In Re Marriage of Pope-Clifton

823 N.E.2d 607, 355 Ill. App. 3d 478, 291 Ill. Dec. 315, 2005 Ill. App. LEXIS 93
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedFebruary 7, 2005
Docket4-04-0307
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 823 N.E.2d 607 (In Re Marriage of Pope-Clifton) 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
In Re Marriage of Pope-Clifton, 823 N.E.2d 607, 355 Ill. App. 3d 478, 291 Ill. Dec. 315, 2005 Ill. App. LEXIS 93 (Ill. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE COOK

delivered the opinion of the court:

Respondent, Walter S. Clifton, appeals from the trial court’s judgment that a bank account containing only funds received as Veterans’ Administration disability benefits was not exempt from collection to pay a judgment for child support, maintenance, and attorney fees and court costs arising from a domestic relations cause of action. We affirm.

Respondent and petitioner, Dora A. Pope-Clifton, now known as Dora A. Pope-Grubb, were divorced in Champaign County in 1989. Respondent was ordered to pay child support, which was modified in 1991, requiring respondent to pay $935 per month in child support. On February 26, 1992, respondent was found to be in indirect civil contempt for failure to comply with the support order, and all other previous orders were reaffirmed.

In August 2000, after eight years of inactivity in the case, petitioner filed petitions for review of child support and for rule to show cause. At the hearing on August 16, 2000, respondent appeared by counsel, who stated respondent was unable to attend because he was undergoing treatment at the Veterans’ Administration Hospital in Danville. On November 2, 2000, the trial court found respondent’s failure to pay child support was willful and without any legal justification and held respondent in indirect civil contempt. The court entered judgment in the amount of $31,665.50 representing unpaid child support and maintenance owed by respondent to petitioner and additionally awarded $2,955.51 in attorney fees and court costs to be paid by respondent.

On August 16, 2002, petitioner filed in the circuit court of Macon County a certified copy of the docket sheet of the Champaign County proceedings and a citation to discover assets against Earthmover Credit Union (Earthmover), which is located in Decatur. Earthmover subsequently notified petitioner that it was holding $26,711.01 for respondent in an account at its bank. The Macon County court froze the assets held at Earthmover. On March 17, 2004, the court found the citation was a supplemental proceeding to collect a judgment for child support, maintenance, and attorney fees and court costs arising from a domestic relations cause of action. The court further found that the funds in the Earthmover account were not exempt under section 12 — 1001(g) of the Code of Civil Procedure (Civil Procedure Code) (735 ILCS 5/12 — 1001(g) (West 2002)) and ordered Earthmover to turn over the account to petitioner. This appeal followed.

On appeal, respondent argues that (1) the Macon County court did not have subject-matter jurisdiction, (2) the Earthmover account was exempt under the Civil Procedure Code, and (3) the Earthmover account was exempt under federal law. We affirm.

We first examine respondent’s argument that the circuit court of Macon County did not have subject-matter jurisdiction in the present case. Respondent argues that the procedures of Supreme Court Rule 277 (134 Ill. 2d R. 277) were not followed in bringing supplemental proceedings against Earthmover in Macon County. Specifically, respondent alleges that petitioner did not have leave of the court to bring multiple citations in this matter, no transcript of the original judgment was filed, and the citation ignored amounts already paid by respondent in satisfaction of the judgment. We find no merit in respondent’s arguments.

Nothing in the record suggests that petitioner had filed a previous supplementary proceeding against Earthmover. Rule 277(a) only requires leave of the court if there have been prior supplementary proceedings filed against a party. 134 Ill. 2d R. 277(a). Although petitioner only filed the docket sheet in Macon County, it is apparently because there was no written transcript of the judgment to file. The docket sheet clearly shows the entry of judgment against respondent and is adequate to meet the requirements of Rule 277. See Bentley v. Glenn Shipley Enterprises, Inc., 248 Ill. App. 3d 647, 651, 619 N.E.2d 816, 819 (1993) (provisions of Rule 277 are to be liberally construed). Finally, even with the money from the Earthmover account and all amounts previously recovered by petitioner, the judgment against respondent has not been satisfied, so it is moot that petitioner sought to recover the entire amount of the judgment in her proceedings against Earthmover. The circuit court of Macon County had jurisdiction to enter a judgment on the supplementary proceedings.

Respondent next argues that because the funds in the Earth-mover account were directly traceable to Veterans’ Administration disability benefits, they are exempt from garnishment under Illinois law. Section 12 — 1001 of the Civil Procedure Code provides in relevant part as follows:

“The following personal property, owned by the debtor, is exempt
from judgment, attachment, or distress for rent:
^
(g) The debtor’s right to receive:
(1) a social security benefit, unemployment compensation, or public assistance benefit;
(2) a veteran’s benefit;
(3) a disability, illness, or unemployment benefit; and
(4) alimony, support, or separate maintenance, to the extent reasonably necessary for the support of the debtor and any dependent of the debtor;
(h) The debtor’s right to receive, or property that is traceable to:
(1) ***[.]” 735 ILCS 5/12 — 1001 (West 2002).

Respondent relies upon the court’s reasoning in Internal Medicine Associates of Decatur, S.C. v. Patterson, 244 Ill. App. 3d 704, 613 N.E.2d 1 (1993), where the court held that funds traceable to reimbursement for foster-parenting services were exempt from garnishment. The reimbursement for foster-parenting services was not included as an exemption in section 12 — 1001, but after comparing the language in the Children and Family Services Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 23, par. 5005) exempting the reimbursement to the exemptions found in the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. § 407 (Supp. I 1983)), we found them to be similar and granted the reimbursement for foster-parenting services the same exemption that social security receives under federal law. Patterson, 244 Ill. App. 3d at 707-08, 613 N.E.2d at 3. However, because veterans’ benefits are explicitly included in section 12 — 1001(g), the reasoning respondent relies upon in Patterson is inapposite.

In Fayette County Hospital v. Reavis, 169 Ill. App. 3d 246, 250, 523 N.E.2d 693

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Bluebook (online)
823 N.E.2d 607, 355 Ill. App. 3d 478, 291 Ill. Dec. 315, 2005 Ill. App. LEXIS 93, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-marriage-of-pope-clifton-illappct-2005.