Schollmeyer v. Schollmeyer

393 S.W.3d 120, 2013 WL 661867, 2013 Mo. App. LEXIS 227
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 26, 2013
DocketNo. WD 75384
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 393 S.W.3d 120 (Schollmeyer v. Schollmeyer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Schollmeyer v. Schollmeyer, 393 S.W.3d 120, 2013 WL 661867, 2013 Mo. App. LEXIS 227 (Mo. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

MARK D. PFEIFFER, Presiding Judge.

Rebekah Schollmeyer (“Mother”) appeals the judgment of the Circuit Court of Cole County, Missouri (“trial court”) dissolving her marriage from Jared Scholl-meyer (“Father”), awarding joint legal and joint physical custody of their youngest daughter (“Daughter”), and awarding Mother child support payments of $172 per month. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Factual and Procedural Background1

Mother and Father married in 2006 in Cole County. At the time of their marriage, Mother had two children from a previous relationship, and Father had one son from a previous relationship. In September of 2006, Daughter was born; she is the only biological child of both Mother and Father. In 2009, Father adopted Mother’s two other children, born in November of 1996 and in September of 1998. Subsequent to the adoption, Mother’s and Father’s relationship soured and they separated in late October of 2010.

At the time of the separation, Mother sought an order of protection against Father. Father consented to the order of protection, and Mother and the three children of the marriage moved out of the family home. After Mother and the children moved out of the home, Father did not see or have any interaction with the adopted children, and he saw Daughter only one time for two hours between October of 2010 and April of 2011. Father’s one visit with Daughter lasted two hours on Christmas Eve of 2010 and was supervised by Mother’s mother. In April of 2011, Mother’s and Father’s attorneys agreed that Father could visit Daughter two nights per week, but Mother then refused to permit such visitation until the trial court ordered it in June of 2011. At trial, Father testified that his visits with [122]*122Daughter were going well, and Daughter’s Guardian ad Litem (“GAL”) testified that Father’s and Daughter’s relationship was “great.” Additionally, Daughter’s counsel- or saw Father once, had no concerns, and told Father that she did not need to see him again.

At trial, Mother requested sole legal custody and sole physical custody of all three of the children of the marriage. Mother requested supervised visitation for Father and Daughter several evenings per week, no visitation for Father with the adopted children, and child support for all three of the children born to or adopted of the marriage. Father admitted at trial that the two adopted children did not want to see him, he was not seeking visitation with the adopted children, and he joined Mother’s request that she be awarded sole legal and physical custody of the adopted children. Father did, however, seek custodial rights and parenting time with Daughter.

In its judgment, the trial court dissolved Mother’s and Father’s marriage. The trial court awarded Mother and Father joint legal and physical custody of Daughter. Further, it is apparent from the language of the trial court’s judgment that the trial court awarded sole legal and physical custody of the adopted children to Mother with no visitation for Father. The judgment states:

The Court finds that [the adopted children] no longer desire to have a relationship with [Father]. Under the circumstances of this case, the Court finds that there would be no benefit in attempting to coerce the [adopted children] to spend time with [Father]. The facts of this case are unique and the animosity between the parties contributed heavily towards the disintegration of the relationship between [the adopted children] and [Father]. [Mother’s] actions also contributed towards the breakdown of that relationship and [Mother] has affirmatively expressed her opposition to any continuation of the same. Neither party is without some fault herein, but the Court finds that, for whatever reason, there simply is no relationship between these two [adopted] children and [Father] and there are no efforts that will repair that relationship because there is no motivation on the part of either party or the [adopted] children for a relationship to exist.

In calculating child support, the trial court rejected both Mother’s and Father’s submitted Form 14s and completed its own Form 14. The trial court based its Form 14 calculation only on child support for Daughter. No child support was calculated for the adopted children. The trial court’s judgment implies that the trial court’s Form 14 gave Father credit for the $800 per month he paid to support his oldest son (not of the marriage) and gave Mother credit for the adopted children as “other children” of Mother’s. The trial court’s Form 14 calculation also gave Father a Line 11 adjustment for the time Daughter spent in his care. The trial court then found its own Form 14 calculation of the presumed correct child support to be unjust and inappropriate and awarded Mother child support of $172 per month. Mother appeals the trial court’s judgment.

Standard of Review

Our standard of review in a dissolution action is governed, as in any court-tried case, by the standard set forth in Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d 30, 32 (Mo. banc 1976). Jenkins v. Jenkins, 368 S.W.3d 363, 366 (Mo.App. W.D.2012). “We affirm the trial court’s decision ‘unless it is not supported by substantial evidence, it is against the weight of the evidence, or [123]*123it erroneously declares or applies the law.’ ” Id. at 366-67 (quoting Selby v. Selby, 149 S.W.3d 472, 482 (Mo.App. W.D.2004)). We defer to the trial court’s determinations with respect to credibility, and we view the evidence and all reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the trial court’s judgment. Querry v. Querry, 382 S.W.3d 922, 926 (Mo.App. W.D.2012).

Child Support for Adopted Children

Mother’s first two points will be addressed together as they both allege error with the trial court’s calculation of child support. When formulating an award of child support, a trial court must follow the procedure set forth in Woolridge v. Woolridge, 915 S.W.2d 372 (Mo.App. W.D.1996). Nelson v. Nelson, 195 S.W.3d 502, 509 (Mo.App. W.D.2006). The two-step Woolridge procedure involves the trial court first arriving at the presumed correct child support amount based upon Form 14. Woolridge, 915 S.W.2d at 379. The court may accept one of the parties’ submitted Form 14s or reject the Form 14s of both parties and calculate its own. Id. at 381. If the trial court calculates its own Form 14, it may make it a part of the record, or, if the trial court does not make its Form 14 worksheet part of the record, it must articulate on the record how it arrived at its Form 14 calculation. Id. at 382. After the trial court completes this first step, it must then “consider whether to rebut the presumed correct child support amount, as found by the court, as being unjust or inappropriate after consideration of all relevant factors.” Id. at 379.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
393 S.W.3d 120, 2013 WL 661867, 2013 Mo. App. LEXIS 227, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schollmeyer-v-schollmeyer-moctapp-2013.