Warner v. Warner
2019 Ark. App. 60, 572 S.W.3d 6 (2019)
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Rule of Law:
A parent's legal obligation to pay child support may be extended beyond the child's age of majority if the child has a disability that existed at the time they reached majority and which renders them unable to be self-supporting.
Facts:
- Melissa Warner and Russell Warner are the divorced parents of a daughter, S.W.
- In December 2015, at age sixteen, S.W. was diagnosed with neurocardiogenic syncope, a condition causing multiple daily fainting or near-fainting episodes.
- S.W. turned 18 years old in February 2017.
- Due to her condition, S.W. became completely dependent on her mother, Melissa.
- Her illness prevented her from graduating high school on time, working, driving, or living independently.
- A nurse practitioner testified that S.W.'s condition was 'severe' and 'debilitating' and that she would require parental support for the foreseeable future.
- Russell Warner presented no evidence to dispute S.W.'s disability.
Procedural Posture:
- Melissa Warner and Russell Warner were divorced by a decree from the Saline County Circuit Court in 2012.
- On August 21, 2017, Melissa Warner (appellee) filed a motion in the Saline County Circuit Court to modify child support and continue it past their daughter S.W.'s majority.
- The circuit court (trial court) held a hearing on the motion.
- After the hearing, the circuit court entered an order extending Russell Warner's child support obligation past the age of majority, finding that S.W. was disabled.
- Russell Warner (appellant) appealed the circuit court's order to the Arkansas Court of Appeals.
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Issue:
Does a parent's legal obligation to pay child support continue beyond the age of majority when the child suffers from a debilitating medical condition that began before, and existed at the time, she turned eighteen?
Opinions:
Majority - Judge Raymond R. Abramson
Yes. A parent's legal obligation to pay child support continues beyond the age of majority if the child is disabled at the time of reaching said majority. Although Arkansas statute provides for the automatic termination of child support at age eighteen, a long-standing common law exception exists for a child who is disabled upon reaching majority. The court distinguished this case from precedent like Towery v. Towery, where support could not be revived for a child who became disabled after turning eighteen. Here, the evidence was undisputed that S.W.'s debilitating condition began when she was sixteen, existed when she turned eighteen, and rendered her unable to be self-sufficient. Therefore, the circuit court's finding that S.W. was disabled at the age of majority and in need of continued support was not clearly erroneous.
Analysis:
This case reaffirms the durability of the common law exception for continuing child support for a disabled adult child, even though the exception is not explicitly codified in the relevant Arkansas statute. It clarifies the critical timing element for this exception: the disability must exist at the time the child reaches the age of majority for the support obligation to continue without interruption. The decision provides a modern factual basis for what constitutes a qualifying disability, focusing on the child's inability to be self-sufficient, and reinforces that the burden of proof lies with the custodial parent seeking the extension of support.
