Summary
This Connecticut Appellate Court opinion reviews a trial court's child support award in a custody dispute between unmarried parents. The appellate court determined that the trial court improperly deviated from the state's child support guidelines by failing to make the required specific findings that the presumptive amount was inequitable and by misapplying the statutory deviation criteria. Accordingly, the judgment was reversed regarding the child support order and remanded for further proceedings.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the trial court erred by deviating from the child support guidelines without making the required specific findings of presumptive amount, inequity, and the applicable deviation criteria.
- Whether the trial court’s reliance on income disparity and best‑interest of the child as bases for deviation was proper under the guidelines.
Holdings
- The trial court improperly deviated from the child support guidelines because it failed to provide a specific finding of the presumptive amount, a finding that the guidelines would be inequitable or inappropriate, and an explanation of the deviation criteria; the child support order is reversed and the case remanded for further proceedings.
Factual background
The parties never married and became parents to a son in December 2015. They lived together for seven years, including 18 months after the custody action began. The plaintiff sought joint legal custody and an order for child support. The trial court ordered joint legal and physical custody and deviated from the child support guidelines, ordering $600 per week based on income disparity and best‑interest considerations.
Procedural history
The parties filed a custody action in the Superior Court, Judicial District of Danbury. The trial court granted joint legal and physical custody and ordered the plaintiff to pay $600 per week in child support, deviating from the guidelines. The plaintiff appealed the child support order.
Remand instructions
Remand for further proceedings on the child support issue, with the trial court required to make the specific findings mandated by the child support guidelines before deviating.