Summary
The Florida Second District Court of Appeal reviewed an order modifying the father's child support obligation for two children. The court affirmed the child-support calculation but reversed and remanded for recalculation of retroactive support because the trial court applied weekly child-care expenses before they began.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the circuit court erred in calculating H.R.N.'s monthly child support obligation.
- Whether the circuit court erred by including $170 per week in child-care expenses throughout the entire period used to calculate retroactive child support.
Holdings
- The circuit court did not err in calculating H.R.N.'s monthly child support obligation for his two children.
- The circuit court erred by including $170 per week in child-care expenses from January 13, 2014, through July 2015; the expenses should have been included beginning at the end of July 2015, when the evidence established that S.D.L. began paying them.
Key quotations
“Accordingly, it was error to require H.R.N. to pay $170 per week for child care expenses from January 13, 2014, to July 2015.” (2)
“Affirmed in part; reversed and remanded in part.” (2)
Factual background
H.R.N. and S.D.L. have two children: B.R.N., born in 2011, and A.E.N., born in 2014. The circuit court modified H.R.N.'s monthly child support obligation to cover both children and calculated retroactive support using a monthly amount that included $170 per week in child-care expenses beginning January 13, 2014. S.D.L. testified that she had paid those child-care expenses for only three months before the October 28, 2015 hearing, meaning the expenses should have been included beginning at the end of July 2015.
Procedural history
The circuit court entered orders establishing paternity for the parties' two children and modifying H.R.N.'s child support obligation to include support for both children. Following a hearing on October 28, 2015, the circuit court calculated retroactive child support beginning on January 13, 2014, and included $170 per week in child-care expenses for the entire retroactive period. The Second District Court of Appeal affirmed the calculation of the monthly support obligation but reversed and remanded for recalculation of retroactive child support.
Remand instructions
The circuit court must recalculate the amount of retroactive child support due, excluding the $170-per-week child-care expense for the period from January 13, 2014, through July 2015 and including it beginning at the end of July 2015.