Johnson, M. v. Johnson Jr., A.

J-S30002-19
2019 PA Super 332MIRIAM A. JOHNSON : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
: PENNSYLVANIA
:
v. :
:
:
ALBERT D. JOHNSON JR., :
:
Appellant : No. 3315 EDA 2018
Appeal from the Order Entered October 22, 2018
In the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County
Domestic Relations at No(s): No. 0582 N 1997,
PACSES No. 133001257
BEFORE: PANELLA, P.J., KUNSELMAN, J., and MUSMANNO, J.
OPINION BY PANELLA, P.J.: FILED NOVEMBER 01, 2019
Albert D. Johnson Jr., Father, appeals from the trial court order denying
his petition for special relief, seeking repayment from Miriam A. Johnson,
Mother, of an overpayment of support. Father and Mother are natural parents
of their adult daughter Jessica who, because of mental illness, continued to
receive court ordered support payments from Father after her eighteenth
birthday. On July 6, 2017, the trial court issued an order terminating Father’s
support obligation retroactively to August 4, 2014.1 Thereafter, Father filed
the instant petition, seeking repayment of the $71,802.74 credit to his account
stemming from support payments made between August 2014 and July 2017.
____________________________________________
1 Mother did not appeal the July 6, 2017 order of support termination, but
thereafter filed a second complaint for support of Jessica on August 31, 2017.
In that case, the trial court sustained Father’s preliminary objections and
dismissed Mother’s complaint. Mother’s appeal of the dismissal is docketed at
No. 2311 EDA 2018.
J-S30002-19
During a hearing on Father’s petition, Mother asserted that, per Father’s
request, support payments were made directly to Jessica. The trial court found
that the checks did go directly to Jessica pursuant to court order. Therefore,
it denied Father’s petition to collect the credit from Mother. Father appealed,
claiming that Mother bore responsibility to refund him the credit, regardless
of to whom the payments were made. Upon review, we conclude that the trial
court did not abuse its discretion. Consequently, we affirm.
Father raises two issues on appeal:
I. [Whether] the trial court erred in failing to order the repayment
of overpaid support, on either statutory or other grounds[?]
II. [Whether] the trial court erred in failing to provide for the
repayment/recapture of overpaid support given [Mother’s]
initiation of a second support action[?]
Father’s Brief, at 4.
The amount of a support order is largely within the discretion of
the trial court, whose judgment should not be disturbed on appeal
absent a clear abuse of discretion. An abuse of discretion is not
merely an error of judgment, but rather a misapplication of the
law or an unreasonable exercise of judgment. A finding that the
trial court abused its discretion must rest upon a showing by clear
and convincing evidence, and the trial court will be upheld on any
valid ground.
Portugal v. Portugal, 798 A.2d 246, 249 (Pa. Super. 2002) (citation
omitted).
In his first issue, Father asserts that the court erred and misapplied the
law when it did not order repayment of the overpaid support as required by
Pa.R.C.P. § 1910.19(g)(2). Father maintains that section 1910.19(g)(2)
provides that the credit must be collected from the former obligee, in this
-2-
J-S30002-19
instance, Mother. He claims that although the situation was irregular in that
the support payments went directly to Jessica, and not to Mother, this does
not change Mother’s status as former obligee. Therefore, he argues she is
responsible for payment of the credit. See Father’s Brief, at 8-11. We
disagree.
Father’s argument relies on his interpretation of section 1910.19(g)(2),
which provides in full:
(2) Order Terminated. If there is an overpayment in any
amount and there is no charging order in effect, within one year
of the termination of the charging order, the former obligor may
file a petition with the domestic relations section seeking recovery
of the overpayment. A copy shall be served upon the former
obligee as original process. The domestic relations section shall
schedule a conference on the petition, which shall be conducted
consistent with the rules governing support actions. The domestic
relations section shall have the authority to enter an order against
the former obligee for the amount of the overpayment in a
monthly amount to be determined by the trier of fact after
consideration of the former obligee’s ability to pay.
Pa.R.C.P. § 1910.19(g)(2).
Notably, the statute in question does not require that the trial court
enter an order of repayment against the former obligee. Instead, it vests the
domestic relations section with the authority to enter such an order after
conducting a conference on the petition.
Here, the trial court conducted a hearing on Father’s petition. At the
hearing, Mother testified that she did not directly receive the support
payments for Jessica, but that, pursuant to a domestic relations order
requested by Father, Jessica had been receiving the support checks directly
-3-
J-S30002-19
since 1998. The trial court took the matter under advisement and, following a
review of the certified record, issued an order denying Father’s petition. See
Order, 10/22/18.
Upon review, we conclude that the court did not abuse its discretion.
Rather, it recognized the unusual posture of this case, and crafted the support
order to address the situation at hand. The Rules of Civil Procedure governing
actions for support do not define the term “obligee.” See, e.g., Pa.R.C.P.
1910.1. However, the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, 23 Pa.C.S.A. §§
7101-7903, does provide a definition. Under that Act, an obligee is “[a]n
individual to whom a duty of support is or is alleged to be owed . . . .” 23
Pa.C.S.A. § 7101.1.
Here, the record supports the trial court’s finding that Father owed the
duty of support directly to Jessica. As a result, we conclude that nothing in
section 1910.19(g)(2) required the court to find Mother liable for repayment
of Jessica’s support to Father. Father’s first issue does not merit relief.
In his second issue, Father argues that the trial court erred when it failed
to transfer the credit to Mother’s second complaint for support. Father again
relies on the language of section 1910.19(g)(2), and argues that the court
had the authority to enter an order to effectuate repayment, therefore he
claims it was error for the trial court not to transfer the credit to the complaint
for support that Mother filed on August 31, 2017. See Father’s Brief, at 13-
15. We disagree.
-4-
J-S30002-19
As discussed above, section 1910.19(g)(2) does not mandate that a trial
court must enter an order against a former obligee. The statute simply gives
a domestic relations committee or officer the authority to do so after a
conference between the parties. Further, as noted above, the court properly
found that Jessica, not Mother, was the obligee. Accordingly, we again
conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it did not enter
an order for repayment against Mother. Father’s second issue is meritless.
Order affirmed.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 11/1/19
-5-