Tracy K. Barber v. Amy Henry

55 N.E.3d 844, 2016 WL 3058012, 2016 Ind. App. LEXIS 182
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 31, 2016
Docket87A01-1510-JP-1639
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 55 N.E.3d 844 (Tracy K. Barber v. Amy Henry) 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
Tracy K. Barber v. Amy Henry, 55 N.E.3d 844, 2016 WL 3058012, 2016 Ind. App. LEXIS 182 (Ind. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

RILEY, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

[1] Appellant-Respondent, Tracy K. Barber (Father), appeals the trial court’s Order, granting Appellee-Petitioner’s, Amy Henry (Mother), verified petition to modify foreign child support order.

[2] We affirm, in part, reverse, in part, and remand with instructions.

ISSUES

[3] Father raises two issues on appeal, which we restate as follows:

(1) Whether the trial court abused its discretion by calculating Mother’s in *847 come at minimum -wage when she is a medical doctor and has a historical income in excess of $150,000 but elects to stay at home with her children; and
(2) Whether the trial erred in concluding that Father was responsible for payment of expenses incurred prior to the filing of Mother’s modification petition.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

[4] Father is the natural parent of S.B., born on February 21, 1999. S.B, resides in Newburgh, Indiana with Mother, Mother’s husband, Dr. Dan Henry (Dr. Henry), Mother’s minor child from a prior marriage, C.R., aged 14, and Mother’s and Dr. Henry’s minor child, B.H., aged 7 at the time of the hearing. S.B. and B.H. have both been diagnosed with 'autism spectrum disorder, while C.R. has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

[5] On August 1, 2001, the Fayette Circuit Court, in Kentucky, entered an Agreed Order, adopting the agreement between Father and Mother to establish joint legal custody of S.B., with Mother receiving sole physical custody and Father having “liberal visitation.” (Appellant’s Conf. App. p. 1). Father agreed to pay $230 per month- towards child support. The Order reflected that “[b]oth parties acknowledge that this amount is less than required by the Kentucky Child Support Guidelines and knowingly waive the Guidelines’ amount.” (Appellant’s Conf. App. p. 2).

[6] Mother is a doctor of osteopathic medicine; she graduated in 2001 and completed her residency in 2004. After residency, Mother shared a practice with her current husband until the practice “became overwhelming.” (Transcript p. 22). In 2013, the practice was sold to Methodist Hospital in Henderson, and Mother remained employed by the hospital for another two years. Mother worked Monday through Thursday, from 9:00 a.m. until “the kids got out of school.” (Tr. p. 22). After a while, Mother’s employment was reduced to three days per week.. She worked part-time at Henderson Minor Outpatient Clinic, and later reduced her hours to one shift per week, and eventually, to one shift per month. Mother made the decision to reduce her- employment because the “therapy appointments” for S.B. and B.H. “were getting out of control.” (Tr. p. 23). She stopped being employed altogether in December 2014.

[7] Initially, Mother reduced her hours when B.H. was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. B.H. had “therapy seven hours a week[,]” in addition to the therapy at home. (Tr. p. 23). In the fall of 2013 and a month after B.H. was diagnosed, S.B. was similarly diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. At first, S.B. only took social skills classes but due to his delayed diagnosis, the number of appointments increased because he “had to make up for a lot of lost time.” (Tr. p. 24).

[8] On April 26, 2014, an incident involving S.B. at his Father's residence resulted in juvenile criminal charges filed against S.B. After the charges were filed, S.B. was- placed on informal house arrest and suicide watch for about a month. As a term of S.B.’s informal house arrest, S.B. could not be left alone with any children or his siblings and. needed constant supervision. Pursuant to the juvenile order, S.B. was referred for testing and evaluation by a specialist, located in Bloomington, Indiana. After pleading guilty, S.B. was placed on probation, with very strict guidelines, until his eighteenth birthday. The probation requirements include that S.B. can “never be unsupervised with anyone under the age of 14[,] is never to be placed in a supervisor piosition for any kids[, and] *848 he should "refrain from viewing pornography, or any" type of materials of that matter.” (Tr. p. 27). Furthermore, as a probation requirement at the recommendation of the specialist, S.B. was not to contact the victim or the victim’s family, which included Father, until the victim and the family had received counseling. Father did Rot attend any of S.B.’s juvenile court hearings and, at- the time of the trial court’s hearing on the child support modification, had not yet undergone counseling. S.B. finished his court-ordered program^ at the end of May 2015.

[9] Because' he Was placed on probation, Mother started homeschooling S.B. in September .of 2014. She hired a life coach to help S.B. with his home school requirements, an algebra tutor, as well as an algebra teacher. S.B. was able to attend home room at Castle High School in the Warrick County School system for a semester starting January 2015 “just to get acquainted with the 'people while he is learning these skills that he needs” and “with the intention that he would integrate in the fall of 2015.” (Tr. pp. 30, 51). S.B. returned to school fulltime in the fall semester of.2015. Between S.B.’s court ordered treatments, the two boys’ social skills classes, and the three boys’ therapy appointments, Mother has not been able to obtain employment in her profession.

[10] Dr. Henry, Mother’s current husband and father to B.H., is a pulmonary physician at Deaconess Hospital.- ■ Due- to the needs of the three children, Dr.- Henry changed his work from critical care medicine to the sleep lab to “have a more fixed schedule.” (Tr. p, 103). His “base salary will go down significantly but it will allow [him] a lot more time at home.” (Tr. p. 104). Dr. Henry also committed to working one day per week at Veteran’s Affairs to obtain better health insurance for the children’s treatments. Despite the insurance coverage, the family carries “a significant amount of uninsured medical expenses.” (Tr. p. 106). Dr. Henry “took off work all the days that [S.B.] was in court and was [ ] there. [H]e was there for numerous social workers visits when the Department of Children Services had to come to [the] home. [H]e helped with all the appointments[.]” . (Tr. p. 43). “He has lost wages, he has lost skills, expertise, and respect.” (Tr. p. 43).

[11] Father is employed at Dana Corporation as a safety manager. He earned a salary of approximately $97,500 in 2015, which included a $6,000 bonus. He currently resides with his fiance, who pays one-half of the mortgage, utilities, and food. Father pays $170 per month in child support for a subsequent born child and is also saving $800 per month for his upcoming nuptials.

[12] One year after the incident that resulted in S.B.’s probation, Father contacted S.B. by text message. Mother felt compelled to seek a protective order against Father. On March 5, 2015, Mother filled her petition for an order for protection and request for a hearing filed on behalf of a child. On March 31, 2015, Mother filed a petition to transfer jurisdiction and register foreign order, as well as a verified petition to modify foreign child support order. On April 8, 2015, the. trial court assumed jurisdiction and registered the order issued in Kentucky.

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55 N.E.3d 844, 2016 WL 3058012, 2016 Ind. App. LEXIS 182, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tracy-k-barber-v-amy-henry-indctapp-2016.