in the Interest of A.R.W., a Child ( 2019 )


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  • AFFIRMED and Opinion Filed August 20, 2019
    S   In The
    Court of Appeals
    Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
    No. 05-18-00201-CV
    IN THE INTEREST OF A.R.W., A CHILD
    On Appeal from the 417th Judicial District Court
    Collin County, Texas
    Trial Court Cause No. 417-52158-2016
    MEMORANDUM OPINION
    Before Justices Whitehill, Partida-Kipness, and Pedersen, III
    Opinion by Justice Whitehill
    This is an appeal from a child-support modification order. Mother and Father are the
    divorced parents of one child, Daughter. By court order, Father had primary custody of Daughter,
    Mother had expanded standard possession of Daughter, and Father had to pay Mother monthly
    child support of $1,360. Father then filed a motion to modify seeking an order requiring Mother
    to pay him child support under the statutory guidelines. After a bench trial, the trial court found a
    material and substantial change in Mother’s circumstances, but it gave Father only partial relief by
    reducing his monthly child support obligation to $700. Father appeals.
    The pivotal question is whether the trial court acted arbitrarily, unreasonably, and without
    regard to guiding rules and principles by deciding that requiring Father to pay Mother monthly
    child support of $700 was in Daughter’s best interest. We conclude that the child-support
    guidelines and the evidence support the trial court’s decision, so it was not an abuse of discretion.
    Accordingly, we affirm.
    I. BACKGROUND
    A.         The Original Divorce Decree
    Father and Mother married in 2000, and Daughter was born in 2005. Father and Mother
    divorced in 2013. Although the divorce decree is not in the appellate record, Father’s brief asserts
    that neither party paid child support under that decree. We therefore accept that statement as true.
    See TEX. R. APP. P. 38.1(g).
    B.         The First Modification Order
    In October 2015, the trial court (the 367th District Court of Denton County) rendered a
    new final order based on Mother’s petition to modify and Father’s counterpetition.1 This order (i)
    appointed Father and Mother as Daughter’s joint managing conservators, (ii) gave Father the right
    to designate Daughter’s primary residence, (iii) gave Mother possession per an expanded standard
    possession order, and (iv) required Father to pay Mother monthly child support of about $1,360.
    The order recited that the court was departing from the statutory child-support guidelines
    and stated that “after considering the factors set forth in section 154.123 of the Texas Family Code
    it is in the child’s best interest to have an adequate amount of resources available in each home to
    support a child.” The court calculated Father’s obligation by subtracting the guideline amount that
    Mother would owe as an obligor from the guideline amount that Father would owe as an obligor.
    C.         The Present Modification Suit
    In April 2016, Father filed the present modification suit, which was then transferred from
    Denton County to Collin County.
    In May 2016, Mother remarried.
    1
    These pleadings and the order do not appear in the clerk’s record, but the order was admitted into evidence at the trial and so appears in the
    reporter’s record.
    –2–
    Mother later filed a counter-petition to modify in which she sought the exclusive right to
    designate Daughter’s primary residence.
    In Father’s last amended motion, he (i) alleged that Mother was intentionally
    underemployed, (ii) asked the court to order child support in strict compliance with the Family
    Code’s guidelines, and (iii) argued that strict compliance would result in Mother’s paying child
    support to Father.
    In May 2017, the trial court conducted a one-day bench trial. At the trial’s end, the judge
    said she would find that Mother’s circumstances had materially changed for the better. At the
    judge’s request, the parties filed supplemental briefs on the child-support issue.
    Two months later, the trial judge signed a memorandum order that ordered Father to pay
    child support of $700 per month. Father requested findings of fact.
    The trial judge later signed findings in support of her memorandum order. She found that
    it would be unjust and inappropriate to apply the Family Code § 154.125 guidelines. She also
    found that (i) Father’s net monthly resources were $8,827.65, (ii) Mother’s monthly net resources
    were $4,550, and (iii) each parent should pay child support based on 20% of the first $8,550 of
    that parent’s net resources. Then she offset the awards, reducing Father’s guideline obligation
    ($1,710) by Mother’s guideline obligation ($910) and by an additional $100 to reflect Father’s
    duty to provide Daughter’s health insurance. The judge hand-wrote the following reasons for
    deviating from § 154.125:
    Providing adequate resources for the child @ both residences; the child support
    guidelines amount is being reduced in accordance with Mom’s resources increasing
    since the entry of the last order in Denton County and are therefore, offset, but
    Court allows by this Order an acknowledgement of the nature of [Mother’s]
    community college employment and recent employment of Mom’s evidence at trial
    [sic].
    A few months later the trial judge signed the final modification order. The order did the
    following:
    –3–
    •       repeated the court’s previous findings;
    •       ordered Father to pay child support of $700 per month, again calculated by
    taking Father’s guideline support amount ($1,710) and subtracting both
    Mother’s guideline support amount ($910) and $100 per month because
    Father paid for Daughter’s health insurance;
    •       maintained both parents as joint managing conservators and maintained
    Father’s existing right to designate Daughter’s primary residence; and
    •       maintained Mother’s existing right to possession consistent with an
    expanded standard possession order, except for a minor change to the
    parents’ right of first refusal if a parent had to be away from Daughter for
    more than two consecutive nights during a possession period.
    Father timely appealed.
    II. ISSUES PRESENTED
    Although Father’s brief lists four issues presented, the argument section has three distinct
    sections. We treat his brief as raising three issues corresponding to those sections, and we
    paraphrase those issues as follows:
    1.      Did the trial court abuse its discretion by rendering an order that ignores the
    Family Code and the child’s best interest?
    2.      Did the trial court abuse its discretion by creating a new “adequate
    resources” rule that had no legal basis and risks harmful and inequitable
    consequences?
    3.      Did the trial court err by ordering Father to pay Mother child support when
    Mother did not plead for such relief?
    III. ANALYSIS
    A.     Standard of Review
    We review a child-support order for abuse of discretion. Iliff v. Iliff, 
    339 S.W.3d 74
    , 78
    (Tex. 2011). A trial court abuses its discretion if it acts arbitrarily or unreasonably, without
    reference to guiding rules or principles. 
    Id. A trial
    court also abuses its discretion if it fails to
    analyze or apply the law correctly. 
    Id. –4– Legal
    and factual sufficiency of the evidence are relevant considerations in our abuse of
    discretion analysis. In re A.M.W., 
    313 S.W.3d 887
    , 890 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2010, no pet.). We
    review the evidence in the light most favorable to the order and indulge every presumption in the
    order’s favor. 
    Id. “If some
    probative and substantive evidence supports the order, there is no
    abuse of discretion.” 
    Id. B. Applicable
    Law
    Two fundamental principles operate in the background of every child-support
    determination:
    First, the paramount guiding principle in child-support decisions should always be the
    child’s best interest. 
    Iliff, 339 S.W.3d at 81
    .
    Second, “[t]he function of child support is to help a custodial parent maintain an adequate
    standard of living for the child.” Williams v. Patton, 
    821 S.W.2d 141
    , 145 (Tex. 1991).
    1.        Initial Child-Support Determinations
    Although this is a modification case, we must place the modification statutes in context by
    first sketching out the statutory scheme governing initial child-support determinations. That
    scheme is found in Family Code Chapter 154.
    The trial court can order either or both parents to support their child. TEX. FAM. CODE
    § 154.001(a); 
    id. § 151.001(3)
    (every parent has a duty to support his or her child). The trial court
    may order a joint managing conservator to pay child support to another joint managing
    conservator. 
    Id. § 153.138.
    In determining the amount of child support, the court cannot consider
    a parent’s sex or marital status. 
    Id. § 154.010.
    –5–
    The Code establishes guidelines “to guide the court in determining an equitable amount of
    child support.” 
    Id. § 154.121.2
    This generally means calculating the child-support obligor’s
    monthly “net resources” and applying the statutory guidelines (that is, a specific percentage based
    on the number of children) to that amount. See In re P.C.S., 
    320 S.W.3d 525
    , 532–33 (Tex. App.—
    Dallas 2010, pet. denied); see also FAM. § 154.125. But the court may use the obligor’s earning
    potential instead of actual net resources if the obligor earns significantly less than he or she could
    earn because of intentional unemployment or underemployment.                                               FAM. § 154.066(a).                In
    determining whether an obligor is intentionally unemployed or underemployed, the court may
    consider evidence that the obligor is a veteran who is seeking or has been awarded certain disability
    benefits. 
    Id. § 154.066(b).
    Part of Father’s argument is that Mother is, or should be, the statutory child-support
    “obligor” because he has possession of Daughter most of the time. But we find nothing in the
    Code saying which parent should be treated as the obligor for guideline purposes, and, as noted
    above, the Code authorizes the trial court to order either joint managing conservator to pay child
    support to the other. FAM. § 153.138. Father argues that Mother should be the presumptive obligor
    because the function of child support is “to help a custodial parent maintain an adequate standard
    of living for the child.” 
    Williams, 821 S.W.2d at 145
    (emphasis added). But the possession order
    gives Mother possession of Daughter for roughly seven or more days a month during the school
    year and thirty days during the summer, plus certain holidays. Both parents are “custodial parents”
    to a degree.
    2
    In 1984, Congress required the states to adopt child-support guidelines. The federal Family Support Act of 1988 went further and required
    that state guidelines operate as a rebuttable presumption of the proper support amount. See Margaret Campbell Haynes & Susan Friedman Paikin,
    “Reconciling” FFCCSOA and UIFSA, 49 FAM. L.Q. 331, 333 n.10 (2015); Linda Henry Elrod, The Federalization of Child Support Guidelines, 6
    J. AM. ACAD. MATRIM. LAW. 103, 104 (1990). But the guidelines may vary from state to state. See Charles J. Meyer et al., Child Support
    Determinations in High Income Families—A Survey of the Fifty States, 28 J. AM. ACAD. MATRIM. LAW. 483, 485, 488 (2016).
    –6–
    The Code establishes presumptions favoring the guideline-determined amount.
    Specifically, that amount is presumed to be reasonable, and a support order conforming to the
    guidelines is presumed to be in the child’s best interest. FAM. § 154.122(a). However, the court
    may depart from the guidelines “if the evidence rebuts the presumption that application of the
    guidelines is in the best interest of the child and justifies a variance from the guidelines.” 
    Id. § 154.123(a).
    Section 154.123(b) supplies a lengthy list of nonexclusive factors that the trial court
    “shall consider” when determining whether applying the guidelines would be unjust or
    inappropriate under the circumstances. 
    Id. § 154.123(b)(1)–(17).
    If the trial court departs from the guidelines, Chapter 154 generally requires the court to
    make specific findings about the parties’ net resources, the percentage the court is applying to the
    obligor’s net resources, and the reasons for the departure. 
    Id. § 154.130(a)(3),
    (b).
    2.      Modification Proceedings
    Modification proceedings are governed by Family Code Chapter 156, and the provisions
    specific to child-support modification are found in Subchapter E, §§ 156.401–.409.
    Per Chapter 156, a court with exclusive, continuing jurisdiction may modify a child-
    support order under certain circumstances, such as when the circumstances of the child or another
    person affected by the child-support order have materially and substantially changed since the
    order was rendered. 
    Id. §§ 156.001,
    156.401(a)(1)(A).
    Further, concerning child support modifications, under § 156.402:
    (a)     The court may consider the child support guidelines for single and multiple
    families under Chapter 154 to determine whether there has been a material
    or substantial change of circumstances under this chapter that warrants a
    modification of an existing child support order if the modification is in the
    best interest of the child.
    (b)     If the amount of support contained in the order does not substantially
    conform with the guidelines for single and multiple families under Chapter
    154, the court may modify the order to substantially conform with the
    guidelines if the modification is in the best interest of the child. A court
    –7–
    may consider other relevant evidence in addition to the factors listed in the
    guidelines.
    FAM. § 156.402.
    Subsections (a) and (b) are somewhat contradictory in that subsection (a) makes it merely
    permissive for the trial court in a modification case to consider the Chapter 154 guidelines when
    deciding whether there has been a material and substantial change since the existing order was
    decreed but subsection (b) authorizes the trial court to modify the prior order to comply with the
    Chapter 154 guidelines if doing so is in the child’s best interest. Thus, like in an original Chapter
    154 proceeding, the ultimate legislative directive in modification cases is that the guidelines are
    just that—factors to be considered but that can be deviated from if doing so is in the child’s best
    interest. See Melton v. Toomey, 
    350 S.W.3d 235
    , 238 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 2011, no pet.)
    (“[A] court’s consideration of the child support guidelines in a modification proceeding is
    discretionary, not mandatory.”).
    Other Code sections further show that the guidelines are relevant in modification cases.
    For example, § 156.406 says, “In applying the child support guidelines in a suit under this
    subchapter, if the obligor has the duty to support children in more than one household, the court
    shall apply the percentage guidelines for multiple families under Chapter 154.” FAM. § 156.406.
    Finally, Chapter 156 provides other rules applicable to modification proceedings. For
    example, an increase in the obligee’s needs, standard of living, or lifestyle “does not warrant an
    increase in the obligor’s child support obligation.” FAM. § 156.405. Chapter 156 however limits
    the courts’ consideration of a new spouse’s net resources or expenses in a modification suit. 
    Id. § 156.404.
    3.      Summary of Guiding Rules and Principles
    Since we review the child-support order for abuse of discretion, it is helpful to summarize
    the foregoing guiding rules and principles relevant to this case:
    –8–
    •          The ultimate guiding principle is Daughter’s best interest. See 
    Iliff, 339 S.W.3d at 81
    .
    •          The more specific purpose of child support also must be kept in mind: “to
    help a custodial parent maintain an adequate standard of living for the
    child.” 
    Williams, 821 S.W.2d at 145
    .
    •          The Chapter 154 guidelines and the other Chapter 154 factors may be
    consulted in a modification proceeding and may be relevant to the child’s
    best interest and thus to the propriety of the trial court’s child-support
    modification order. Cf. 
    Iliff, 339 S.W.3d at 81
    n.5; In re 
    P.C.S., 320 S.W.3d at 532
    –34.
    C.         Issues One and Two: Did the trial court abuse its discretion under the law and the
    evidence?
    No, it didn’t. The evidence reasonably supports a conclusion that ordering Father to pay
    Mother monthly child support of $700 was in Daughter’s best interest.
    1.         Unchallenged Fact Findings
    Before addressing Father’s arguments, we note that Father has not challenged all of the
    trial court’s fact findings. Naturally, he does not challenge the trial court’s implied finding of a
    material and substantial change of circumstances sufficient to warrant a modification.3 Nor does
    he challenge the finding that his net monthly resources are $8,827.65. He does not directly
    challenge the finding that Mother’s net monthly resources are $4,550, but he does argue that the
    trial court erred by failing to find that Mother was intentionally underemployed.
    2.         Did the trial court abuse its discretion by failing to find that Mother was
    intentionally underemployed?
    No. We reject Father’s intentional underemployment argument for two reasons.
    First, Father does not refer us to evidence establishing that Mother’s true earning potential
    was higher than the $4,550 net resources figure the trial court found. He argues instead that the
    evidence showed that Mother’s earning potential was $45 per hour, but the evidence he cites relates
    3
    Although the court expressly found a material and substantial change in its final order, we cannot consider findings contained in a judgment.
    R.S. v. B.J.J., 
    883 S.W.2d 711
    , 715 n.5 (Tex. App.—Dallas 1994, no writ) (construing Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 299a); see also In re E.A.C.,
    
    162 S.W.3d 438
    , 442–43 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2005, no pet.) (applying Rule 299a to final order in an original SAPCR proceeding). Instead we
    imply the finding from the relief granted.
    –9–
    to a part-time position. This evidence did not compel the trial court to find that Mother could have
    obtained a full-time position at that wage.
    Second, the evidence about Mother’s employment supported the trial court’s failure to find
    that Mother was not intentionally underemployed.            Mother testified about her part-time
    employment, her full-time employment pursuing her own business, and her veteran’s disability
    benefits. She also testified that she is working on getting a teaching certificate so she can teach
    twelfth grade. See 
    Iliff, 339 S.W.3d at 82
    (trial courts may consider that a parent has laudable
    reasons for underemployment, such as seeking further education). Father testified to the reasons
    he thought Mother was underemployed, but the trial court was entitled to weigh the witnesses’
    testimony and credibility as it chose. And the Family Code specifically allowed the court to take
    Mother’s veteran’s disability benefits into account in determining whether she was
    underemployed. FAM. § 154.066(b).
    In sum, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by failing to find that Mother was
    intentionally underemployed.
    3.      Was the trial court’s decision an abuse of discretion based on the evidence
    and the § 154.123 factors?
    No, on this record the trial court could reasonably determine that requiring Father to pay
    $700 per month in child support was in Daughter’s best interest. We review the evidence in light
    of the § 154.123 factors and favorably to the trial court’s decision.
    a.      Sections 154.123(b)(2), (3), (5), (13): Available Resources,
    Employment, and Special or Extraordinary Expenses
    (1)    Resources
    Father does not challenge the finding that his monthly net resources are $8,827.65. Nor
    has he successfully attacked the finding that Mother’s monthly net resources are $4,550. Thus,
    –10–
    Father’s monthly net resources are almost twice Mother’s.                     This evidence supports the
    discretionary decision to make Father the net child-support obligor.
    (2)        Expenses
    Mother introduced a financial statement stating that her monthly living expenses totaled
    $5,732. This exceeded her monthly net resources by over $1,000. Although the trial court rejected
    the part of the financial statement showing Mother’s net monthly income to be $1,614 (since the
    court found her monthly net resources to be $4,550), the court was entitled to credit the remainder
    of the financial statement if it chose. Thus, the evidence that Mother’s monthly living expenses
    exceeded her monthly net resources could reasonably support the trial court’s conclusion that
    Daughter’s best interest required Father to pay some child support.
    Mother also introduced evidence that in October 2015 she could not afford to pay $110 for
    Daughter to go on a camping trip.
    Father testified that his financial condition had recently deteriorated, he owed his girlfriend
    around $90,000, and he was currently running a deficit of $4,000 to $5,000.4 He also testified that
    his girlfriend, whom he lived with, had been ill and unable to work. He further testified that (i) he
    pays for Daughter’s school activities and social functions and (ii) Mother testified at her deposition
    that she had adequate resources in her home to provide for Daughter. But the trial court was
    entitled to assess Father’s credibility and give his evidence whatever weight it deemed appropriate.
    Father argues that there was evidence that Mother’s new husband contributes towards their
    household expenses and has a gross monthly income of $13,000. In a modification suit, however,
    “[t]he court may not add any portion of the net resources of a new spouse to the net resources of
    an obligor or obligee in order to calculate the amount of child support to be awarded.” FAM.
    § 156.404(a).
    4
    Father did not explain what time period this deficit figure covered.
    –11–
    Father also cites evidence that in October 2016 Mother upgraded her living arrangement
    from an apartment to a 3,500 square-foot house costing some $434,000. Mother testified that she
    and her new husband factored the $1,360 she was receiving in child support into their monthly
    budget when they were looking at homes to buy. This testimony suggests that reducing Father’s
    child-support obligation could make it more difficult for Mother and her new husband to afford
    their new house. This evidence also supports the trial court’s order.
    Finally, Father also introduced into evidence Mother’s interrogatory answers in which she
    said that the court should set child support based on the Family Code guidelines. But this didn’t
    necessarily mean, as Father assumes, that Mother was agreeing she should have to pay Father child
    support. Under the guidelines, the trial court could have treated Father as the obligor, given him
    no offset, and required him to pay Mother significantly more than $700 per month. Thus Mother’s
    interrogatory answer is not a concession that she should have to pay Father child support.
    b.      Section 154.123(b)(4): Possession of the Child
    Father testified that Mother had expanded standard possession. The order gives Mother
    possession of Daughter roughly seven or more days a month during the school year (counting
    overnight Thursday visits as half days, and varying depending on how many Fridays a given month
    has), plus thirty days during the summer and certain holidays. See FAM. § 153.317. We estimate
    that Mother has custody of Daughter between 20% and 30% of the time. This is consistent with
    evidence showing that Father once sent an electronic message referring to his “70%+ parenting
    schedule.”
    Father argues that there was evidence that Mother did not attend some of Daughter’s school
    events, but this evidence did not establish a significant failure to exercise possession. He also
    argues that Mother did not exercise all of her possession time, but the evidence he cites shows only
    a failure to exercise three days of possession in June 2016. Thus, the evidence did not compel the
    –12–
    trial court to treat Mother as having materially less actual custody of Daughter than the possession
    order entitled her to.
    In sum, the trial court could reasonably consider that Mother has custody of Daughter for
    roughly 20% to 30% of the time and thus is a “custodial parent” for child-support purposes.
    c.       Section 154.123(b)(17): Any Other Factor
    Section 154.123(b)(17) is a catch-all provision allowing the trial court to consider any other
    reason to depart from the guidelines consistent with the child’s best interest and taking the parents’
    circumstances into account. FAM. § 154.123(b)(17).
    Under this provision, the trial court could have considered the evidence of the parties’
    history. In March 2015, Mother was living in an apartment with her boyfriend. In October 2015,
    the Denton County trial court ordered Father to begin paying Mother monthly child support of
    $1,360. That same month, Mother was able to move to a larger residence. A year later, she and
    her then-husband were able to buy their house, which had many amenities beneficial for Daughter.
    During the same 2015–2016 time frame, Mother’s employment situation improved, but her net
    monthly resources were still only about half of Father’s.
    Taking these facts into account and consulting the child-support guidelines, the trial court
    could see that considering each parent as an obligor and offsetting their child-support obligations
    would reduce Father’s monthly support obligation to $800. Giving an offset for Father’s health-
    insurance obligation reduced it still further to $700—around half what it had been under the prior
    order.
    d.       Conclusion
    The test for abuse of discretion is whether the trial court acted without reference to any
    guiding rules and principles. As to factual matters, we must defer to the trial court if some evidence
    supports the trial court’s decision. As the foregoing discussion shows, the trial court could have
    –13–
    concluded that the guiding legal principles—the child’s best interest and the need for Mother to
    give Daughter an adequate standard of living—were best served by continuing but reducing
    Father’s child-support obligation.
    4.      Did the trial court abuse its discretion by considering “adequate resources”
    as a factor in its decision?
    Father argues that the Family Code doesn’t allow the trial court to base its child-support
    decision on the goal of providing the child with “adequate resources” at both residences. He urges
    that this justification (i) ignores the § 154.123(b) factors and (ii) is a fig leaf for attempting to
    equalize the parents’ income, which he urges is not a legitimate goal of child support.
    We disagree with Father’s argument. In the child-support context, the guiding legal
    principle is protecting the child’s best interest, specifically by helping a custodial parent give the
    child an adequate standard of living. Father calls Mother “the non-custodial parent” and asserts
    that Daughter lives with him “full-time,” but these assertions are contrary to the evidence—Mother
    has possession of Daughter a significant part of the time and can reasonably be considered a
    custodial parent. Thus, the trial court could properly consider whether ordering Father to pay child
    support was necessary to help Mother give Daughter an adequate standard of living. In our view,
    the trial court’s expressed goal of giving Daughter “adequate resources” at both residences is
    harmonious, if not synonymous, with the premise that “[t]he function of child support is to help a
    custodial parent maintain an adequate standard of living for the child.” 
    Williams, 821 S.W.2d at 145
    .
    The nub of Father’s complaint seems to be that the child-support order benefits Mother as
    well as Daughter, as when he argues that the legislature did not intend “to have custodial parents
    subsidize the lifestyles of non-custodial parents who choose to work part-time.” To some extent,
    this is unavoidable; helping a custodial parent give a child an adequate standard of living will
    generally boost the parent’s standard of living as well. But the Family Code addresses Father’s
    –14–
    concern by including provisions regarding intentional unemployment and underemployment. See
    FAM. § 154.066. Sometimes seeming underemployment may be in the child’s best interest, such
    as when a parent makes employment decisions in order to spend more time with the child, start a
    new business, pursue further education, or address health needs. See 
    Iliff, 339 S.W.3d at 82
    . It is
    up to the trial court to consider the evidence and make the necessary determinations. 
    Id. For these
    reasons, we reject Father’s argument that the trial court abused its discretion by
    basing its decision on the intent to provide adequate resources for Daughter at both parents’
    residences.
    D.      Issue Three: Did the trial court abuse its discretion by ordering Father to pay child
    support to Mother when she did not plead for such relief?
    Father’s third issue argues that the trial court had no discretion to order him to pay child
    support because Mother did not plead for such relief in her live counter-petition to modify. We
    reject this argument because Father’s pleading was sufficient to support the order.
    The status quo when Father filed his motion to modify was a court order requiring him to
    pay Mother child support of about $1,360 per month. His live pleading in this case requested that
    the court modify its order and establish child support according to the statutory guidelines, which
    Father asserted meant an order requiring Mother to pay child support to Father. Instead, the trial
    court reduced Father’s existing child-support obligation, which means the trial court’s order
    granted relief to Father, not Mother. Thus, in the context of Father’s existing child-support duty,
    the modification order was supported by Father’s pleading and need not also have been supported
    by Mother’s. See Leithold v. Plass, 
    413 S.W.2d 698
    , 701 (Tex. 1967) (father’s pleading for a
    certain custody arrangement would support a judgment for lesser relief in the form of modified
    visitation rights).
    We overrule Father’s third issue.
    –15–
    IV. DISPOSITION
    We affirm the trial court’s Order in Suit to Modify Parent–Child Relationship.
    /Bill Whitehill/
    BILL WHITEHILL
    JUSTICE
    180201F.P05
    –16–
    S
    Court of Appeals
    Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
    JUDGMENT
    IN THE INTEREST OF A.R.W., A CHILD                 On Appeal from the 417th Judicial District
    Court, Collin County, Texas
    No. 05-18-00201-CV                                 Trial Court Cause No. 417-52158-2016.
    Opinion delivered by Justice Whitehill.
    Justices Partida-Kipness and Pedersen, III
    participating.
    In accordance with this Court’s opinion of this date, we AFFIRM the trial court’s
    February 12, 2018 Order in Suit to Modify Parent-Child Relationship.
    It is ORDERED that appellee Annette Greenslade recover her costs of this appeal from
    appellant Ryan West.
    Judgment entered August 20, 2019.
    –17–