Nedra R. Hastings v. Larry Maurice Hastings, Jr.

Syllabus

This case arises from a protracted and contentious child support action, which began in 2005 with a petition for child support filed on behalf of the mother seeking child support assistance from the father for care of the parties' minor son. Over the years, the parties filed numerous petitions to modify the child support amount, petitions for contempt for failure to pay medical and other expenses, petitions for changes in visitation with the child, objections to the appointment of magistrates by the juvenile court judge, and requests to rehear many of the motions and petitions. All pending matters were ultimately dismissed for failure to prosecute in an order entered December 1, 2020.1 This appeal arises from two petitions filed by the mother after the dismissal for failure to prosecute. The first was a petition for contempt against the father for failure to pay medical and dental expenses for the child and failure to pay the full child support amount, and the second was a petition seeking payment of extraordinary expenses for the child related to his senior year of high school and an extension of the father's child support obligations until the child reached the age of twenty-one. Upon thorough review of the record and consideration of the issues raised by the mother on appeal, we affirm the decisions of the trial court.