State on behalf of Lockwood v. Laue, 900 N.W.2d 582

Dawn Lockwood was ordered in July 2014 to pay $50/month child support; the State later sought to hold her in contempt for arrearages totaling about $791.85.
A child support referee heard an order-to-show-cause hearing (Feb. 2016); the State introduced a payment history creating a presumption of willful nonpayment, shifting the burden to Lockwood.
Lockwood testified she had intermittent incarceration, serious mental-health issues, limited work history and physical limitations, and documented active efforts to obtain employment and vocational assistance.
The referee found the State failed to prove willful contempt by clear and convincing evidence and recommended dismissal of the show-cause order.
The State filed exceptions; at the district-court exception hearing it sought to introduce additional wage/pay history evidence, which the court declined to consider as irrelevant and proceeded with a de novo review on the record.
The district court affirmed the referee, dismissed the contempt proceeding, and the State appealed. The Court of Appeals affirmed.

Issue	State's Argument	Lockwood's Argument	Held
Whether the district court abused discretion by refusing additional evidence at the exception hearing	The court should have allowed additional wage/pay-history evidence at the hearing to prove more periods of nonpayment	The exception hearing was a review of the referee’s record; additional evidence was irrelevant	Court: District court has discretion at exception hearings to admit or refuse new evidence; refusing cumulative evidence here was not error
Whether Lockwood was in contempt for failure to pay child support	Lockwood overstated jail time and bartered earnings but nonetheless had periods of employment and reduced-rent work that showed ability to pay; court should find contempt	Lockwood lacked ability to pay due to incarceration, mental illness, physical limits, and active job-seeking; she rebutted presumption of willfulness	Court: Fact findings that Lockwood lacked present ability to pay and did not willfully refuse were not clearly erroneous; no contempt

Klein v. Oakland/Red Oak Holdings, 294 Neb. 535 (statement that appellate court reviews equity de novo but may give weight to trial judge's observation)
Martin v. Martin, 294 Neb. 106 (three-part standard for reviewing civil contempt proceedings)
City of Beatrice v. Goodenkauf, 219 Neb. 756 (equity actions vest trial court with broad powers)
State on behalf of Joseph F. v. Rial, 251 Neb. 1 (discussion of evidentiary hearings following referee recommendations)
Dike v. Dike, 245 Neb. 231 (district court held evidentiary hearing after referee report)
State on behalf of Dady v. Snelling, 10 Neb. App. 740 (exception to referee’s report followed by trial before district court)