Bahri v. Bahri
Bahri v. Bahri
Opinion
The trial court divorced the parties on September 23, 1993, ordering the husband/father to pay, pursuant to Rule 32, Ala.R.J.Admin., $957.86 per month in child support for the parties' two minor children until they reached majority, married, or became self-supporting. On April 27, 1994, the wife/mother petitioned to modify the divorce judgment, requesting the court to order the father to pay the daughter's college expenses. The father filed what appears to be a counter-petition, requesting the court to reduce his child support obligation because the daughter had reached the age of majority. Following an ore tenus hearing, the court granted the mother's petition, denied the father's counter-petition, and ordered the father to pay $3500 in annual post-minority education support "so long as [the daughter] is enrolled and attending college." Specifically, the court ordered the father to pay $3500 on May 30, 1995, for the expenses incurred before that date and $3500 on August 1, 1995, 1996, and 1997, for future education expenses. The court also ordered him to pay the mother's $1,500 attorney fee. The father appeals, arguing that the court erred in ordering him to pay post-minority education support because, he says, (1) the award exceeds the amount of child support allowable under the child support guidelines; (2) the May 1995 payment covered some expenses that the daughter had incurred while receiving child support; and (3) the award imposes an undue hardship on him. He also appeals the attorney fee award.
We note initially that the record does not contain a transcript of the hearing on the mother's petition; rather, the meager record is composed primarily of the original divorce judgment, the pleadings, and the judgment in this case, and several exhibits presented at the hearing. The record does disclose: (1) that the parties' daughter turned 19 on April 28, 1994; (2) that, as of the date the mother filed the petition, the daughter had enrolled at Birmingham-Southern College; (3) that the estimated tuition and expenses for an academic year at Birmingham-Southern College are more than $15,000; and (4) that, as of the date of the hearing, the daughter had received more than $6000 in grants, scholarships, and other financial assistance.
The child support guidelines in Rule 32 are inapplicable when determining the amount a parent shall contribute toward the college expenses of a child after that child reaches majority.Brown v. Short,
In Holley v. Rane,
A trial court may award post-minority education support to a child of a dissolved *Page 1181
marriage when application is made therefor before the child attains the age of 19. Ex parte Bayliss,
When the record contains neither a transcript from the ore tenus hearing nor a Rule 10(d), Ala.R.App.P., statement, it must be conclusively presumed that the evidence heard by the trial court is sufficient to support the judgment. Rudolph v.Rudolph,
We have held in previous cases that the trial court must set reasonable limitations on the parent's responsibility for post-minority education support; failure to do so may impose an undue hardship on the paying parent. See Kent v. Kent,
Whether to award an attorney fee in a domestic relations case is a matter that rests within the discretion of the trial court. Sanders v. Gilliland,
Each party's request for an attorney fee on appeal is denied.
AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART; AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.
ROBERTSON, P.J., and CRAWLEY, J., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Kiumars Bahri v. Cynthia T. Bahri.
- Cited By
- 24 cases
- Status
- Published