Bayliss v. Bayliss
550 So. 2d 986 (1989)
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Rule of Law:
In a divorce proceeding, an Alabama trial court has jurisdiction to require a parent to provide financial support for a child's college education even after the child has reached the legal age of majority. This post-minority educational support is considered a necessary expense for a dependent child under Alabama's child support statute.
Facts:
- Cherry R. Bayliss (mother) and John Martin Bayliss III (father) were married and had a son, Patrick Bayliss.
- The couple divorced when Patrick was 12 years old.
- Patrick was an outstanding student who graduated with honors from a private high school.
- After high school, Patrick was accepted to and enrolled at Trinity College in Connecticut.
- The father, John Martin Bayliss III, was a wealthy individual with a net worth over $1,000,000 and an income exceeding $300,000 per year.
- The father refused to contribute any funds toward Patrick's college education expenses.
- Both the mother and father had attended college themselves.
- The mother lacked the financial resources to pay for Patrick's college education on her own.
Procedural Posture:
- When Patrick was 18 years old, his mother, Cherry R. Bayliss, filed a petition in the trial court to modify the divorce decree to require the father to pay for post-minority college support.
- The trial court denied the petition, ruling as a matter of law that it lacked the authority to order support for a child who had reached the age of majority (19 in Alabama).
- The mother appealed the trial court's decision to the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals.
- The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the trial court's judgment, citing its own precedent that a parent has no legal obligation to educate an adult child absent disability or a prior agreement.
- The mother (petitioner) sought and was granted a writ of certiorari from the Supreme Court of Alabama to review the decision of the Court of Civil Appeals.
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Issue:
Does an Alabama trial court have jurisdiction in a divorce proceeding to require a parent to provide financial support for a child's college education after the child has reached the age of majority?
Opinions:
Majority - Per Curiam (Hornsby, C.J., and Maddox, Jones, Shores and Kennedy, JJ., concur; Steagall, J., concurs in the result; Almon and Adams, JJ., dissent)
Yes, a trial court has jurisdiction to award post-minority educational support. The court held that the term 'children' in Alabama's child support statute (§ 30-3-1) is not limited to minors, thereby allowing courts to compel a divorced parent to contribute to a child's college education after the child reaches the age of majority. The court reasoned that its prior decision in Ex parte Brewington, which extended support for disabled adult children, established the principle that dependency, not age, is the key factor. The court determined that a college education has become a modern 'necessary,' and children of divorced parents should not be deprived of the educational opportunities they would have likely received had the family remained intact. This decision overrules a line of Court of Civil Appeals cases and aligns with the public policy of ensuring an educated citizenry, concluding that it does not violate equal protection because there is a rational basis for treating children of divorced parents differently to minimize the disadvantages they face.
Analysis:
This landmark decision significantly altered Alabama family law by creating a judicial exception for post-minority college support, departing from the traditional rule that a parent's support obligation ends when a child reaches the age of majority. By expanding the definition of 'children' and 'necessaries' in the state's child support statute, the court established a new precedent that empowers trial courts to prevent children of divorced families from being disadvantaged. The ruling places Alabama among a growing number of states recognizing that in modern society, a college education is often a necessity that parents in intact families would typically provide, and thus it is within a court's equitable power to order such support in divorce cases. This decision will impact all future divorce and child support modification cases in Alabama involving children approaching college age.
