Manas R. Panda v. Moushmita Panda. ( 2023 )

NOTICE: Summary decisions issued by the Appeals Court pursuant to M.A.C. Rule
23.0, as appearing in 97 Mass. App. Ct. 1017 (2020) (formerly known as rule 1:28,
as amended by 73 Mass. App. Ct. 1001 [2009]), are primarily directed to the parties
and, therefore, may not fully address the facts of the case or the panel's
decisional rationale. Moreover, such decisions are not circulated to the entire
court and, therefore, represent only the views of the panel that decided the case.
A summary decision pursuant to rule 23.0 or rule 1:28 issued after February 25,
2008, may be cited for its persuasive value but, because of the limitations noted
above, not as binding precedent. See Chace v. Curran, 71 Mass. App. Ct. 258, 260
n.4 (2008).
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
APPEALS COURT
22-P-839
MANAS R. PANDA
vs.
MOUSHMITA PANDA.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER PURSUANT TO RULE 23.0
Following a trial on the parties' competing requests for
modification,1 the father appeals from a judgment of the Probate
and Family Court denying his requests to modify the parenting
schedule and school enrollment of the parties' two minor
children, and increasing his child support payments.2 We discern
no error or abuse of discretion, and affirm.
1. Parenting time and school enrollment. The father and
the mother share custody of two minor children, who reside with
the mother and attend school in Sudbury, pursuant to a detailed
parenting plan negotiated by the parties as part of their
1 The father's complaint for modification was met by the mother's
counterclaim for modification.
2 The father appealed from the modification judgment dated May 3,
2022. Although he did not appeal from the subsequently entered
amended modification judgment, nothing in that amended judgment
affects the issues raised on appeal.
separation agreement (which was incorporated into the judgment
of divorce) at the time of their divorce. At the time of the
parties' divorce, the father was required to travel extensively
for work, but has since obtained employment that requires much
less travel. In light of that change in employment, the
father's parenting time was increased pursuant to a 2018
modification judgment.
The father sought further modification of his parenting
time, requesting that the children be allowed to spend
additional time every week with him. The father also requested
that the children attend school in Acton, asserting that the
Acton school system was superior to the Sudbury school system
that the children attend.
The judge denied both requests, finding that the father
provided no evidence that it would be in the best interests of
the children to decrease the mother's parenting time. Nor did
the father present evidence that the children's current
schooling at Sudbury was not meeting their needs. Instead, the
judge considered and credited the mother's testimony that the
children were doing very well at their current school. On this
record, there was no error in the judge's determination that
there was no "material and substantial change in the
circumstances of the parties" such that a modification of the
children's parenting schedule and school enrollment would be
2
necessary to further their best interests.3 See G. L. c. 208,
§ 28.
2. Child support. The father contends that the judge
relied on incorrect calculations in determining to increase the
father's child support obligation.4 "We review child support
orders . . . to determine if there has been a judicial abuse of
discretion" (citation omitted). J.S. v. C.C., 454 Mass. 652,
660 (2009).
There was no abuse of discretion. Since the father and
mother divorced and negotiated their support obligations in
2016, both parties underwent changes in employment and financial
circumstances. The judge credited the mother's financial
information and expressly discredited the father's financial
statements.5 Where the judge found that the father did not
accurately reflect his ownership interests in real estate and
3 We note that the father submitted a motion to include
additional pictures, submitted to this court following his
notice of appeal, as part of the record on appeal. We deny the
motion, as the pictures were not part of the record before the
trial judge. See Mass. R. A. P. 8, as appearing in 481 Mass.
1611 (2019).
4 The father had requested that the amount of child support be
reduced, and the mother counterclaimed for an increase in the
father's child support obligation.
5 It appears that the original amount of child support was a
negotiated figure by the parties, as no child support guidelines
were submitted to the judge prior to the divorce. Although the
father submitted a child support guidelines worksheet with his
postjudgment motion to reconsider, this worksheet contained the
same financial information that the judge considered and
discredited in her child support determination.
3
included business expenses that were not proper deductions for
calculating child support, we cannot say that the judge's
credibility determination was "plainly wrong" (citation
omitted). Macri v. Macri, 96 Mass. App. Ct. 362, 366 (2019).6
Judgment dated May 3, 2022,
affirmed.7
By the Court (Green, C.J.,
Wolohojian &
Sullivan, JJ.8),
Clerk
Entered: June 6, 2023.
6 The judge also ordered the increase in the father's child
support obligation to apply nunc pro tunc to the date of the
modification trial. This is not an abuse of discretion where
the increase in child support obligation was based on the
financial information that the parties submitted during the
trial.
7 While this appeal was pending, the father moved for a stay of
execution of the modification judgment. Our disposition of the
appeal renders that motion moot.
8 The panelists are listed in order of seniority.
4