Fritch v. Fritch

586 N.E.2d 427, 224 Ill. App. 3d 29, 166 Ill. Dec. 469, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 2124
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 20, 1991
Docket1-89-2824
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 586 N.E.2d 427 (Fritch v. Fritch) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fritch v. Fritch, 586 N.E.2d 427, 224 Ill. App. 3d 29, 166 Ill. Dec. 469, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 2124 (Ill. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE LORENZ

delivered the opinion of the court:

Patricia Lee Fritch (plaintiff) filed suit against her former husband, Dennis R. Fritch (defendant), requesting child support arrearages and contribution for a child’s college expenses. After a hearing, the court found defendant liable for $19,930 in child support arrearages and for $16,800 in college expenses. The trial court also entered a contempt finding against defendant. Defendant appealed. We consider the following issues: (1) whether the trial court erred by entering a contempt finding against defendant as a means to enforce payment of the child support arrearages; (2) whether the trial court’s findings of child support arrearages were against the manifest weight of the evidence; (3) whether the trial court’s award for college expenses was an abuse of discretion; (4) whether the trial court erred finding defendant liable for the college expenses over defendant’s objection that he had a right to prior consultation; and (5) whether the trial court erred by not barring plaintiff’s claims pursuant to the doctrines of equitable estoppel and laches.

We affirm in part and reverse in part.

Relevant to this appeal are the following facts as disclosed by the record. Plaintiff and defendant were married in Chicago, Illinois, on December 18, 1965. Plaintiff and defendant were divorced on January 21, 1971. Three children were bom during the marriage: Denise Lee Fritch, Dennis Ray Fritch II, and Daniel Anthony Fritch. The youngest child reached the age of majority in October 1987.

During the pendency of the divorce proceeding, plaintiff and defendant entered into a written marital settlement agreement (Agreement) which was incorporated into the divorce judgment. The Agreement provided that plaintiff would have custody of the three children and that defendant would pay $64 per week in child support. Defendant was also responsible for the medical expenses of the children. The Agreement provided further that defendant would pay for the college and professional school expenses of the children including tuition, books, board, lodging, and various other fees and charges. Defendant’s obligation for college expenses was conditioned upon three factors: (1) the child has the desire and aptitude for college or professional school; (2) the education be limited to two or four years with certain exceptions; and (3) the defendant have the financial ability to pay the education expenses.

Between 1972 and 1979 plaintiff filed three petitions requesting increases in child support or alleging arrearages in child support payments. In 1975 the child support was, in fact, increased to $74 per week. The petition filed in 1979 never reached a final disposition.

On February 8, 1988, plaintiff filed the instant petition. In count I of the petition, plaintiff alleged arrearages in child support from 1978 to 1987 totaling $31,680. Plaintiff requested the court to find defendant in contempt for his willful failure to pay child support. In count II of the petition, plaintiff sought contribution toward the college expenses of one of the children, Denise. Defendant’s answer to count II admitted, in part, his financial ability to pay for the college expenses.

On October 7, 1988, the court held a hearing on the petition. The following is a summary of the testimony at the hearing.

Plaintiff testified that after her divorce in 1971, she lived in an apartment in Chicago with her three children for one year. Then, from 1972 to 1987, she lived in a house in Chicago with her mother, her stepfather, and her three children. Her mother owned the house.

Plaintiff testified that she received her last child support payment from defendant in April 1978. Prior to that point, defendant mailed money orders in the amounts of $64 or $10 as payment of child support. She never received money orders in the amount of $74.

Plaintiff did not see defendant from 1974 until the summer of 1979. One day in the summer of 1979, defendant arrived at the family’s house. The children talked to defendant, and plaintiff's mother invited defendant to stay for dinner, which he did. A few days later, defendant stopped by the house again to see the children. The children wanted to have their father around so plaintiff received her mother’s permission to have defendant move in. According to plaintiff, defendant first moved his furniture into the house and later, in January 1980, moved in himself. Plaintiff testified that defendant lived as a boarder. However, she admitted that from 1979 to 1984 she occasionally had sexual relations with defendant.

Plaintiff admitted that defendant contributed $40 per week for household expenses. However, there were periods in which defendant was absent from the home. Plaintiff produced her own notes which recorded the dates of defendant’s absences. The notes indicated absences from: April 1980 to July 1980; February 1981 to April 1981; April 1981 to February 1982 (sporadic absences); and February 1982 to October 1982. During some of the absences plaintiff knew where defendant resided, during other absences she did not. Plaintiff tolerated defendant’s returns after his absences because she thought it was important for her children to know their father.

Plaintiff admitted that the whole family went on a vacation to Colorado in April 1981. She, her mother, and defendant paid for the trip. When defense counsel reminded plaintiff that according to her notes defendant had been absent in April 1981, plaintiff admitted that her notes might be inaccurate. However, plaintiff insisted that defendant was absent for substantial periods.

Plaintiff testified that defendant did not pay child support while he lived with the family or during any of his absences. In April 1984 defendant moved out permanently and plaintiff did not know where defendant resided thereafter. Defendant did not pay child support at any time after April 1984. However, plaintiff admitted that she did receive some envelopes containing cash from defendant after April 1984. She explained that each envelope also contained a receipt from defendant’s union indicating that the cash was for repayment of family medical expenses.

Plaintiff had opened a checking account with a local bank in 1980. Plaintiff testified that any time she deposited money into the account she recorded the source of the money. Sources included paychecks from her employer and loans from both banks and individuals. Plaintiff also received money from defendant while they lived together because defendant did not have a checking account; he cashed his paychecks every Friday and gave the money to her and she deposited the money into her account. Defendant gave plaintiff a total of $17,142. However, plaintiff also kept a record of how she spent the money she deposited into the account. Plaintiff testified that she did not use any of the $17,142 for her or for the children’s benefit. Instead, her records indicated that she spent a total of $17,088 on behalf of defendant. For example, she used the money to make payments on defendant’s cars and to pay his union dues and credit card bills. However, the records indicated that at least 10 deposits from defendant were made at times when defendant was allegedly absent and some expenditures were made on his behalf after he left in 1984.

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Bluebook (online)
586 N.E.2d 427, 224 Ill. App. 3d 29, 166 Ill. Dec. 469, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 2124, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fritch-v-fritch-illappct-1991.