White v. White, 884 N.W.2d 1

Elizabeth White was ordered in Feb 2014 to pay $2,073.12 to the guardian ad litem (GAL), James McGough; her ex-husband paid his share but White did not.
White filed for bankruptcy in April 2014; McGough was listed as a creditor but took no action in the bankruptcy.
McGough later moved under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 42-358(1) to have the County pay his GAL fees if White was found indigent; the County was given notice and attended the indigence hearing.
The district court granted a stay pending bankruptcy, then held an indigence hearing in Sept 2014 and in Dec 2014 found White indigent and ordered Douglas County to pay the GAL fees.
On appeal, the Nebraska Supreme Court considered (1) whether the County had constitutional or procedural due process rights, (2) whether the court improperly relied on White’s bankruptcy discharge as the basis for indigence, and (3) whether the record supported a finding that White could not pay the fees without prejudicing basic needs.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (White / McGough)	Defendant's Argument (County)	Held
Whether the County has due process rights to notice/hearing on indigence	County need only be given notice per Rule 4-11; McGough complied	County argued constitutional due process protections and insufficient notice on fee reasonableness	County has no constitutional due process right; Rule 4-11 notice was satisfied and County had opportunity to be heard
Whether the court improperly relied on bankruptcy discharge as sole basis for finding indigence	Indigence may consider bankruptcy as circumstantial evidence; court applied Mathews standard	County argued discharge cannot substitute for actual inability to pay	Court allowed bankruptcy to be considered circumstantially but required application of Mathews indigence test
Proper time for assessing indigence under § 42-358(1)	Indigence should be assessed when court makes the determination (time of hearing)	County argued court should assess post-bankruptcy finances (i.e., after discharge)	Court held indigence should be evaluated based on party’s finances at time of the indigence hearing
Whether record supports a finding that White was unable to pay without prejudicing necessities	McGough argued White was indigent under Mathews	County argued White had sufficient monthly surplus to pay fees	Court reversed: record showed White had sufficient funds after expenses to pay without prejudicing necessities; district court abused discretion

State v. Hotz, 281 Neb. 260, 795 N.W.2d 645 (procedural due process question of law)
DMK Biodiesel v. McCoy, 290 Neb. 286, 859 N.W.2d 867 (statutory interpretation reviewed de novo)
Mathews v. Mathews, 267 Neb. 604, 676 N.W.2d 42 (defines indigence under § 42-358(1))
City of Lincoln v. Central Platte NRD, 263 Neb. 141, 638 N.W.2d 839 (discusses personhood and constitutional protections)
Farnsworth v. Farnsworth, 276 Neb. 653, 756 N.W.2d 522 (standard for abuse of discretion)