S.C. Department of Social Services v. Martin

THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE.  IT SHOULD NOT BE
CITED OR RELIED ON AS

PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE
239(d)(2), SCACR.

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA

In The Court of Appeals

S.C. Department of Social Services, County of
Siskiyou, and Debra J.
Little, Plaintiffs, 

Of Whom, S.C. Department of Social Services is,
Appellant,

v.

Michael D. Martin, Respondent.

Appeal From Greenwood County

 Billy A. Tunstall, Jr., Family Court
Judge

Unpublished Opinion No.
2004-UP-540  

Submitted October 1, 2004 – Filed October 25, 2004

REVERSED AND REMANDED

Holly C. Walker, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Billy J. Garrett, Jr., C. Rauch Wise, both of Greenwood,
for Respondent.

PER CURIAM:  In April 2003 the family court
issued a civil contempt order against Michael Martin for failure to pay child
support under a November 18, 1986 California support order.  Martin filed a
motion for emergency temporary relief, claiming that an order issued in South
Carolina on May 8, 1990 modified the California order.  Upon reconsideration,
the judge vacated his 2003 order after determining the 1990 order terminated
Martin’s obligations under the California order. We reverse and remand.
[1]  

FACTS

Debra Little and Michael
Martin’s marriage, which began in 1978, produced two children, Trenton and Lisa. 
After a period of separation, the couple divorced in 1986 in Siskiyou County,
California.  The court granted custody of Lisa to Little and custody of Trenton
to Martin.  On November 18, 1986, the Siskiyou County Family Support Division
ordered Martin to pay $303 per month in child support for Lisa.

On February 27, 1989, the
Siskiyou County District Attorney sent a request to the South Carolina Department
of Social Services (SCDSS) to enforce the November 18, 1986 order pursuant to
the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act
[2] (URESA).  Siskiyou County and Little also sought $11,831.00
for medical coverage and arrearage of past due support payments.  SCDSS served
Martin with the URESA request, which he answered on April 5, 1990. 

Prior to a hearing on April
25, 1990, the county and Little entered into an agreement with Martin to reduce
Martin’s child support payments. The agreement was then incorporated into an
order issued on May 8, 1990.  Per the order, Martin was to pay $30.00 per week
in child support and $10.00 per week toward the arrearage, which was to be determined
within 30 days of the date of the order.  The parties did not appeal the order
nor did the court determine the arrearage.

At some point after May
8, 1990, the Greenwood County Clerk of Court issued two rules to show cause
for failure to pay child support.  As a result, on April 23, 2003, nearly thirteen
years later, Martin appeared pro se to defend SCDSS’s allegations
that he was in willful contempt of California’s 1986 child support order.  During
the hearing, the SCDSS attorney failed to bring the May 8, 1990 South Carolina
order to the court’s attention.  As a result, the judge issued an order enforcing
the November 18, 1986 California order. 

Martin filed a motion for
emergency temporary relief and a hearing was held on June 25, 2003.  On October
17, 2003, the judge issued an order vacating his previous order and enforcing
the May 8, 1990 order, stating that the court would not have issued the April
23, 2003 order had it known about the May 8, 1990 order. [3]   The order also stated that the May 8, 1990
order was the “final order in this matter determining [Martin’s] child support
obligations, and [the May 8, 1990] final order ended [Martin’s] prospective
California child support obligations.”  This appeal followed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

On appeal from a family court order, the appellate
court has jurisdiction to find facts in accordance with their own view of the
preponderance of the evidence.  Roberson v. Roberson, 359 S.C. 384, 388, 597 S.E.2d 840, 842 (Ct. App. 2004). 
The appellate court should not, however, disregard the findings of the trial
judge who observed the witness and was better able to assess their credibility.
 Patel v. Patel, 359 S.C. 515, 523, 599 S.E.2d 114, 119 (2004).  Cases
involving child support are ordinarily left to the discretion of the family
court and will only be disturbed on appeal upon a showing of abuse of discretion. 
Townsend v. Townsend, 356 S.C. 70, 73, 587 S.E.2d 118, 119 (Ct. App.
2003).  Abuse of discretion arises when the court is controlled by an error
of law or the order lacks evidentiary support.  Id.

LAW/ANALYSIS

SCDSS argues that the trial
court erred in finding the May 8, 1990 South Carolina support order was final
and terminated Martin’s prospective California child support obligations.  We
agree.  

The parties agree that the
applicable law governing this case is URESA, formerly found in sections 20-7-960
to 1170 of South Carolina Code (1985). [4]   Section 20-7-933 of the South
Carolina Code (Supp. 2003) grants the family court authority to enforce orders
regarding child support, including cases in which the family court has jurisdiction
based on URESA.  Section 20-7-933 also provides that the family court has “the
right to modify any such decree, judgment, or order for child support as the
court considers necessary upon a showing of changed circumstances.”  S.C. Code
Ann. § 20-7-933 (Supp. 2003).  Therefore, the South Carolina family court had
authority to enforce and modify the 1986 California support order when SCDSS
sought to enforce the California order on behalf of Siskiyou County and Little. 

Section 20-7-1110, however,
provides that “[a] support order made by a court of this State . . . does not
nullify and is not nullified by a support order made by a court of this State
pursuant to any other law or by a support order made by a court of any other
state . . . unless otherwise specifically provided by the court.”  S.C. Code
Ann. § 20-7-1110 (1985).  “Section 20-7-1110 clearly provides that a support
order made by a court of this State is not nullified by a support order made
by a court of another state unless specifically provided by the court.”  South
Carolina Dep’t of Social Services v. Hamlett, 330 S.C. 321, 325, 498 S.E.2d
888, 890 (Ct. App. 1998).  Thus, in Hamlett, we held that a South Carolina
child support order continued as an “independently enforceable order regardless
of its registration and modification in a foreign state unless specifically
nullified by the court pursuant to section 20-7-1110.”  Id. at 326, 498
S.E.2d at 890-91.

More recently, in SCDSS/Child
Support Enforcement v. Carswell, 359 S.C. 424, 597 S.E.2d 859 (Ct. App.
2004), SCDSS sought registration and enforcement of a Washington child support
order in South Carolina under URESA. [5]   In Carswell, as in this
case, the parties had entered into an agreement to reduce the amount the obligor
was required to pay, which was then incorporated into one of three South Carolina
family court orders.  Id. at 427, 597 S.E.2d at 860. Upon examination
of the original order and the subsequent South Carolina orders, we held that
because the subsequent South Carolina orders merely recognized the Washington
order, the orders did not “rise to the level of a nullification of the Washington
order.”  Id. at 430, 597 S.E.2d at 861.  Therefore, the original Washington
order remained valid and independently enforceable in South Carolina.  Id.

In this case, the May 8,
1990 order does not provide any indication that it was intended to nullify the
California order.  The 1990 order does not specifically mention the 1986 order,
nor does it specify it was intended to nullify the 1986 order.  Therefore, the
May 8, 1990 order did not nullify the 1986 California order and the California
order remains independently enforceable in South Carolina.

REVERSED AND REMANDED.

STILWELL, BEATTY, and SHORT, JJ., concur.

[1] We decide this case without oral argument pursuant
to Rule 215, SCACR.

[2] Formerly found in S.C. Code Ann. §§ 20-7-960 to
1170 (1985); Act No. 356, 1984 S.C. Acts 1640.     

[3] The court took judicial notice in its October 17, 2003 order that
Martin’s daughter, Lisa, turned 18 years old on February 17, 1997 and she
was the only child Martin was ordered to support prospectively from May 8,
1990.  Therefore, Martin’s prospective South Carolina child support ended
on February 17, 1997.

[4] On July 1, 1994, the South Carolina
Legislature enacted the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA), which
replaced URESA.  S.C. Code Ann. §§ 20-7-960 to 1220 (Supp. 2003); Act No.
494, 1994 S.C. Acts 5103.  This court has interpreted UIFSA to require application
of URESA to support actions arising before July 1, 1994, the effective date
of UIFSA.  Deltoro v. McMullen, 322 S.C. 328, 471 S.E.2d 742 (Ct. App.
1996).  The initial support obligation in this action arose in 1986, which
was prior to UIFSA’s July 1, 1994 effective date.  Therefore, URESA, not UIFSA,
is the controlling law in this action.

[5] We note that the trial judge did not have the benefit of the Carswell
opinion when he issued the October 17, 2003 order because it had not yet been
decided.