MARGARET FORD STEHMEYER, APPELLANT,
v.
DEIDRICH WILLIS STEHMEYER, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1986-06-06
No. BI-152
BOOTH, C.J., and MILLS and SMITH, JJ., concur.
489 So. 2d 863 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1986) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Wife appealed trial court orders dismissing her motion for contempt and motion for judgment on child support arrearages after husband ceased paying support when their child reached age 18, despite a marital settlement agreement requiring support until age 22 or marriage. The court affirmed dismissal of the contempt motion but reversed dismissal of the arrearages motion, holding that the wife had standing to enforce the child support obligation as a contracting party to the settlement agreement.


Holding

The wife had standing to enforce the child support provision as a contracting party to the marital settlement agreement and could pursue a motion for judgment on arrearages. However, the trial court lacked jurisdiction to enforce unpaid child support installments accrued after majority via contempt, as the justification for the extraordinary remedy of contempt expires once the child reaches majority.


Headnotes

[1] A spouse has standing to enforce a child support provision in a marital settlement agreement as a contracting party, even when the child has reached majority, if the agre…

[2] A prior ruling that a spouse lacks standing to sue for child support after a child reaches majority does not apply when the settlement agreement specifically provides for…

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Key Quotes

“The wife has standing to enforce the child support provision as a contracting party to the agreement.”

Establishes that wife can enforce the marital settlement agreement for support beyond majority based on contract principles

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Facts & Procedural History

Husband and wife entered into a marital settlement agreement requiring husband to pay child support until the child reached age 22 or married. Husband…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

This cause is before us on appeal from a final order dismissing wife’s motion for contempt and a subsequent final order dismissing wife’s motion for judgment on child support arrearages. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

In this case, the husband, pursuant to a marital settlement agreement, agreed to pay child support for the child at issue until she reached the age of 22 years or married. Contrary to that agreement, the husband ceased paying support once the child reached 18. The wife filed a motion for contempt and subsequently a motion for judgment on child support arrearages.

The trial court dismissed both of the wife’s motions on the basis of Cronebaugh v. Van Dyke, 415 So. 2d 738 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982). The Cronebaugh case held that a spouse did not have standing to bring suit for child support once the child reached majority. However, the majority opinion in Cronebaugh states specifically that their opinion “does not address the situation where one spouse by contract with the other has agreed to support his or her adult child but has failed to pay or provide such support.” 415 So. 2d at 742, n. 11.

Additionally, in Cronebaugh, supra, the husband, unlike the instant case, was only obligated to pay child support until the child reached majority, died, married, or became self-supporting. The husband agreed to also pay each child’s college expenses. In Cronebaugh, the husband not only paid all support payments until the children reached majority, but he also continued to make these support payments to the wife until the children actually moved out of the wife’s home. After that, the husband made support payments directly to the children for their college expenses. The wife brought suit after the children were 21 years of age for the support payments not made directly to her after the children turned 18. The wife admitted that the payments had been made to the children directly but alleged that the monies were due to her. In the instant case, the parties’ stipulation agreement does not call for termination of support until the child reaches her twenty-second birthday or marries. There is no other language calling for an earlier termination, e.g., if the child moves out of the marital home.

Accordingly, the Cronebaugh decision is not applicable to the set of facts before the court today. The husband and wife entered into a contract, their stipulated settlement, calling for support of the child beyond majority. The wife has standing to enforce the child support provision as a contracting party to the agreement. Holmes v. Holmes, 384 So. 2d 1295 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980). Therefore, we reverse the trial court’s order dismissing the wife’s motion for judgment on child support arrear-ages.

However, we affirm the trial court’s order dismissing the wife’s motion for contempt. According to this court’s decision in Smith v. Morgan, 379 So. 2d 1052 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980), the trial court is without jurisdiction to enforce via contempt unpaid child support installments accrued after the child has reached majority. The purpose and justification for the extraordinary remedy of contempt expires once the child at tains majority. Wilkes v. Revels, 245 So. 2d 896 (Fla. 1st DCA 1970).

Accordingly, the judgment below is affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

BOOTH, C.J., and MILLS and SMITH, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Dep't of Health & Rehabilitative Servs. v. Holland, 602 So. 2d 652 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992)
    …v. Holmes, 384 So. 2d 1295 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980). The First District has also rejected Cronebaugh in a case where the child support obligation was created by a marital settlement agreement rather than a dissolution decree. See Stehmeyer v. Stehmeyer, 489 So. 2d 863 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). I cannot honestly say I understand why that should be a distinction of any substance or consequence. In my view, obligations created by judgments should rate as high, if not higher, than those created by contracts between privat…
  • Pyne v. Black, 650 So. 2d 1073 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995)
    …Holland, 602 So. 2d 652 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992). . The law on this issue is apparently different in the territory of the Fifth District Court of Appeal than in the territories of the other Florida District Courts of Appeal. See Stehmeyer v. Stehmeyer, 489 So. 2d 863 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986) (allowed former wife to enforce post-majority child support obligation in settlement agreement which was incorporated in dissolution judgment); Brown v. Brown, 484 So. 2d 1282 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986) (disapproving Cronebaugh and allo…

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