Flood v. Flood

Citations

• 199 Conn. App. 67

Syllabus

The defendant, whose marriage to the plaintiff previously had been dis- solved, appealed to this court from judgment of the trial court, which granted the plaintiff's motion for a modification of the defendant's child support obligation. The parties' separation agreement, which had been incorporated into the dissolution judgment, required the defendant to pay the cost of the private elementary school education for the parties' minor child through the conclusion of the fifth grade. At the time the separation agreement became enforceable, the annual cost of the child's private school tuition was $55,000. After the child completed the fifth grade and was enrolled in public school, the plaintiff sought a modifica- tion of the defendant's child support obligation on the grounds that there had been a substantial change in circumstances because, inter alia, the child was no longer attending private school. The defendant also filed a motion for modification of child support, in which he requested a decrease in his court-ordered obligation on the ground that the plaintiff's income had increased since the date of the last support order. The trial court determined that the parties had contemplated that the plaintiff accepted a lower weekly child support amount in return for the defen- dant's being responsible for paying 100 percent of the child's private school tuition. The court further determined that, because the child had stopped attending private school, the savings for the defendant in tuition represented a substantial change of circumstances that entitled the plaintiff to a modification in child support. The court awarded the plain- tiff $1246 in weekly child support, which was the maximum presumptive amount prescribed by the child support guidelines. The court order was silent as to the defendant's motion for modification. On appeal, the defendant claimed, inter alia, that the trial court erred in finding that there had been a substantial change in circumstances and th