticut and Wife could submit documentation of child care expenses claimed in her financial affidavit. Husband did not submit documentation regarding his future income.

Wife first maintains that the trial court erred in calculating Husband’s gross monthly income despite his failure to verify his compensation following his transfer to Connecticut. Even assuming that Husband could have submitted documentation regarding his future housing allowance, Husband’s testimony and his earnings statement provided ample evidence to support the trial court’s calculation of his gross income.

Wife further contends that the trial court erred by failing to include Husband’s sea pay in his monthly gross income. Husband testified that sea pay is a form of incentive pay. The child support guidelines provide that “[e]xcept as determined by the court or jury, special pay or incentive pay . . . shall not be considered income for purpose of determining gross income.” OCGA § 19-6-15 (f) (1) (E). In light of the statute, Husband’s explanation of sea pay, and his testimony that he would not receive sea pay following his relocation, the trial court did not err in excluding sea pay in calculating Husband’s gross income.

2. Wife contends that the trial court erred because the decree ordered four “deviations” under the child support guidelines without including written findings required by OCGA § 19-6-15 (c) (2) (E) and (i) (1) (B).

(a) A deviation is “an increase or decrease from the presumptive amount of child support.” OCGA § 19-6-15 (a) (10). Contrary to Wife’s [764]*764assertions, the trial court ordered only one deviation, a $75 deviation for Husband’s visitation-related travel expenses. Wife is correct, however, that the trial court failed to support the deviation with findings required under OCGA § 19-6-15.

OCGA § 19-6-15 (i) lists 11 “specific deviations” a trial court may order, including a deviation for visitation-related travel expenses. See OCGA § 19-6-15 (i) (2) (F). Pursuant to OCGA § 19-6-15 (i) (1) (B), if a trial court concludes that a deviation is warranted, the court “shall make written findings... that an amount of child support other than the amount calculated is reasonably necessary to provide for the needs of the child for whom child support is being determined.” The trial court’s order shall state the reasons for the deviation, the amount of child support that would have been required absent the deviation, and how “[application of the presumptive amount of child support would be unjust or inappropriate” and how the “best interest of the child... will be served by [the] deviation.” Id. OCGA § 19-6-15 (c) (2) (E) includes a similar list of findings required to support a deviation in a final judgment or decree in a divorce case in which there are minor children. The written findings described in these sections are mandatory, and because the trial court did not include them, we must reverse in part and remand for entry of a final judgment and decree in compliance with OCGA § 19-6-15 (c) (2) (E) and (i) (1) (B). See Brogdon v. Brogdon, 290 Ga. 618 (5) (b) (723 SE2d 421) (2012); Holloway v. Holloway, 288 Ga. 147 (1) (702 SE2d 132) (2010).

(b) Wife asserts that the trial court provided for a deviation by failing to apply the correct conversion factor when it calculated Wife’s work-related child care costs.

The trial court did not calculate Wife’s work-related child care costs in connection with a “deviation.” Rather, it did so in determining the presumptive amount of child support. See OCGA § 19-6-15 (b) (l)-(7). In completing its calculations, the trial court determined that Wife incurred $158 per week in work-related child care expenses, and, applying a conversion factor of 4.3, concluded that her monthly child care expenses amounted to $679. Wife argues that the trial court erred by failing to apply a conversion factor of 4.35 as required by Uniform Superior Court Rule 24.2A. See Uniform Superior Court Rule 24.2A (“In all domestic cases in which a conversion of economic data from weekly to monthly must be made, a conversion factor of 4.35 weeks per month shall be used.”).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
732 S.E.2d 411, 291 Ga. 762, 2012 Fulton County D. Rep. 3139, 2012 WL 4856986, 2012 Ga. LEXIS 772, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eldridge-v-eldridge-ga-2012.