Goss v. Timblin

622 A.2d 347, 424 Pa. Super. 216, 1993 Pa. Super. LEXIS 724
Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided March 12, 1993·No. No. 801·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

HESTER, Judge.

Lorrie Goss appeals from the April 21, 1992 order entered by the Court of Common Pleas of Butler County in this support action. She formerly was married to Randall Timblin, appellee, and has remarried since the divorce. Appellant sought an increase in support to pay for the post-secondary educational expenses of Jeison, the parties’ youngest child, who lives with appellant. The parties executed a separation agreement on November 7, 1984, in which they agreed, “Both parties shall assist the children to obtain a college education to the best of their then financial ability.” The trial court ordered appellee to pay $175.00 per month for Jeison’s tuition and expenses. Appellant argues that the trial court erred in calculating Jeison’s educational expenses by not specifically [219]*219considering her contribution to Jeison’s room and board and by reducing Jeison’s anticipated educational costs by deducting an amount equal to a loan that she obtained to pay for Jeison’s tuition. We agree and reverse and remand.

The record reveals the following. The parties were married on June 1, 1970, in Butler, Pennsylvania. They separated in February, 1982, and divorced on November 4, 1984. Two children were born of the marriage, Randall Jr., born October 10, 1970, and Jeison, born December 17, 1972. Both parties since have remarried, and appellee has a six-year-old daughter by his current wife. Both Randall Jr. and Jeison have attained their majority and reside with appellant. However, since Randall Jr. has not pursued higher education, we are concerned only with support for Jeison.

Jeison, who is over eighteen, chose to attend the Art Institute of Pittsburgh for training in the graphic arts. He anticipates earning an associate degree in visual communications in two years instead of three. In the parties’ separation agreement, appellee agreed to assist the children to obtain a college education to the best of his financial ability “at that time.” Appellant filed a petition for increased support to pay for Jeison’s college expenses in June, 1991. The trial court adopted the master’s findings with respect to the income and expenses of the parties but reduced appellee’s obligation from $350 to $175 per month. Appellant filed this appeal contending that this amount is inadequate and that the court erred in its calculations.

Appellee is employed at Measuray Corporation as an operations manager and nets approximately $3,350 per month. His claimed expenses include $1,929 for mortgage and property taxes, $240 for utilities, $130 for insurance, $220 for automobile expenses, $600 for food, $112 for medical expenses, and $320 for child care. This totals $3,551 per month. Thus, his expenses currently exceed his income.

Appellant is a claim analyst at Nationwide Insurance Company and nets approximately $1,327 per month. Appellant’s monthly expenses include $395 for mortgage, $260 for utilities, $300 for food, and $94 for health insurance. Her monthly [220]*220expenses total $1,049, which leaves approximately $278 per month of income unallocated. Jeison works part-time at Friedman’s Supermarket earning at $4.25 per hour or approximately $85 per week. His earnings since have risen slightly due to a pay raise.

Jeison’s academic program lasts eight quarters, and he will earn an associate’s degree. The program normally is completed in three years, with the summers free. Jeison, however, wants to complete the program in two years by continuing school during the summer. He hopes this faster pace will permit him to continue his education by obtaining a bachelors degree. He lives with appellant at home and commutes to school in a Volkswagen, which he owns and maintains. Jeison to date has done very well in this program.

The trial court calculated that the amount of tuition not covered by loans equalled $1,530 the first year, $1,200 the second, and none for the third year, or a total of $2,730. The court then added $3,510 for additional mandated costs for art supplies. It added these two figures together to calculate a total of $6,250 not met by the previously-approved loans. The court then divided this sum by thirty-six months and set appellee’s support obligation at $175 per month. It also found that Jeison was earning enough to pay for his own transportation, food, and lodging. It finally concluded that $175 per month would not burden appellee unduly.

We initially note that appellee specifically agreed to contribute to the costs of Jeison’s education. In Blue v. Blue, 532 Pa. 521, 616 A.2d 628 (1992), our Supreme Court overruled prior case law propounded by this court and determined that there is no obligation by parents to contribute to the post-secondary educational expenses of a child in Pennsylvania, absent enactment of such a duty by our legislature. Since appellant specifically agreed in the separation agreement to contribute to college education to the best of his financial ability, however, the resolution of this case becomes a matter of interpretation of language set forth in the separation agreement in accordance with principals of contract law. See Trunkwalter v. Truckwalter, 421 Pa.Super. 308, 309-311, 617 [221]*221A.2d 1308, 1309 (1992) (provision to pay for higher education in a settlement agreement is enforceable on its own terms even absent a legal duty to do so).

It is well-established that a settlement agreement between a husband and wife in Pennsylvania is governed by the law of contracts unless the agreement states otherwise. Brower v. Brower, 413 Pa.Super. 48, 56, 604 A.2d 726, 730 (1992). See also De Witt v. Kaiser, 335 Pa.Super. 258, 262, 484 A.2d 121, 123 (1984) (interpretation of contract terms are determined pursuant to the rules for contracts generally).

Our standard of review for contracts is clear. In PBS Coals, Inc. v. Burnham Coal Co., 384 Pa.Super. 323, 328, 558 A.2d 562, 564 (1989), we stated:

The paramount goal of contractual interpretation is to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the parties. Greene v. Oliver Reality, Inc., 363 Pa.Super. 534, 526 A.2d 1192 (1987). In determining the intent of the parties to a written agreement, the court looks to what they have clearly expressed, for the law does not assume that the language of the contract was chosen carelessly. Daniels v. Bethlehem Mines Corp., 391 Pa. 195, 137 A.2d 304 (1958).

Instantly, the sole issue before the trial court was the determination of the ability of both parties to contribute to Jeison’s educational needs. “In the absence of fraud, mistake, overreaching or the like, it is not the function of the court to redraft a contract to be more favorable to a given party than the agreement which that party chose to enter.” Id. In interpreting the separation agreement, the court is not to insert language not placed there by the parties. Daniels v. Bethlehem Mines, supra. Consequently, the court’s role was to establish what amount represented the most the parties reasonably agreed they could contribute in relation to their financial ability.1

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Goss v. Timblin, 622 A.2d 347, 424 Pa. Super. 216, 1993 Pa. Super. LEXIS 724 (Pa. Ct. App. 1993).

622 A.2d 347 (Goss v. Timblin) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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