State ex rel. W.M.E. v. G.C.

Summary

The Alabama Supreme Court held that a trial court may not waive postjudgment interest accruing on a child-support arrearage judgment. The court ruled that interest must continue to accrue on the unpaid principal balance under Alabama law, even when the obligor lacks the ability to make installment payments sufficient to cover the accruing interest. The judgment of the Court of Civil Appeals was reversed and the case remanded.

Holdings

1. A trial court has no legal authority to waive postjudgment interest that otherwise accrues on an unpaid judgment for child-support arrearages.
2. For a judgment for child support, a partial payment is applied first to principal, with any remaining amount applied to interest.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a trial court may waive postjudgment interest that prospectively accrues on a judgment for child-support arrearages.
2. Whether the circuit court's equitable consideration of the obligor's financial hardship authorized it to prevent statutory interest from accruing on the unpaid child-support judgment.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded