Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Support
When modifying a Florida child support order, there has to be a showing of a substantial change in circumstances. The net incomes of the parents is the focus in determining child support guidelines. This was an issue in the case Dunson v. Dunson, 5D22-2607 (Fla. 5th DCA August 19, 2023).
In this modification proceeding, child support and attorney’s fees were issues. The court awarded attorney’s fees to the mother, and the father’s child support obligation was increased. The father appealed, arguing there were errors in how the court calculated child support, in the award of attorney’s fees and in the court’s finding of a substantial change in circumstances.
The appellate court discussed the attorney’s fee issue first. It found an error where the trial court did not make a finding of the reasonableness of the mother’s attorney’s fees. Therefore this issue was reversed remanded for the trial court to make an appropriate hourly rate determination. Turning to the child support, the court also agreed with the father that the court incorrectly used his gross income to set the new child support amount. While the mother argued in part that this was because the father had not obeyed orders to produce his financial records, the appellate court noted “the [trial] court did not find that Father’s recalcitrance resulted in his net income being unavailable.”
Turning to the father’s argument about insufficient findings regarding a change in circumstances, the court disagreed with him. It noted the parties’ stipulation on the record that there was a substantial change in circumstances that warranted modification. The father argued “that the court’s modification judgment cannot stand because it does not more precisely identify the content of the parties’ stipulation.” The appellate court rejected this argument, holding “Regardless of the underlying factual basis or strategic rationale for doing so, there is no dispute that the parties stipulated there were substantial and material changes that warranted modification of the 2019 judgment to advance their child’s best interests. Furthermore, based on the evidence before it, the court fully accepted that stipulation. Having stipulated to this reality—both in his answer and at trial—Father cannot backtrack from it on appeal.”
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