Sullins v. Knierim

308 S.W.3d 241, 2010 Mo. App. LEXIS 367, 2010 WL 1037972
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 23, 2010
DocketED 92849
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 308 S.W.3d 241 (Sullins v. Knierim) 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
Sullins v. Knierim, 308 S.W.3d 241, 2010 Mo. App. LEXIS 367, 2010 WL 1037972 (Mo. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinions

GARY M. GAERTNER, JR., Judge.

Introduction

Appellant Susana Sullins (Mother) appeals from the trial court’s Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Judgment (Judgment), which declared the parties’ daughter (Daughter) emancipated, determined that John Knierim (Father) was not obligated to contribute to certain past expenses for Daughter, and denied Mother’s request for attorney’s fees. Mother asserts five points on appeal: (1) the trial court erred in finding Daughter emancipated because substantial uncontroverted evidence demonstrated that Daughter was “mentally and vocationally incapacitated” from supporting herself under Section 452.340.4, RSMo,1 entitling Mother to continued child support; (2) the court erred, abused its discretion, and misapplied Section 452.340.5, because the uncontroverted evidence demonstrated that Daughter had been diagnosed with a developmental disability, as defined in Section 630.005, or had a diagnosed health problem that limited her ability to carry the requisite number of credit hours per semester; (3) the court improperly relied on excluded evidence and misapplied Section 452.340.5 in that failure to comply with notice requirements does not emancipate a minor child; (4) the court erred in denying Mother’s request for retroactive modification of the child support amount; and (5) the court erred in denying Mother’s request for attorney’s fees. We affirm in part and reverse in part, and we remand for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion.

Background

The parties’ marriage was dissolved in 1996. The dissolution judgment awarded Mother primary legal and physical custody and ordered Father to pay $571.96 per month for support of the two children born of the marriage: a son (Son), born in 1984 and emancipated in 2003, and Daughter, born on April 6, 1988. The dissolution judgment ordered that the parties “shall confer” with each other on decisions affecting the children’s education, including special tutoring; and that the parties would be bound by the recommendations of the children’s school regarding the need for, inter alia, special tutoring. The judgment did not provide for payment of college expenses. The judgment also failed to provide for reduced payments for one child upon Son’s emancipation; and in 2004, Father filed an amended motion to modify the child support amount in light of Son’s emancipation. In 2005, Mother filed a counter-motion to determine Father’s liability for, inter alia, tutoring expenses incurred for Daughter through Sylvan Learning Center (Sylvan).

In 2006, Mother filed a counter-motion to modify the judgment of modification requesting the court (1) to extend Father’s child support obligation after Daughter reached the statutory age of majority, because she was physically or mentally incapacitated from supporting herself, unmarried, and insolvent; (2) to increase the child support amount in accordance with the Guidelines, retroactive to the date of filing; and (3) to order Father to contribute to post-secondary or vocational training expenses. In June 2008, Father filed a second amended motion to modify seeking to declare Daughter emancipated, because although she had been enrolled in Jefferson College beginning in the Fall of 2007, she had not been taking the required number of credit hours. Both parties sought reasonable attorneys’ fees from the other.

[244]*244At a November 2008 hearing, the following evidence was adduced. Kevan Rzeppa (Rzeppa), a licensed professional counselor employed by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of Vocational Rehabilitation (MDVR), testified that in 2007, Daughter applied for and was granted vocational services at the Priority II level, which is the category assigned to “eligible individuals] with a significant disability.” MDVR defines a significant disability as one that seriously limits one or more functional capabilities in terms of an employment outcome, and that can be expected to require multiple vocational rehabilitative services over an extended period of time. Rzeppa determined from Daughter’s records that Daughter had borderline intellectual functioning with maladaptive behaviors, which seriously limited her functional capabilities in the category of work skills, specifically in the areas of reading, writing, and comprehending new materials. Rzeppa testified that Daughter’s vocational goal was to be a teacher’s assistant or daycare teacher, and Rzeppa estimated that it would take Daughter until approximately May 2011 to achieve her vocational goals. On cross-examination, Rzeppa stated that she knew of no limitations that would prevent Daughter from working full time.

Daughter’s MDVR file, admitted at trial, included her 2007 Individualized Education Plan (IEP), which noted a 2000 diagnosis of “unspecified disorder of the nervous system” that affected her abilities to read, write, and comprehend material presented in class. The IEP noted that her 2007 Full Scale IQ score of 75 placed Daughter in the borderline range of intelligence, and that she was enrolled in a mix of special education and regular classes. Daughter’s high school Senior Evaluation Report stated her classification as “other health impaired” (OHI), noting her weaknesses in mathematics, written language and reading; but further stated that her deficits did not appear to be caused by, inter alia, “auditory or visual acuity deficits, motor deficits, mental retardation, [or] behavioral/emotional disturbance.”

Daughter’s MDVR file also included a 2008 report entitled “psychoeducational test results and analysis,” noting that the results of her multidisciplinary evaluations were “consistent with one who has borderline intellectual functioning as both [her] FSIQ [was] in the borderline range [and] her WIAT Composite score [was] in the extremely low range.” The report further stated Daughter’s test results supported a diagnosis of language impairment, her language deficits “significantly impacted] her school performance,” and her academic behaviors were “of such frequency, duration, and intensity that they are markedly atypical and a function of [Daughter’s learning disability.”

Sundaye Harrison (Harrison), the disability services coordinator at Jefferson College, testified that Daughter provided documentation of her OHI disability, and was given accommodations in the form of extended time, alternate testing locations, peer tutoring, and reduced course load. She specified that Daughter would only have to maintain one credit hour to be eligible for enrollment.

Harrison further testified that Daughter entered Jefferson College on a scholarship through the A+ Program in 2007. In the 2007 fall semester, Daughter completed five credit hours; she completed twelve credit hours in the 2008 spring semester; and was, at the time of the trial, enrolled in nine credit hours in the 2008 fall semester. Daughter remained in good standing, but because she dropped a class in the 2008 spring semester, she lost her scholarship through the A+ Program.

[245]*245Father testified that he had not received documentation regarding Daughter’s enrollment in Jefferson College, including transcripts, her class schedule, grades, or costs; except that, upon his request, she twice sent him grades, and Mother sent him two bills, once for books and once for tuition after Daughter lost her A 4- status. He agreed that he had not paid any money towards Daughter’s college expenses.

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Bluebook (online)
308 S.W.3d 241, 2010 Mo. App. LEXIS 367, 2010 WL 1037972, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sullins-v-knierim-moctapp-2010.