Metzer v. Metzer

4 Pa. D. & C.5th 417
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Bucks County
DecidedApril 3, 2008
Docketno. A06-06-61992-S-28
StatusPublished

This text of 4 Pa. D. & C.5th 417 (Metzer v. Metzer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Bucks County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Metzer v. Metzer, 4 Pa. D. & C.5th 417 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2008).

Opinion

RUBENSTEIN, J,

— Father John A. Metzer and Mother Diane Pfeil Metzer both appeal from this court’s order of January 14, 2008 ordering Mother to pay $608 per month for support of their two children, Jake, age 11, and Sean, age 7.

Mother and Father were divorced on October 25,2006, and Father was awarded primary physical custody of the children. On July 26, 2007 Mother and Father signed a property settlement agreement which stated in part in paragraph 15 (Support) verbatim:

“Husband agrees to waive child support from Wife for the parties’ minor children. This waiver is not to be interpreted as Husband waiving the children’s right to child support; rather the waiver is due to contents (sic) of this agreement and Wife waiving payments she may be entitled to with regard to alimony and Husband’s pension.

“Father agrees to maintain health coverage for the minor children and take care of all of their day-to-day needs with exception of their meals when they are with Mother.” Exhibit M-l.

On September 10,2007 Father filed a petition for child support. A support conference was conducted on October [420]*42023, 2007. After a hearing, the court determined that Father’s monthly net income was $6,010.22 and Mother’s was $1,351.37. An interim order was entered by Judge Susan Devlin Scott of this court ordering Mother to pay $464 per month in support and $20 in arrears. This support obligation was based upon a presumed reasonable child-care expense pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. 1910.16-6(a) of $165 per week.

Mother’s net income was based upon her employment three days a week as a restaurant waitress, with a base pay of $2.83 gross per hour plus tips, which average $200 net per week, and $10 per hour gross as a hostess on Friday nights, plus unemployment compensation of $426 for the month of January when the restaurant is closed. A wage attachment was issued on October 29, 2007 to Mother’s employer in accordance with this order. An order was also issued scheduling a further support hearing.

This support hearing was conducted on January 14, 2008. This court modified the prior order and directed Mother to pay $608 per month for the support of Sean and Jake and $50 per month upon any arrears. Health care insurance coverage was to be provided by Father and unreimbursed medical expenses exceeding $250 annually per child were to be allocated at 25 percent to Mother and 75 percent to Father. A wage attachment was also issued to Mother’s employer pursuant to this order.

The following evidence was presented at the January 14, 2008 hearing:

Father resides in Furlong, Bucks County, Pennsylvania with the parties’ two sons, Sean and Jake. Father is em[421]*421ployed as an engineer program manager with the United States Naval Surface Warfare Center in Philadelphia. He leaves for work at 5:30 a.m. and returns home “sometime between 4 and 5 o’clock.” N.T. January 14,2008, pp. 4, 8.

Father has employed an “au pair” since September 2006 to help with the care of his two sons. Father testified that the au pair provides care “the entire day” when the children are off from school. Pursuant to her contract with Father, the au pair can provide up to 45 hours of child care per week. Her duties include preparing the children for school, picking them up at the school bus and helping with their homework. Father testified that after considering the cost of the before and after school daycare provided by the Central Bucks Community School, he concluded “[t]hat I’m getting my best value with the au pair agency and the most coverage.” N.T. January 14, 2008, pp. 7-13.

In addition to preparing the children for the arrival of the school bus at 8:20 a.m., the au pair also does housework and laundry, but only for the children. N.T. January 14, 2008, pp. 19-20, 23.

Father testified that he cooks dinner and does the grocery shopping but provides the au pair with a Ford Taurus to run errands. Father testified that as long as she completes her duties, the au pair is essentially free to do as she wishes during the time the children are in school. Father testified that in accordance with State Department requirements for a visa, the au pair attends three credit hours each semester at Bucks County Community College. Father testified that he paid a total of $18,535 for [422]*422au pair services for 2006-2007 which he was seeking to include as reasonable child care expenses in the child support calculations. N.T. January 14, 2008, pp. 19-25.

Father admitted that he receives six weeks of paid vacation per year. He has worked for the government for 25 years, and has been paying into the Civil Service Retirement System during that time. He earns approximately $ 100,000 per year. Father agreed that the cost for full-time before and after-school care through the Central Bucks Community School would be $490 per month for both sons. Father testified that he has primary custody of their sons, and admitted that he had told Mother that he would “spend every penny he had” fighting Mother for custody of the children. N.T. January 14, 2008, pp. 25-32.

Father testified that his “core” work hours are “from 9 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon,” but he chooses to leave for work at 5:30 a.m. to avoid “traffic at a bad time.” N.T. January 14, 2008, pp. 41-42.

Father testified that he “occasionally has some cash flow issues” and that was why he was seeking support from Mother. Father testified that he recently spent $35,000 renovating his house, which included the installation of a cathedral ceiling, a bathroom renovation and replacement of windows and exterior siding. N.T. January 14, 2008, p. 46.

Father testified that Mother is a waitress at the Inn at Phillips Mill in New Hope, Bucks County. He related that she had been previously employed by the “Defense Printing Service” earning $40,000 to $50,000 per year. Father admitted that Mother left that job “because we [423]*423felt it was important for one parent to be home to raise our children.” He believed that she was capable of resuming that employment because “she still has the same qualifications and skill set.” N.T. January 14, 2008, pp. 14-16.

Father estimated that Mother earns $529 per night in tips as a waitress. He derived his estimate as follows: Father reviewed the menu from the Inn at Phillips Mill which he obtained from the Internet. After carefully examining that menu, (including their offering of “les hors d’oeuvres,” “les salades,” “soupe du jour,” “les entrees,” and “les desserts”), Father extrapolated that the average price of an appetizer, soup, salad, entree, dessert and coffee was $49 per person. He further assumed that the average number of patrons per table was three, and that during four and one-half hours per evening Mother was able to wait on four tables per hour, thus serving approximately 54 customers per evening. Based upon these assumptions, all of which are contained in Father’s self-designed chart (exhibit F-7), Father calculated that the “total take” per evening was $2,646. Utilizing this figure, Father further estimated that a 20 percent gratuity based upon this “total take” would average $529.20 per evening. N.T. January 14, 2008, pp. 16-18; exhibit F-7.

Mother testified that in October 2007 she purchased a house in Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania for $284,500.

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Bluebook (online)
4 Pa. D. & C.5th 417, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/metzer-v-metzer-pactcomplbucks-2008.