R.S. v. K.S., 2948 EDA 2016

Parties: R.S. (Mother) and K.S. (Father), divorced parents of two minor children (born 2000 and 2004). Father moved to Alaska after separation.
Procedural history: Divorce entered 2009; multiple post-divorce support proceedings and appeals addressing support and supplemental orders from 2010–2014; remand regarding health insurance contribution.
In 2015–2016, hearings were held on Father’s petition to modify support and Mother’s exceptions; Court issued an August 18, 2016 support order (docketed Aug. 19, 2016).
Order: Court held Father’s earning capacity at $3,806/month and Mother’s at $2,661/month, set child support at $1,098.17/month (including $185.17 for insurance), allocated unreimbursed medical 59% Father / 41% Mother, and denied reinstatement of parochial school/summer camp/childcare obligations.
Court also found Father in contempt for failing to comply with a court order and fined him $500.
Mother appealed, raising claims that Father concealed income/tax returns, that the court used incorrect income for Mother and lacked evidence of Father’s true income, and that the contempt sanction was insufficient.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether court erred by reducing Mother’s child support due to Father’s alleged concealment of income	Mother: Father willfully withheld tax returns and concealed income; court should not reduce support	Court/Father: Court actually increased Mother’s support; Father’s income was set based on available evidence; Mother did not object to proceeding without tax returns	Denied — no reduction occurred; court increased support and found income based on evidence; issue waived in part because Mother did not timely object
Whether court erred in using incorrect income for Mother / lacked evidence of Father’s true income	Mother: Court failed to use correct income and lacked proof of Father’s earnings	Court: Mother failed to preserve or properly raise this claim in Rule 1925(b) and appellate statement	Waived — not preserved in 1925(b) and not argued with authority on appeal
Whether contempt finding and $500 sanction was inadequate for Father’s alleged concealment	Mother: Father’s noncompliance warranted stronger contempt sanction	Court: Imposed $500 fine as sanction for contempt	Waived/affirmed — contempt finding and sanction affirmed; Mother's challenge not preserved

Kimock v. Jones, 47 A.3d 850 (Pa. Super. 2012) (standard of review and purpose of child support)
Brickus v. Dent, 5 A.3d 1281 (Pa. Super. 2010) (appellate review of support orders)
Fillmore v. Hill, 665 A.2d 514 (Pa. Super. 1995) (necessity of timely, specific objections to preserve issues)
Jahanshahi v. Centura Dev. Co., 816 A.2d 1179 (Pa. Super. 2003) (claims not raised in trial court cannot be raised on appeal)
Korn v. Epstein, 727 A.2d 1130 (Pa. Super. 1999) (failure to brief or cite authority waives appellate claims)
Spone v. Spone, 108 A.3d 99 (Pa. Super. 2014) (prior appellate decision in parties’ litigation)