134 So. 3d 786
Miss. Ct. App.2013Background
- Parents Ronald Brooks (father) and Janice Fields (mother) are biological parents of Canary (b. 1993); they previously entered an agreed filiation/support order with Brooks paying child support and splitting healthcare costs.
- Fields moved to modify support alleging Brooks was in contempt and that Canary had increased educational/college-related needs; an initial hearing (Brooks absent) produced orders increasing support and requiring Brooks to buy a vehicle and pay 75% of college costs.
- Brooks successfully moved to set aside that judgment for lack of service; later the parties entered an agreed order raising Brooks’s monthly support to $375 and resolving contempt; discovery followed with financial statements from each party.
- Brooks’s Rule 8.05 statement showed he was a disabled veteran with $2,773 monthly income, $1,878 expenses, $900 disposable income projected, and had received a $25,000 VA lump sum (but had purchased two cars for $9,900); Fields showed lower income and higher expenses.
- The chancellor ordered Brooks to pay Fields a $15,000 lump sum within 90 days to buy a vehicle for Canary’s college transportation, plus an award of one-half of Fields’s $3,500 attorney’s fees ($1,750); Brooks moved for reconsideration and appealed after denial.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument (Fields) | Defendant's Argument (Brooks) | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether Brooks could be ordered to pay $15,000 lump sum for vehicle as college-related educational expense | Vehicle is a reasonable college-related educational expense; parent can be required to contribute | Lump-sum award unsupported by evidence of Brooks’s actual ability to pay and ignored existing benefits to child | Reversed—chancellor abused discretion; no substantial evidence Brooks could pay $15,000 lump sum |
| Whether chancellor properly awarded attorney’s fees ($1,750) to Fields | Fees necessary and reasonable for modification action | No finding of Brooks’s intentional misconduct; McKee factors not considered; Fields didn’t prove inability to pay | Reversed—award abused discretion; McKee factors and proof of need lacking |
Key Cases Cited
- Pass v. Pass, 118 So.2d 769 (Miss. 1960) (parents may be required to pay reasonable college expenses)
- Chesney v. Chesney, 910 So.2d 1057 (Miss. 2005) (court may require parent to purchase vehicle as part of educational expenses in appropriate circumstances)
- Saliba v. Saliba, 753 So.2d 1095 (Miss. 2000) (parents responsible for education consistent with family station; obligation limited by financial ability)
- Wray v. Langston, 380 So.2d 1262 (Miss. 1980) (child entitled to attend college in accord with family standards only if father is financially able)
- Cossey v. Cossey, 22 So.3d 353 (Miss. Ct. App. 2009) (college payments are separate from statutory child support)
- McKee v. McKee, 418 So.2d 764 (Miss. 1982) (factors for assessing reasonableness of attorney’s fees in domestic cases)