Johansen v. Johansen

2002 UT App 75, 45 P.3d 520, 443 Utah Adv. Rep. 22, 2002 Utah App. LEXIS 24, 2002 WL 391580
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedMarch 14, 2002
Docket20001127-CA
StatusPublished

This text of 2002 UT App 75 (Johansen v. Johansen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johansen v. Johansen, 2002 UT App 75, 45 P.3d 520, 443 Utah Adv. Rep. 22, 2002 Utah App. LEXIS 24, 2002 WL 391580 (Utah Ct. App. 2002).

Opinions

OPINION

JACKSON, Presiding Judge:

11 1 Appellant Paul R. Johansen appeals the trial court's denial of his motion for partial summary judgment. We reverse and remand.

BACKGROUND

T2 Appellant and Appellee were divorced in January, 1989. At that time they had three children: Laura, Lynsay, and Leisa. The divorce decree awarded Appellee a lump sum of $540.00 per month in child support, and did not address changes in child support when the children became "emancipated" 1 by reaching eighteen years of age. Laura reached her eighteenth birthday on September 2, 1995, as Lynsay did on October 1, 1997. Intervenor, Utah Office of Recovery Services (ORS), "collected child support and sought to collect arrears from [Appellant] after the children's eighteenth birthdays at the original child support amount without any adjustment." On February 15, 2000, Appellant petitioned the trial court to modify his child support obligation, seeking an order that would retroactively reduce his child support obligation from the time Laura and Lynsay became emancipated. The trial court denied his motion for partial summary judgment as to this issue. This appeal followed.

ISSUES AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

13 Appellant challenges the trial court's conclusion that "[blecause the decree of divorce was entered prior to" the enactment of Utah Code Ann. § 78-45-7.10 (Supp. 2001)2 (Automatic Adjustment Statute), that the Automatic Adjustment Statute, which "provides for an automatic adjustment of child support when a child" becomes emancipated, does not apply.3 Appellant also challenges the trial court's legal conclusion that

[blecause the parties' decree neither specifies a per-child amount of child support nor the incomes of the parties at the time the decree was entered, it is impossible for the Court to evaluate retroactively what child [522]*522support should have been when the first child reached age 18 or when the second child reached 18.

T4 "' "Summary judgment is appropriate only when there are no genuine issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Because a summary judgment presents questions of law, we review the trial court's ruling for correctness." Krambule v. Krambule, 1999 UT App 357,¶ 10, 994 P.2d 210 (citations omitted); see also Department of Human Servs. v. Jacoby, 1999 UT App 52,¶7, 975 P.2d 989 ("''Whether a statute operates retroactively is a question of law, which we review for correctness without deference to the district court"" (Citation omitted.)); Brinkerhoff v. Brinkerhoff, 945 P.2d 113, 115 (Utah Ct.App.1997) (applying a correction of error standard of review to interpretation of statute governing child support proceedings); Ball v. Peterson, 912 P.2d 1006, 1009 (Utah Ct.App.1996) (same).

ANALYSIS

15 We first address whether the Automatic Adjustment Statute may apply to support orders in foree prior to the effective date of the statute. A statute may be applied retroactively where it "is merely procedural and does not 'enlarge, eliminate, or destroy vested or contractual rights'" Ball v. Peterson, 912 P.2d 1006, 1009 (Utah Ct. App.1996) (citation omitted); accord Pilcher v. State Dept. of Soc. Servs., 668 P.2d 450, 455 (Utah 1988). On the other hand, a statute is substantive and may not be applied retroactively where it "establishes 'a primary right and duty which was not in existence at the time [the claim] arose?" Id. (alteration in original) (quoting Washington Nat'l Ins. Co. v. Sherwood Assocs., 795 P.2d 665, 669-70 (Utah Ct.App.1990)); accord Brown & Root Indus. Serv. v. Industrial Comm'n, 947 P.2d 671, 675 (Utah 1997).

16 "[Nlo one has any vested rights in a [child] support decree which statutorily may be changed from time to time by a court under its continuing jurisdiction. ..." Wiker v. Wiker, 600 P.2d 514, 515 (Utah 1978); accord Kocherov v. Kocherov, 775 S.W.2d 539, 541 (Mo.Ct.App.1989) ("'Since a child support order is modifiable after judgment . a child's right to future, unacerued installments of child support is not a vested right.'" (Citation omitted.)). In other words, a child support payment does not become a vested right until it accrues. The Automatic Adjustment Statute became effective before the child support payments in question accrued. Indeed, the Automatic Adjustment Statute became effective April 24, 1989, see Utah Code Ann. § 78-45-7.10 (Supp. 1989), while Laura and Lynsay became eighteen years old on September 2, 1995 and October 1, 1997 respectively. Thus, at the time the statute became effective, no one had a vested right to the child support payments that would acerue after Laura's or Lynsay's eighteenth birthdays. Accordingly, the statute, as applied to Laura and Lynsay, "is merely procedural and does not 'enlarge, eliminate, or destroy vested or contractual rights'" Ball, 912 P.2d at 1009 (citation omitted). As a result, we conclude the Automatic Adjustment Statute may be applied retroactively to Laura and Lynsay.4 See id.

[523]*523T7 Appellant next challenges the trial court's conclusion that because the divorce decree awarding child support predated the child support guidelines, it is "impossible" to calculate the child support award according to those guidelines.5 Put differently, he argues the trial court interpreted the Automatic Adjustment Statute in a way that would render portions of it inoperable, thus presenting us with a question of statutory interpretation.

[Olur primary goal when construing statutes is to evince "the true intent and purpose of the Legislature [as expressed through] the plain language of the Act." In doing so, we seek "to render all parts thereof relevant and meaningful," and we accordingly avoid interpretations that will render portions of a statute superfluous or inoperative.

Hall v. Utah State Dep't of Corr,, 2001 UT 34, ¶15, 24 P.3d 958 (second alteration in original) (citations omitted).

18 We do not agree that the statute should be construed in a manner that renders it superfluous or inoperative. The Automatic Adjustment Statute reduces the combined child support obligation "to reflect the [amount] shown in the table for the remaining number of children due child support." Utah Code Ann. $ 78-45-7.10 (emphasis added). Utah Code Ann. § 78-45-2(5) (Supp. 2001) provides that " 'table' means the appropriate table in Section 78-45-7.14." Neither section specifies which year's table should be applied. "[OImissions in statutory language should 'be taken note of and given effect'" Biddle v.

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Bluebook (online)
2002 UT App 75, 45 P.3d 520, 443 Utah Adv. Rep. 22, 2002 Utah App. LEXIS 24, 2002 WL 391580, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johansen-v-johansen-utahctapp-2002.