Odulio v. Massie

550 N.E.2d 769, 1990 Ind. App. LEXIS 225
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 26, 1990
DocketNo. 53A01-8910CV408
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 550 N.E.2d 769 (Odulio v. Massie) 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
Odulio v. Massie, 550 N.E.2d 769, 1990 Ind. App. LEXIS 225 (Ind. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

RATLIFF, Chief Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Benito V. Odulio (Odulio) appeals the trial court's judgment ordering him to pay retroactive child support and to pay current child support of Two Hundred Fifty-five Dollars ($255.00) weekly. We affirm.

[770]*770FACTS

Sheila K. Massie (Massie), as the mother and next friend of R.B.T. born June 14, 1974, filed an action on July 12, 1988, to establish the paternity of R.B.T. and to require his father to pay child support. Massie asked the trial court to establish support in accordance with the Indiana Child Support Guidelines. Massie also asked the court to award past support for the two (2) year period immediately prior to the filing of the action.

Odulio admitted paternity of R.B.T. and the court entered a Dispositional Order on April 18, 1989, finding Odulio to be R.B.T.'s father. The court ordered Odulio to pay current child support of Two Hundred Fifty-five Dollars ($255.00) per week beginning with April 21, 1989, and awarded past due support in the amount of Fourteen Thousand Four Hundred Dollars ($14, 400.00). The retroactive award covered one hundred forty-four (144) weeks immediately prior to the Dispositional Order at the rate of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) per week. A one hundred four (104) week period prior to the filing of the paternity petition was encompassed by the one hundred forty-four (144) week period.

On May 18, 1989, Odulio filed a motion to correct errors which the trial court denied on June 16, 1989. Odulio then filed this appeal.

ISSUES

1. Whether the trial court erred in awarding child support for a period of two (2) years prior to the date the paternity action was filed.

2. Whether the trial court erred by calculating the amount of current support by using the Indiana Child Support Guidelines.

8. Whether the trial court erred by awarding an excessive amount of current child support.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

Issue One

Odulio contends the trial court erred in awarding support for one hundred four (104) weeks prior to the filing of the paternity action. Odulio contends IND. CODE § 31-6-6.1-18(g) limits the child support order to the period dating from Massie's filing of the action on July 12, 1988. Odu-lio contends statutory and case law history supports his view.

For many years the Indiana legislature limited back support to a maximum of two (2) years prior to the filing of a paternity petition. See the Act Concerning Children Born Out of Wedlock, Acts 1941, Ch. 112, sec. 25, p. 310, codified in 1971 at IC 31-4-1-26 (now IC 31-6-6.1-18). The Code seetion was repealed and a new paternity chapter was made effective October 1, 1979 by Acts 1978, P.L. 186, see. 57, p. 1286. However, prior to the effective date the new chapter was replaced by IC 81-6-6.1-1 to 19, Acts 1979, PIL. 277, see. 1-19, pp. 1446-51. The applicable section of the new chapter, IC 31-6-6.1-13, was completely silent as to the permissible time period for back support. In light of this silence, we - interpreted the legislature's intent in Farmer v. Minor (1986), Ind.App., 495 N.E.2d 553. We held back support could be paid under IC 81-6-6.1-18 but was limited as a personal property interest by IC 34-1-2-2(1) to a period beginning two years prior to the filing of a paternity petition. Id. at 559.

After our opinion in Farmer, a new statutory provision concerning back support became effective. IC 81-6-6.1-18(g) was made effective September 1, 1986, by Acts 1986, P.L. 175, see. 8, p. 1788. The subseetion provides: "(g) The support order must include the period dating from: (1) the birth of the child; or (2) the filing of the paternity action; whichever event occurs later."

When construing a statute we give words their ordinary significance and commonly accepted meaning unless a different purpose is clearly manifested from the statute itself. Park 100 Development Company v. Indiana Department of State Revenue (1981), Ind., 429 N.E.2d 220, 222. We must view a statute within the context of an entire act, Matter of Middlefork Watershed Conservancy District (1987), Ind.[771]*771App., 508 N.E.2d 574, 577, and recognize what a statute does not say as well as what it does say. Irmscher v. McCue (1987), Ind.App., 504 N.E.2d 1034, 1037.

In light of these principles, we agree with Massie's Appellee Brief p. 5:

"If the words contained in subsection (g) are given their ordinary significance and commonly accepted meaning and are construed in the context of the entire Paternity Act, it becomes clear that subsection (g) is intended to establish a minimum period for which back support must be ordered."

(Emphasis in original.) IC 81-6-6.1-18(g) guarantees a petitioner will receive at least some minimum amount of back support and prevents a court from starting support on the date of the hearing or support order, even if a petitioner has failed to request back support. Back support must be ordered in all paternity actions and must begin at least with the later of the child's birth or the filing of the action. If the legislature had intended to change our state's long history of providing back support for the two years proceeding a paternity action, the legislature could have expressly prohibited such back support.

Odulio suggests the legislature's enact ment of IC 81-6-6.1-18(g) was a reaction to our opinion in Farmer. In light of the fact our state legislature met in the early months of 1986,1 but we did not file our opinion until July 24, 1986, we do not find Odulio's suggestion persuasive. We hold the trial court did not err in awarding back support for the two year period prior to Massie's filing of the paternity petition.

Issue Two

Odulio contends the trial court erred in awarding an amount of support based in part upon the Indiana Child Support Guidelines (Guidelines) because the Guidelines were not developed for use in paternity actions. When we review a child support order in a paternity action, we must determine whether the trial court abused its discretion. We will not reweigh the evidence or substitute our judgment for that of the trial court. Farmer, 495 N.E.2d at 559.

The Guidelines were drafted by the Judicial Administration Committee of the Indiana Judicial Conference and reprinted with permission of the Indiana Judicial Center in an Appendix to IC 81-1-11.5-12, which concerns child support in marriage dissolution situations. At the time of the Dispositional Hearing of April 18, 1989, the Guidelines were merely recommendations from the Board of Directors of the Indiana Judicial Conference for consideration by trial courts and parties trying to determine an appropriate level of child support. However, the Supreme Court of Indiana adopted the Guidelines effective October 1, 1989.

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Related

Hudson v. Bratcher
551 N.E.2d 1160 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1990)
Matter of Paternity of RBT
550 N.E.2d 769 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1990)

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Bluebook (online)
550 N.E.2d 769, 1990 Ind. App. LEXIS 225, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/odulio-v-massie-indctapp-1990.