Hobbs v. Golden

CourtNebraska Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 4, 2020
DocketA-19-748
StatusPublished

This text of Hobbs v. Golden (Hobbs v. Golden) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hobbs v. Golden, (Neb. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

IN THE NEBRASKA COURT OF APPEALS

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT ON APPEAL (Memorandum Web Opinion)

HOBBS V. GOLDEN

NOTICE: THIS OPINION IS NOT DESIGNATED FOR PERMANENT PUBLICATION AND MAY NOT BE CITED EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY NEB. CT. R. APP. P. § 2-102(E).

DARIN HOBBS, APPELLEE, V.

MONICA GOLDEN, APPELLANT.

Filed August 4, 2020. No. A-19-748.

Appeal from the District Court for Douglas County: GARY B. RANDALL, Judge. Affirmed in part as modified, and in part reversed and remanded with directions. Justin A. Quinn for appellant. No appearance for appellee.

PIRTLE, BISHOP, and WELCH, Judges. PIRTLE, Judge. INTRODUCTION Monica Golden appeals from an order of the district court for Douglas County which denied her complaint to modify custody of her and Darin Hobbs’ child and recalculated child support. She argues that a material change in circumstances existed to warrant modifying legal and physical custody and that the court erred in several respects in its calculation of child support. Having found error in the court’s child support calculation, we affirm in part as modified, and in part reverse and remand with directions. BACKGROUND Golden and Hobbs are the parents of a minor child named Darin, referred to by the parties as DJ, born July 2012. On January 16, 2014, Hobbs filed a complaint for establishment of paternity. In May, he was ordered to submit to a hair follicle test, the results of which were positive for

-1- cocaine. In June, the court ordered Hobbs to submit to a hair follicle test every month for 4 consecutive months. A decree of paternity was entered on February 4, 2015. The parenting plan was agreed to by the parties and adopted by the court. The parties were awarded joint legal and joint physical custody of DJ, and Golden was given ultimate decisionmaking authority when the parties could not come to a decision. In regard to parenting time, the parties agreed to an 8-day/6-day rotation. Golden was given 8 consecutive days from Sunday morning to the following Monday morning, and Hobbs was given the following 6 consecutive days from Monday morning to Sunday morning. Hobbs was ordered to pay $398 per month in child support. In June 2015, Hobbs was charged with assaulting Golden by strangulation. The charge was dropped after Golden asked the prosecutor to do so because she needed Hobbs’ financial support and would lose it if he went to jail and lost his job. Hobbs denied strangling Golden or laying hands on her at all and testified that he was the one who called the police the night of the alleged strangulation. On April 5, 2018, Golden filed a complaint to modify alleging material changes in circumstances had occurred which included Hobbs’ resuming use of cocaine, Hobbs’ failure to exercise his parenting time, Hobbs’ request that he not have overnight parenting time, Hobbs’ domestic violence toward Golden, and Hobbs’ refusal to communicate regarding DJ’s medical and other needs. Golden sought sole legal and physical custody, as well as recalculation of child support based on the change in physical custody. On April 6, 2018, Golden filed a motion to require Hobbs to take a hair follicle test based on her belief that he was using cocaine again. Her motion was granted, and his parenting time was suspended until he took the test and the results were known. Hobbs submitted to a test, which came back negative for all substances. Hobbs’ parenting time was reinstated on April 19. Hobbs subsequently filed an answer and counterclaim in response to Golden’s complaint to modify. His counterclaim alleged that DJ had missed more than 15 days of school; Hobbs had been denied parenting time from January 24 to April 19, 2018; Golden had made false allegations of cocaine use; Golden had disparaged him and his fiance; and Golden put DJ in counseling without discussing it with him. Hobbs sought sole legal and physical custody and asked the court to recalculate child support. At the start of trial, however, Hobbs’ counsel stated that Hobbs was requesting that joint legal and physical custody continue, with the exception that he be the one with final decisionmaking authority. A trial was held in March 2019. At the time of trial, DJ was 6 years old and was in his second year of kindergarten. DJ repeated kindergarten because he was socially behind other children. Hobbs testified that he had concerns about DJ’s school attendance during his first year of kindergarten, specifically between January and April 2018, but that DJ’s attendance was no longer a concern. Hobbs testified that he stays involved with DJ’s schooling and has regular contact with DJ’s teacher, principal, and counselor. DJ has some medical issues, including stomach/digestion problems and allergies. DJ was also born without enamel on his teeth so he goes to the dentist every 3 months for a fluoride rinse. Within a year before trial, DJ had a lump on his chest, which was surgically removed. When the lump was discovered and surgery was recommended, Golden and Hobbs disagreed about what to

-2- do. Golden thought the mass should be removed right away, whereas Hobbs did not want DJ to go through surgery and wanted to get a second medical opinion. Hobbs testified that Golden made the decision to go ahead with the surgery. Golden testified that Hobbs did not assist in taking DJ to and from doctor appointments, dentist appointments, or therapy appointments. Hobbs admitted that Golden was the one who made all of DJ’s appointments and took him to the appointments. He stated that it had always been this way since DJ was born, even when the parties were together. Hobbs stated that although Golden had been the one who took DJ to his appointments, he believed he was capable of doing it. Golden testified that DJ had participated in extracurricular activities including soccer, wrestling, and tumbling, and she was always the one who signed him up for the activities, paid for the activities, and took him to the activities. At the time of trial, DJ was not participating in any activities. Golden stated that she had not signed him up for anything because he would not be able to attend activities consistently as Hobbs would not take him during his parenting time. Hobbs admitted that he only went to one of DJ’s soccer games, but stated that his work schedule conflicted with the games. He claimed he was involved with DJ’s wrestling. He agreed that activities are important for DJ and that if Golden set them up and communicated with him, he would take DJ. Golden testified that shortly after the decree was entered in February 2015, the parties started following a different parenting schedule where they shifted the schedule in the decree by 1 day. Golden’s parenting time started on Monday instead of Sunday, and she had DJ until the following Tuesday. Hobbs’ parenting time started on Tuesday, instead of Monday, and he had DJ until Monday. Hobbs testified that there was no agreement about shifting the exchange day, but that it was sort of forced upon him by Golden and he accepted it. He admitted that he actually liked it better than the days set forth in the decree. During this time, Hobbs had his own residence but would stay at Golden’s home during his parenting time. In June 2016, Hobbs stopped exercising his parenting time at Golden’s home, but the parties continued to follow the same 8-day/6-day schedule shifted 1 day from what was set forth in the decree. Golden testified that starting in August 2016, Hobbs was only exercising his parenting time 1 or 2 days during his 6 days. This continued until January 2017. At that time, the parties changed the schedule so that Golden’s time began on Sunday morning and ran 9 consecutive days until the following Tuesday, and Hobbs had DJ for 5 consecutive days from Tuesday until Sunday. Golden testified, however, that Hobbs did not exercise his 5 consecutive days of parenting time.

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Hobbs v. Golden, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hobbs-v-golden-nebctapp-2020.