Stover v. Bruntz

218 Cal. Rptr. 3d 551, 12 Cal. App. 5th 19, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 486
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedMay 1, 2017
DocketC077206
StatusPublished
Cited by52 cases

This text of 218 Cal. Rptr. 3d 551 (Stover v. Bruntz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stover v. Bruntz, 218 Cal. Rptr. 3d 551, 12 Cal. App. 5th 19, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 486 (Cal. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

HULL, Acting P.J.

*22Appellant Eileen G. Bruntz and respondent Russell E. Stover share two children and years of acrimony-fueled court contests following the demise of their romantic relationship. Bruntz challenges several *554orders related to Stover's alleged failure over the ensuing years to fully pay $1,000 in monthly child support under an April 2007 support order, which contains a contested stipulated retroactivity provision.

She contends the court erred in (1) awarding Stover a child care credit of $441 per month from January 2007 to May 2011 because no motion to modify had been filed during that time; (2) failing to set aside her admissions that she incurred no child care costs from January 2007 to November 2013, the date on which the court deemed Stover's requests for admissions admitted after Bruntz failed to timely respond to the discovery requests; (3) imposing discovery sanctions on her for her mistaken failure to respond to the discovery; (4) setting child support, with no child care add-on component, at $490 per month for the period June 2011 to December 2012, and $699 per month for January 2013 to November 2013; and (5) failing to dismiss Stover's motion to modify child support because, in her view, defendant was in contempt for failing to pay the required amount under the existing court order.

We note that, according to Bruntz, she appeals the court's "order retroactively modifying child support for the period of 06/01/2011-12/31/2013 to $490 per month with no child care add-ons[.]" But as far as we can discern from the record, the court set support at "$490 per month" with no child care add on "for the period of 06/01/2011-12/31/2012," and "beginning on 1/01/2013," it set support at $699 per month with no apparent child care add-on. The court ordered a child care arrears add-on for the period of December 1, 2013 to May 15, 2014, implicitly acknowledging a child care add-on for that period. We have therefore framed the issues to be considered on appeal in light of the challenged order's actual language.

We conclude that, notwithstanding the parties' stipulated retroactivity provision, the court erred in awarding Stover a child care credit for any period before May 10, 2011, when he filed his motion to modify support, because any such credits effectively modified the support award and incurred arrearages retroactively in contravention of the Family Code statutes governing modification of support orders (unless otherwise set forth, section references that follow are in the Family Code). We further conclude that while Bruntz *23failed to timely challenge the April 2007 order containing the stipulated retroactivity provision, public policy considerations preclude us from judicially estopping her from challenging the order now.

We also find the court did not err in deeming admitted the requests for admissions to which Bruntz failed to timely respond or in imposing discovery sanctions. Given these admissions, the court was amply justified in awarding child support in the amount of $490 per month without any child care add-on for June 2011 to December 2012, and $699 per month without any child care add-on for January 2013 to November 2013, the relevant time period covered by the admissions. Finally, the court did not err in considering Stover's modification motion even though Stover was not current on his child support payments.

The order after hearing filed June 19, 2014, awarding Stover certain child care credits, excluding other child care costs, and imposing discovery sanctions on Bruntz is reversed in part and affirmed in part.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

Both parties' briefs make numerous factual assertions without any supporting citation to the relatively sparse record, which does not contain a reporter's transcript or settled statement of the trial *555proceedings. We have gleaned the following factual summary from the sometimes incomplete documents contained in the parties' appendices.

At one time, Bruntz and Stover were romantically involved and had a son and a daughter together. Their relationship ended badly in May 2001. Stover repeatedly violated protective orders Bruntz had obtained and ultimately served time in prison after being convicted of burglarizing Bruntz's home and stealing her personal items.

In July 2006, the Santa Clara County Superior Court entered a child support order that Stover pay $612 in support of his children. The order also directed Stover to pay half of all child care costs provided by a licensed provider. A November 2006 Findings and Recommendation of Commissioner recommended increasing child support to $1,304, which included Stover's half interest in child care and was differentiated $571 for his son and $733 for his daughter. Although not entirely clear from the record, it appears Stover objected to the recommended increase in his support obligations. Eventually the parties agreed that Stover would pay $1,000 in nondifferentiated support, and the court entered an order accordingly in April 2007. It is this order that serves as the genesis of Bruntz's various appellate challenges.

The April 2007 order states that the $1,000 support amount includes Stover's half interest in child care costs. It also includes the following *24language: "The parties stipulate that mother may select any child-care provider licensed or not. Mother shall notify DCSS and father if there is [sic] no longer child care costs and any modification motion is retroactive to the date the minor child is no longer enrolled in child-care. DCSS is to request written verification of child-care costs and enrollment from 07-01-06 through 12-31-06 directly from the provider. Once DCSS receives written verification of the child care from the provider they are to provide telephonic verification to both attorneys. The attached dissomaster is attached as a guide for future hearing[s]. Court ordered standard orders-see attached."

The April 2007 support order entered by the Santa Clara County Superior Court was registered in Placer County in 2009 when Bruntz moved there with the children. With court approval, she and the children later moved to Oregon, where they presently reside.

In each month except one, from October 2007 until January 2011, Stover paid some child support but did not pay the full $1,000 required by the April 2007 support order. In February 2011, Bruntz filed an order to show cause to hold Stover in contempt for failing to pay the full child support amount.

Immediately after Bruntz filed the order to show cause, Stover ceased making any further child support payments. In May 2011, Stover moved to modify child support and to determine child care arrearages, claiming the children had not been enrolled in child care since January 2007, and that pursuant to the April 2007 support order, child care costs were retroactive to the date the minor children were no longer receiving child care.

Bruntz filed a second order to show cause in October 2011, which covered February 2011 to July 2011. She asserted Stover had not paid any child support during those six months.

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Bluebook (online)
218 Cal. Rptr. 3d 551, 12 Cal. App. 5th 19, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 486, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stover-v-bruntz-calctapp5d-2017.