CLARA E. CRABTREE v. BILLY JACK CRABTREE, JR.
No. 0314-92-3
Salem
September 21, 1993
81
(Thomas P. Walk; Altizer, Walk and White, on brief), for appellant.
No brief or argument for appellee.
OPINION
COLEMAN, J.—Clara E. Crabtree (mother) appeals from the circuit court‘s decree denying her motion for an increase in child support and modifying the child visitation schedule for Billy Jack Crabtree (father), her former husband. She contends that (1) the circuit court could not reinstate the case on its docket after it had transferred the matters of child support and custody to the juvenile and domestic relations district court, and (2) the circuit court erred by not specifying in writing, as required by
The parties were divorced by an April 15, 1991, divorce decree entered by the Circuit Court of Tazewell County. The mother was granted custody of their two children and, based on a verbal agreement between the parents, the court awarded her $400 per month child support. The father was granted “reasonable,” as well as specified, child visitation rights. According to the mother, the support that the father presumptively would have been required to pay according to the guidelines at the time of the award and now, based on the parents’ combined gross income, is $514.70. The trial judge did not make a written finding as to the presumptive amount of child support according to the guidelines and did not explain in writing why the amount of child support ordered to be paid by the father should deviate from the guidelines. See
Five months after entry of the divorce decree, the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court of Tazewell County, over the father‘s objection, transferred the case to the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court of Chesterfield County, the jurisdiction where the mother and children resided. The mother filed a motion in the Chesterfield juvenile court for an increase in child support. Several days later, the father filed a motion in the Tazewell County Circuit Court, pursuant to
I.
We first consider whether the circuit court had authority to reinstate the case on its docket and to entertain the parties’ motions to enforce visitation rights and to modify child support after having transferred “all matters . . . pertaining to child support, visitation rights [and] custody of the minor children” to the juvenile and domestic relations district court pursuant to
We hold that a “transfer” of “any other matters pertaining to support and maintenance . . . and custody” to the juvenile and domestic relations district court pursuant to
The resolution of the question of what effect a “transfer” under
After the entry of a decree of divorce a vinculo matrimonii the court may transfer to the juvenile and domestic relations district court any other matters pertaining to support and maintenance for the spouse, maintenance, support, care and custody of the child or children on motion by either party, and may so transfer such matters before the entry of such decree on motion joined in by both parties. In the transfer of any matters referred to herein, the court may, upon the motion of any party, or on its own motion, and for good cause shown, transfer any matters covered by said decree or decrees to any juvenile and domestic relations district court within the Commonwealth that constitutes a more appropriate forum. An appeal of an order by such juvenile and domestic relations district court which is to enforce or modify the decree in the divorce suit shall be as provided in
§ 16.1-296 .
Nevertheless,
Where statutes are in potential conflict with one another, they must be construed consistently with one another, if possible, so as to give full force and effect to each. Nelson v. County of Henrico, 10 Va. App. 558, 561, 393 S.E.2d 644, 646 (1990); Cooper v. Occoquan Land Dev. Corp., 8 Va. App. 1, 6, 377 S.E.2d 631, 633 (1989), rev‘d
Were we to limit the circuit court‘s continuing jurisdiction when it might be the most appropriate forum to grant complete relief, we would be ruling in a manner contrary to the purpose of
II.
We next address the question whether a trial judge in a support modification proceeding is required to specify in writing why an earlier award of child support should continue to deviate from the guidelines when the judge has determined that no material change in circumstances justifies a modification of the last child support award.
In all child support proceedings originating after July 1, 1989, courts must apply the provisions of
Once a child support award has been entered, only a showing of a material change in circumstances will justify modification of the support award. The moving party has the burden of proving a material change by a preponderance of the evidence. Antonelli v. Antonelli, 242 Va. 152, 154, 409 S.E.2d 117, 118-19 (1991). If the initial support award was made before July 1, 1989, the effective date of the guidelines under
Here, the trial judge first decreed an amount of child support based on the agreement of the parties on April 15, 1991, after the guidelines had gone into effect on July 1, 1989, and presumably after having considered the presumptively correct amount according to the guidelines. Thus, the mother, in order to obtain an increase in child support, had the burden of proving that a material change in the parents’ ability to provide support or the children‘s needs had occurred in the five-month period after the trial judge had awarded support.
The mother did not prove the threshold element that a material change in circumstance had occurred that would justify an increase in the amount of child support. Not only was the mother‘s income the same in November, 1991, as in April, 1991, she received a larger percentage of take-home pay in November, 1991. The mother resided at the same home and paid the same rent. While some of her expenses, such as health insurance, had increased, other expenses, such as day care, had decreased. The father‘s ability to provide support had not changed. The fact that the initial amount of child support was less than the presumptive amount under the guidelines does not constitute a “material change in circumstances,” because the initial support award was entered after the effective date of the guidelines. Id.
Accordingly, without proof of a material change in circumstance, the trial judge was not required to calculate the presumptive amount under the guidelines or to justify by written findings of fact why the previous child support award should continue to deviate from the pre-
Affirmed.
Baker, J., concurred.
Benton, J., dissenting.
The Circuit Court of Tazewell County had no authority to reinstate on its docket the case that had been transferred to the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. The order reinstating the case on the circuit court‘s docket occurred five months after the circuit judge transferred by final decree enforcement of all matters pertaining to custody and visitation to the juvenile court. That reinstatement order violated Rule 1:1 and lacks any statutory foundation.
The circuit court entered the divorce decree in 1991. By the terms of the decree, the mother was granted custody of the two children and was awarded $400 per month as child support. The father was granted visitation as specified in the decree. The decree also transferred jurisdiction over “all matters . . . pertaining to child support, visitation rights [, and] custody . . . to the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court of appropriate jurisdiction, for enforcement or modification or revision thereof as the circumstances may require, as provided by [
Five months after entry of the decree, the Tazewell County juvenile court transferred the case to the Chesterfield County juvenile court, the jurisdiction where the mother and the children then resided. The mother filed a motion in the Chesterfield County juvenile court for an increase in child support. Several days later, the father filed a motion to reinstate the case on the docket of the circuit court. After a hearing, the judge of the circuit court reinstated the case on the docket and changed the visitation schedule that was specified in the decree.
The majority‘s opinion holds that a transfer of a case to the juvenile court after entry of a final decree pursuant to
After the entry of a decree of divorce a vinculo matrimonii the court may transfer to the juvenile and domestic relations district
court any other matters pertaining to support and maintenance for the spouse, maintenance support, care and custody of the child or children on motion by either party, and may so transfer such matters before the entry of such decree on motion joined in by both parties. In the transfer of any matters referred to herein, the court may, upon the motion of any party, or on its own motion, and for good cause shown, transfer any matters covered by said decree or decrees to any juvenile and domestic relations district court within the Commonwealth that constitutes a more appropriate forum. An appeal of an order by such juvenile and domestic relations district court which is to enforce or modify the decree in the divorce suit shall be as provided in § 16.1-296 .
Nothing in
The statutes that delineate the jurisdiction of the circuit court and the juvenile court are quite clear and unambiguous. When the legislature has intended to convey concurrent jurisdiction, it has clearly stated its intention. See
Although a circuit court generally has continuing jurisdiction under
The husband pled no statutory or case law authority for the reinstatement of the case in the circuit court. In granting the motion, the circuit judge likewise cited no authority. I find no authority to support the circuit judge‘s order reinstating the case on the circuit court‘s docket.
The majority‘s decision allowing the circuit court to reinstate on its docket any matter that it had by final order transferred to the juvenile court clearly violates Rule 1:1. Twenty-one days after entry of its order transferring the case to the juvenile court, the circuit court had no authority to entertain a motion to reinstate the case on its docket for enforcement and modification. See Rule 1:1. Neither the Rules of Court nor the statutory scheme confers discretionary authority to the circuit court to exercise continuing jurisdiction over matters that the circuit court had transferred to the juvenile court after entry of the final decree. Moreover, the majority opinion offers no authority for allowing the circuit judge to circumvent Rule 1:1.
Pursuant to the order transferring the case, the juvenile court was authorized to handle “all matters . . . pertaining to child support, visitation rights [, and] custody . . . for enforcement or modification or revision thereof as the circumstances may require.” Those matters fall within the power, competence, and expertise of the juvenile court. Thus, complete relief could have been obtained in the juvenile court. In addition to being violative of the rules and statutes, the action of the circuit court reinstating the case on its docket was unnecessary and redundant. See Smith v. Smith, 4 Va. App. 148, 150, 354 S.E.2d 816, 817 (1987).
Moreover,
The majority‘s holding permits the parties to circumvent final orders and shop for the forum that one party believes might be more favorable to his or her claim. When the circuit judge transferred jurisdiction to the juvenile court for the enforcement, modification, or revision of matters related to the children, the circuit judge implicitly made the determination at that time that the administration of the terms of the decree would be best served and efficiently monitored in the juvenile court. The majority‘s decision, allowing a circuit judge to disregard his or her prior order, sanctions a result that is clearly not provided for by the statutory scheme or legislative intent. See Owens v. Commonwealth, 129 Va. 757, 760, 105 S.E. 531, 532 (1921). The majority‘s decision does not advance the administration of justice.
The juvenile court does not serve a “needless” role in the resolution of family matters. Nothing about the circuit court makes it “the most appropriate forum to grant complete relief” in a family matter that has already been decided by final decree and can only be modified upon a showing of a change in circumstances. When the final decree of divorce was entered, the circuit judge transferred the case to the juvenile court and obviously concluded at that time that the transfer was appropriate. Once the transfer was made, the juvenile court was equally equipped to grant complete relief to the parties in the custody and visitation dispute and was the appropriate forum for enforcement, modification, and revision.
For these reasons, I dissent. I would hold that the circuit judge exceeded his power when he reinstated on his docket the case that had been transferred to the juvenile court more than twenty one days prior to the reinstatement order.
