Khaja v. Khan

902 N.E.2d 857, 2009 Ind. App. LEXIS 437, 2009 WL 708324
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 17, 2009
Docket45A03-0806-CV-317
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 902 N.E.2d 857 (Khaja v. Khan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Khaja v. Khan, 902 N.E.2d 857, 2009 Ind. App. LEXIS 437, 2009 WL 708324 (Ind. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

OPINION

CRONE, Judge.

Case Summary

Sirajuddin S. Khaja ("Father") appeals the order granting certain claims in the petition for rule to show cause filed by *860 Farzana Khan ("Mother") and denying his petition to modify child support. Mother cross-appeals the denial of certain claims in her petition for rule to show cause. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.

Issues

Father raises the following restated issues:

I. Whether the trial court erred in its choice of law in ruling on Father's petition to modify;
II. Whether the trial court's findings as to Father's child support ar-rearage and contempt were clearly erroneous;
Whether the trial court's finding as to educational expenses is clearly erroneous; TH.
IV. Whether the trial court's award of medical expenses to Mother is clearly erroneous;
V. Whether the trial court abused its discretion in awarding attorney's fees to Mother and denying Father's request for attorney's fees.

As for Mother's cross-appeal, we address the following dispositive issue:

VI. Whether she has waived her arguments.

Facts and Procedural History

Father and Mother have been married twice. They were first married on October 19, 1978, and that marriage was dissolved pursuant to an Illinois judgment on December 28, 1988. Father and Mother have one child, MK., born May 29, 1982, during their first marriage. Father and Mother were remarried in Illinois on October 4, 1984. Mother subsequently filed a petition for dissolution in Illinois. Father, Mother, and MK. were Illinois residents at that time. On February 23, 1987, the Illinois court issued its marriage dissolution decree ("Illinois Decree"), which incorporated the parties' settlement agreement. The settlement agreement provided as follows:

3. SUPPORT OF CHILDREN
a. Except as otherwise provided herein, the Husband shall pay to the Wife as and for support and maintenance of the child, from February, 1987, until September, 1987, the sum of SIX HUNDRED ($600) DOLLARS per month.]
b. Commencing with October 1987, the Husband and Wife, after full disclosure by the Husband to the Wife of the Husband's total net income both in salary and profit from his medical practice, shall arrive at a new monthly figure that the Husband shall pay the Wife for the support of the minor child of the parties, strictly based on THIRTY (80%) PERCENT of the Husband's monthly income. For every year commencing with 1988 for as long as the Husband's child support obligation remains pursuant to this Agreement, the Husband shall provide the Wife with his federal income tax return showing his previous year's income upon the filing of said return, and the parties will agree to modify the Husband's monthly child support payments to correspond to THIRTY (80%) PERCENT of his total net income as previously defined. This Court retains jurisdiction over the issue of child support and either party may petition this Court if the parties cannot amiably come to a good faith agreement concerning the monthly child support payments at any time. In any case, the Husband's child support payments, as long as his obligations pursuant to this Agreement exist, shall never be less than SIX HUNDRED ($600) DOLLARS a month[.]
4. EDUCATION OF CHILD
*861 a. In addition to the above-mentioned support for the minor child, the Husband shall also pay for the trade school or college and professional education expenses of the child. By "education expenses" there is meant and included, but not by way of limitation, tuition, books, supplies, registration, and other required fees, board, lodging, utilities related to lodging such as telephone, electric, etc., sorority or fraternity dues, assessments and charges, and round trip transportation expenses between the trade school, college or professional school and the home of the child (if the child is in attendance at an out-of-town trade school, college or professional school), those round trips not to exceed four in any calendar year.
b. The Husband's obligation is conditioned upon the following:
i. The child has at that time the desire and aptitude for a trade school, college, or professional school education;
fi. The trade school or college is limited to four consecutive years after graduation from high school, except the time shall be extended in the case of serious injury or military service, and the professional school education is limited to two consecutive years after graduation from college, except the time shall be extended in case of serious illness or military service or in the event the professional school attended extends for a required period beyond two years.
5. MEDICAL, DENTAL, OPTICAL AND RELATED EXPENSES OF CHILDREN
a. The Husband shall pay for the hospital, surgical optical and orthodon-tial [sic] care and for the extraordinnary [sic] medical and dental care of the minor child. The term "extraordinary" as used in this paragraph shall include, but not by way of limitation, all teeth straightening, major dental work, psychiatric or psychological care, operations and services rendered as a result of serious illnesses requiring hospitalization or extended medical care, but shall not include routine checkups, minor ailments, drug supplies (except if required in the treatment of serious illness), dental prophylaxis and the like. In the event of serious illness of the child, or the need for hospital, surgical optical or orthodontial [sic] or extraordinary medical or dental care, the Wife shall consult the Husband before incurring expenses in any of those connections. It is understood by both parties that the Wife's obligation to consult the Husband before incurring expenses in any of those connections shall not apply in cases of emergency where the child's life or health might be imperiled by delay.

Appellant's App. at 34-88. In addition, the Illinois dissolution decree provided that Father's obligation to pay child support would continue until M.K. turns twenty-one years of age or completes trade school, college, or professional school. Id. at 35.

In 1991, Mother, Father, and MK. became residents of Indiana. On October 8, 2004, Mother filed in the trial court a petition to domesticate decree of divorcee and attached a certified copy of the Illinois Decree. Id. at 49. Simultaneously, Mother filed a verified petition for rule to show cause, in which she alleged that Father was in contempt of the Illinois Decree in that he had made no child support payments since May 29, 1999, and had failed to pay college expenses. Id. at 66-67. She also requested attorney's fees.

On March 30, 2005, Father filed his petition to modify child support, asserting that all issues regarding child support should be governed by Indiana law and asking the *862 court to find M.K.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Thomas Wininger v. Carrie Lentz (mem. dec.)
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2020
Michael G. Hays v. Shanna Hays
49 N.E.3d 1030 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2016)
Jeffrey Crider v. Christina Crider
15 N.E.3d 1042 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2014)
Harold M. Bacchus, Jr. v. Fazia Deen-Bacchus
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2013
M.L. v. Meridian Services, Inc.
956 N.E.2d 752 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2011)
Callaway v. Callaway
932 N.E.2d 215 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2010)
Deel v. Deel
935 N.E.2d 183 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2010)
Vandenburgh v. Vandenburgh
916 N.E.2d 723 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
902 N.E.2d 857, 2009 Ind. App. LEXIS 437, 2009 WL 708324, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/khaja-v-khan-indctapp-2009.